Developing Managers Through Career Development Plans

This assignment provides a comprehensive guide on developing managerial skills through career development plans. It covers key steps such as setting goals, asking questions, assessing current position, and implementing an action plan. The assignment also references various books and journals that offer insights into developing managers through teaching and learning programs, flexible working strategies, technological approaches, and talent optimization models. By understanding these concepts, individuals can improve their leadership skills and become effective managers.

DEVELOPING
MANAGERS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
A. Different management styles and leadership characteristics of Senior managers..................1
B. Evaluate communication process and analyse organisational culture of Thomas Cook........3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
A. Own management skills and analyse strength, weakness, opportunities and threats............4
B. Set and prioritise objectives and target to develop own potential..........................................5
TASK 3 ...........................................................................................................................................6
A. Lead and motivate team to achieve objectives.......................................................................6
B. Justify managerial decision to support the achievement of goals and objectives..................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
A. Own managerial and personal skills that assist in career development and set the agenda
for future......................................................................................................................................8
B. Career and personal development needs , current performance and future needs to produce
a development plan.....................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Developing managers is related to process of creating effective managers by providing
them proper understanding of the goals and objectives of firm. Thomas Cook will form part ofn
this study .. Thomas Cook is involved in hospitality industry and produces products and services
such as Charter and scheduled passenger airlines, package holidays, cruise lines and hotel and
resorts and travel services etc. This organisation is operating its activities in different countries.
Thomas Cook generate revenue of about £9,007 million in 2017(Annual Report, 2017). Thomas
cook is having employees more than 20000 and its subsidiaries are Thomas cook retail, Thomas
cook airlines etc. This study will provide knowledge about different management styles and the
leadership characteristics of senior managers. Furthermore, this study will include
communication process of Thomas Cook and its organisational culture. This assignment will
include theories and techniques relating to managerial decision. Moreover, this study will assist
in creating development plan for employment.
TASK 1
A. Different management styles and leadership characteristics of Senior managers
Management styles are different methods used by managers to manage people at
workplace. There are mainly four types of management styles that consist of the following :
 Autocratic style of Working : This management style adopted by managers is related to
that style of working in which superiors does not involve subordinate to share their ideas
and suggestions. In this style managers and superiors are the only one which are involved
in decision making process and does not include subordinates in to decision – making.
Employees are not free to take decision on their own (Korobkina, 2014 ). Employees
have to follow the guidelines and policies formulated by superiors and they are not
allowed to ask anything to management regarding their decision. In this style of
employees are not motivated, they just have to follow the instruction of their Superiors.
 Paternalistic style of working : In this style of working, leader decide the best thing for
employees and organisation and then make their decision. Policies formulated by the
managers and leaders to benefit both employees and organisation. This management style
consider the ideas and feedback and their suggestion to improve the organisation working
(Lewis, Donaldson-Feilder and Godfree, 2017 ). Managers take decision after consulting
employees suggestions. Paternalistic style of management assist in motivating the
1

employees, so that they feel attached to the organisation and perform their best in
achieving the objectives of firm.
 Laissez- Faire style : This style consider that managers are employed for managing
employees and do not contribute much to organisation (Lewis and et.al., 2014).
According to Laissez- faire style employees have the authority to take various decision
and manage their work. Employees of the organisation are not dependent on managers
and make decision that is right for firm. Managers provide guidance to their subordinates
if they require.
Thomas cook follows paternalistic management style in which it takes decision which
will beneficial for both employees and the organisation whereas TUI is following Autocratic
management style in which employees are not engaged in decision making and they have to
follow the orders of their superiors.
Leadership characteristics of senior managers :
 Leadership characteristics are required by senior managers to improve the performance of
organisation in the market. There are various characteristics of leader which are adopted
by managers to achieve the targeted goals of Firm (Reupert and et.al., 2018).
 Senior manager are required to have clear understanding of mission , vision and
objectives of enterprise for formulating various strategies to achieve those
predetermined goals.
 Senior managers are required to have good communication skills which assist them in
communicating different job responsibilities and information regarding goals and
objectives. Strong communication with employees reduces conflicts and creates a
healthy work environment.
 Senior managers must make proper decision regarding organisation performance
improvement and motivate their employees to achieve the targeted performance level.
 Seniors managers must posses characteristic of leadership which is related to provide
training for improving the performance of employees (Moheb-Alizadeh and Handfield,
2017).
Thomas cook managers posses Paternalistic management styles and leadership
characteristics to manage the employees and provide them motivation to increase their efficiency
level. Thomas Cook senior managers follows different leadership characteristics to lead the
2

employees and provide them direction to achieve the objectives of firm. This will helps manager
in increasing motivation level of employees and assists in improving their productivity.
B. Evaluate communication process and analyse organisational culture of Thomas Cook
Communication is most important factor in improving the performance of organisation.
Thomas Cook is involved in making their communication effective to achieve the goals
effectively and efficiently. Communication process involves the following stages ;
Sender : It is the person that generate the message and convey it to receiver. Thomas cook to
communicate various information, it makes use of different communication tools such as e- mail,
meeting etc(Shah and Prakash, 2018). Thomas cook follows verbal and written communication
to provide information to employees and various stakeholders regarding the products and for
developing the methods to increase customer satisfaction. Communication process of Thomas
cook is effective and it provides employees to communicate their problems and provide
suggestions and ideas to improve the customer satisfaction .
Pros and cons of communication process
Pros
 Communication process assist in increasing the productivity of organisation by
effectively communicating the information to different individuals of organisation.
 Communication process helps in understanding the message clearly by encoding the
message in symbols which are easily understandable to receiver (Tsey and et.al., 2018). Communication process assist in providing the information to the right person and
enhanced relationship between the sender and receiver of message.
Cons
 Communication process is a time consuming process as it takes time in encoding and
decoding of message.
 It is possible that decoding of message is not properly made by the receiver due to which
communication become ineffective.
Organisational culture is related to organisational expectations, beliefs and values that
assist in identifying the behaviour of employees. Companies that have good organisational
culture have less employee turnover. Thomas cook follows ethical culture that aims at providing
better services to the customers to attract them towards the brand. Firm works in accordance
3

with laws and ethics that helps in creating good image in society. Thomas cook encourage its
employees to provide their ideas and suggestion for improving the performance of organisation.
The managers of company maintain healthy culture within firm that encourage employees to
work in more effective manner and attain goals and objectives. The objectives of firm are clearly
defined which provides direction to employees to work together towards attaining those. They
mainly emphasize on providing high quality services and improve customers experience by
offering them effective goods and services. There are different types of organisational culture
such role culture, task culture and power culture.
Change management is related to implement those changes which will assist Thomas
cooks in improving its culture for providing better services to customers. Thomas cook made
changes in its documentation process which has included customer documentation and flight
changes. This change includes that customers that book before 28 days prior to their tour will be
provided with travel document 258 days prior to their holidays.
TASK 2
A. Own management skills and analyse strength, weakness, opportunities and threats.
I have different management skills which will assist me in improving my performance. These
skills consist of the following :
 I have good communication skills which are required for communicating effectively with
employees and managing their performance effectively to achieve the objectives of
Thomas cook.
 I have skills to solve the problems which will assist in reducing issues takes place in
Thomas Cook and achieve the targeted goals of firm.
 I have effective decision- making skills which assist in improving the performance of
employees and organisation to increase the profitability of Thomas cook.
 I have skills and knowledge regarding leadership that helps me in influencing employees
and provide them guidelines and direction to to improve their efficiency.
Personal SWOT analysis as a manager of Thomas cook
Strength
 I can handle large number of clients
which is my of the strength.
 I have good communication skills
Opportunity
 I have an opportunity to grow my
career as a manager in the industry by
4

which assist in influencing people to
work towards attaining the goals of
organisation.
 I Have high social competencies.
developing my skills and knowledge.
 I have an opportunity to grab
information which will assist in
growing Career.
 I have an opportunity to explore new
organisation to show my talent and
skills.
Weakness
 I am not prepared for heterogeneous
requirement of clients.
 I have no experience in this field.
 It is my weakness that I easily get
distracted.
Threat
 There is a tough competition for me as
there are many candidates applying for
this job opportunity.
 It is a threat for me as this organisation
in not providing job security.
To Develop my skills I will make sure that I am involved in different activities of
organisation to increase my knowledge and reduce the threat and weakness to achieve the
objectives.
B. Set and prioritise objectives and target to develop own potential
To develop my own potential my objectives are to increase knowledge and achieve higher
position in the organisation.
For Developing my own potential it is required to make planning of the objectives and
tasks to have clear understanding of the goals of Thomas cook as a perspective manger. For
developing my skills and knowledge its is required to have proper understanding of work culture
which is being followed in Thomas cook.
Planning is required by a manager to understand about the different resources available
for Thomas cook to utilise them properly to achieve the goals of the firm. To develop my own
5

potential it is required to have good communication with the employees to build a strong relation
with them which will assist in understanding their behaviour.
For developing my potential it is required to schedule all the activities and make proper
deadline of the work assigned to complete the task on time. For developing skills and knowledge
it is required to have proper knowledge of the different activities of Thomas cook such as
different packages offered by company to customers, price structure followed by organisation of
different products and services.
TASK 3
A. Lead and motivate team to achieve objectives
Team in an organisation consist of group which are assigned a common task to complete
that task in a stipulated time frame. Motivating and leading a team require to have proper
understanding of the members of group to understand their behaviour and working style and also
to know about their strength and weakness (How to Motivate a Team With Good Leadership
Qualities, 2017). Developing managers of Thomas cook ensure that proper motivation and
direction is provided to the members of team to achieve the objectives of firm. Manager provide
motivation and lead the team members, perform various functions such as:
 Set objectives and vision for the team : Managers to provide the team with clear
understanding of the goals and objectives ensure that they are provided with all the
information which is required to achieve the objectives. Managers set objectives for the
team and inform the members about their aim as a team.
 Provide inspiration : Managers of Thomas cook by setting example of high performer
can inspire the employees for higher performance.
 Responsibility ; Manager of Thomas Cook to achieve the objectives of firm ensure that
job responsibility is delegated to employees and provide them understanding of their job
role.
 Training : Thomas cook provide training to the employees to increase their performance
level by increasing their skills and knowledge through proper training.
 Create friendly environment : Manager of Thomas cook to achieve the objectives of
organisation make sure that members of teams have good relationship with each other. It
helps in reducing chances of conflicts and encourage group discussion about the work
assigned to understand the work clearly .
6

I can motivate and lead the team by providing them with knowledge and information
which I possess. I can motivate the team by appreciating them for the better performance and
also can lead the team by providing them proper direction to achieve the goals of the team.
B. Justify managerial decision to support the achievement of goals and objectives
Decision making is done to make a decision regarding different aspects of organisation.
Effective decision–making by manager assists in achieving the goals of organisation efficiently.
Managerial decision–making is related to any decision taken by managers regarding different
operation of the enterprise (Holten, Bøllingtoft and Wilms, 2015. Leadership in a changing
world: Developing managers through a teaching and learn). These include decision regarding
setting target growth rates, product or services offered to customers and hiring and firing of
employees.
There are two theories of decision–making which consist of : rational or normative and
behavioural decision making theory. Rational theory of decision making is concerned with
manager's decisions to maximise effectiveness and efficiency (Decision Making: Process and
Theories | Management, 2016). This theory provide assumption such as maximizing behaviour,
perfect information and certainty etc.
Behavioural theory of decision – making is concerned with the behaviour of individual
and group . This theory is based on decision actually made by the managers (Armstrong and
Taylor, 2014). This theory assumes that there are multiple goals of organisation, organisational
slack etc.
Decision made by manager of Thomas cook will involve the following :
 Decision regarding improving the performance of employees by providing training
achieve the objectives of organisation.
 Decisions made by manager of Thomas cook regarding products and services to develop
the product to attract more customers towards the brand. Such as developing travel
services etc.
 Decisions regarding providing various rewards and incentives to employees to motivate
them to improve their performance to achieve the objectives of organisation( Idris,
2014).
7

 Decision made by managers of Thomas cook regarding implementing various strategies
and policies relating to marketing to increase their customer base and also increase the
market share of Thomas cook.
Recommendation :
 Thomas cook should increase their online presence to attract more customers towards the
brand which assist in increasing profitability of firm.
 Thomas cook should provide its employees with various appraisals to motivate them.
 Thomas cook should formulate policies regarding safety to provide safe journey to its
customers.
TASK 4
A. Own managerial and personal skills that assist in career development and set the agenda for
future
Managerial and personal skills which are required for developing the career consist of
Communication skills , leadership skills, decision- making skills, technical skills, analytical and
research skills , time management skills.
I as a manger of Thomas cook poses managerial and personal skills which will assist in
developing my career. These skills are as follows:
 Communication skills : I as manager of Thomas cook posses these skills to develop my
career path. Communication skills assist me in interacting with employees in an effective
way and conveying them all the informations clearly which will further help me in my
future career growth.
 Decision – making skills : These skills are required to make the right decisions. I posses
these skills to make the right choice to make effective decision regarding any matter.
 Technical skills : These skills are required by me to have knowledge about various
computer application and software and systems.
 Leadership skills are most important for me as a manger of Thomas cook can lead the
members of team. These skills assist in supporting the career development (Smith and
Dodds, 2017).
 Interpersonal skills : These skills are related to building relationship with other people of
the organisation to have understanding of the behaviour of different individuals .
8

The above skills assist in career development by improving communication skills I have
a competitive advantage through which organisation will hire me. I have to improve my skills to
grab the opportunities lying ahead for me in the future. I have these skills which will assist in
growing my knowledge about different organisational perspectives.
B. Career and personal development needs , current performance and future needs to produce a
development plan
There are steps which are followed to create a career development plan Which are
required to achieve the personal goals and objectives of an individual. Career development plan
consist of the following :
 The first step in the career development plan which consist of determining the goals in to
formulate strategies and make planning to achieve those goals for developing the career.
 Next step is related to asking question to yourself relating to goals to have better
understanding of the goals and objectives this assist in achieving the goals effectively and
efficiently.
 Assess the current position to identify the future position. Such as skills and knowledge
required to improve them in order to development their skills and knowledge to achieve
high career goals. Provide action plan to implement strategies and planing to achieve the set goals.
Career and personal development needs
 Career and personal development needs are related to those needs which helps in
identifying their skills and qualities to improve them to achieve higher career objectives
in the future.
 Career development is important to move to higher position and experience different
aspects required for career development (Boyatzis and Cavanagh, 2018). Personal development needs are related to individuals wants which are required to satisfy
its wants such as salary, incentives, appraisals etc.
Current performance
 Current performance is relating to managing the resources to utilise them properly to
achieve the objectives of Thomas cook.
9

 Current performance include developing skills and knowledge toimprove future
performance.
Future performance
 Future performance include achievement of set objectives to increase profitability.
 Future performance include high position in Thomas cook.
Career development plan
 The first step is identifying the needs for career development.
 Second step in career development is related to identifying current performance to set
goals for future.
 Third step include setting future performance goals.
 Last step in career development plan is related to monitoring the performance to achieve
the future goals.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been concluded that different management styles which
includes autocratic style of working, paternalistic style of working and Laissez- Faire style of
working helps in managing work in proper way. This study has included different characteristics
of leadership such as providing motivation, setting vision and goals etc. It has also provided with
the communication process of Thomas cook and organisational culture of Thomas cook. This
study has also provided with personal management skills required to achieve the objectives of
organisation such as problem – solving skills, decision- making skills etc. It has also provided
with factors which assist manager in leading and motivating the team such as appraisals,
providing direction, training to members to improve performance etc. career development plan
includes steps such as setting goals, asking question, assessing current position and
implementing action plan.
10

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Boyatzis, R.E. and Cavanagh, K.V., 2018. Leading Change: Developing Emotional, Social, and
Cognitive Competencies in Managers During an MBA Program. In Emotional
Intelligence in Education. (pp. 403-426). Springer. Cham.
Smith, B. and Dodds, B., 2017. Developing managers through project-based learning.
Routledge.
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Holten, A.L., Bøllingtoft, A. and Wilms, I., 2015. Leadership in a changing world: Developing
managers through a teaching and learning programme. Management Decision. 53(5).
pp.1107-1124.
Idris, A., 2014. Flexible working as an employee retention strategy in developing countries:
Malaysian bank managers speak. Journal of Management Research. 14(2). p.71.
Korobkina, M., 2014. Technological approach to development training of business managers in
Southern Russia. Czech Journal of Social Sciences, Business and Economics. 3(2).
pp.48-55.
Lewis, R., Donaldson-Feilder, E. and Godfree, K., 2017. Developing managers to manage
sustainable employee health. wellbeing and engagement: phase 2.
Lewis, R. and et.al., 2014. Developing managers to manage sustainable employee engagement.
health and well-being: phase 1.
Moheb-Alizadeh, H. and Handfield, R.B., 2017. Developing Talent from a Supply–Demand
Perspective: An Optimization Model for Managers. Logistics. 1(1). p.5.
Reupert, A. and et.al., 2018. Developing a model of family focused practice with consumers,
families, practitioners and managers: a community based participatory research
approach. BMC health services research.18(1). p.66.
Shah, M.N. and Prakash, A., 2018. Developing generic competencies for infrastructure
managers in India. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.11(2).
pp.366-381.
11

Tsey, K. and et.al., 2018. Developing Soft Skills: Exploring the Feasibility of an Australian
Well-Being Program for Health Managers and Leaders in Timor-Leste. SAGE Open.
8(4). pp.2158244018811404.
Online
Decision Making: Process and Theories | Management. 2016. [Online]. Available
through:<http://www.businessmanagementideas.com/management/decision-making-
management/decision-making-process-and-theories-management/10858>
How to Motivate a Team With Good Leadership Qualities. 2017. [Online]. Available
through :<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/motivate-team-good-leadership-qualities-
36865.html>
Annual Report. 2017. [Online]. Available through :<https://www.thomascook.in/annual-report>
12