Benefits of Ongoing Professional Development in Hospitality Industry

This report discusses the key benefits of ongoing professional development for different stakeholders within the hospitality industry. It explores how ongoing development helps in staying updated with industry changes, maintaining future skills, creating competitive advantage, building confidence and credibility, improving efficiency and productivity, and opening doors for future opportunities. The report also focuses on the professional employer expectations of skills and competencies within Marriott Hotel, London, specifically for the role of Marketing Manager.

Hospitality

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Key benefits of on-going professional development for different stakeholders within a
specific organisation....................................................................................................................3
P2 Professional employer expectations of skills and competencies within Marriott..................5
LO2..................................................................................................................................................8
P3 Own abilities, skills and competencies for role of Marketing Manager.................................8
P4 Learning theories and approaches .......................................................................................10
LO3 ...............................................................................................................................................12
P5 Professional development plan ............................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................17
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality is an industry that involves broad range of services and products including
lodging, food and drinks, event planning, recreational services and leisure and many more
services. Hospitality being an industry including several services requires that individuals
working in industry have several skills and along with this they also need to work on on-going
development so that they can meet upcoming challenges in the industry. On-going professional
development also has benefits for stakeholders of the organisation and this will be discussed in
report. In addition to this, report will also discuss about professional employer expectations of
skills and competencies. Assessment of own abilities, skills and competencies for a job role will
also be done along with learning theories and approaches used for learning. Lastly, development
plan to enhance skill and competencies within a specified work context. Organisation
contextualised in this report is Marriott, London and this is a part of Marriott International, Inc,
American multinational organisation founded in 1927 and is headquartered at Bethesda,
Maryland, US. Products of the company involve hotels and resort and Marriott employs around
121000 employees. Job roles selected for the purpose of discussion in this report involves role of
Marketing Manager within Marriott Hotel, London.
LO1
P1 Key benefits of on-going professional development for different stakeholders within a
specific organisation
On-going professional development is concerned with a practice in which individuals
continuously develop, maintain and document their professional skills. This is a process through
which individuals become able to increase and enhance their skills and competencies and
become more capable for their job role. On-going professional development has benefits for
several stakeholders of the organisation and Marriott being a multinational organisation
associates several stakeholders such as shareholders, employees, government, competitors and
communities around organisation (Abdullah and et.al., 2018). With help of on-going
development of employees, employees and organisation can create benefits for different
stakeholders and these benefits are-
3

Staying updated with latest industry changes- This is one of the very important benefit of on-
going professional development and according to this with help of on-going development helps
employees to stay updated with latest changes in hospitality industry. They can build their
capacity to manage impact of these changes and ensure that changes in industry do not affect
hospitality organisation negatively. Building capacity according to latest changes improves
capability of Marriott to operate in a challenging environment and enhances its competitive
capability.
Help in maintaining knowledge and skills required for future- Ongoing professional
development helps organisations to maintain knowledge and skills that they are likely to require
in future. In this on the basis of identification of potential skills and knowledge that will be
required in industry and Organisation Marriott Hotel can work on developing those skills and
knowledge in employees so that they become able to deal with future challenges. In addition to
this they also become able to carry out future task and activities with efficiency as they are
equipped with required knowledge and skills (Bove and et.al., 2018). Ongoing professional
development in the same context is also required for fulfilling future positions that are likely to
get vacant in organisation with experienced and skilled people.
Competitive advantage- Ongoing professional development of employees in Marriott Hotel is
also helpful in competitive advantage of organization. Efficient and Competent employee in
organisation are a very good way through which organisation can create competitive advantage
among it competitors. Ongoing professional development is important as employees will be able
to increase and enhance their skills and knowledge continuously and this improve their ability to
perform in organisation. Employees with strong abilities in an organisation are source through
which organisation become able to outperform its competitors. The reason behind this is that
overall competency and efficiency of an organisation is based on how effective and Competent it
employees are. Competitive advantage of an organisation is beneficial for its shareholders as
well as employees because competitive advantage allows organisation to increase its revenue and
profitability. Customers also get benefit as they became able to get high quality services from
Marriott Hotel.
Building confidence and credibility- Ongoing professional development of employees is very
important as it increases confidence of employees as well as their credibility in organisation and
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outside organisation. Employees have confidence that they are equipped with knowledge and
skills required for completing different task and fulfilling their responsibilities in organisation.
Their confidence reflects through their performance on their job roles and effectiveness of the
performance reflects how confidence they are (Mchunu and Steyn, 2017). Confident employees
are also able to build credibility in and outside organisation. Credibility of employees within
organisation help in organisational growth of employees and credibility outside organisation
enhance reputation and credibility of Marriott Hotel.
Help in improving efficiency and organisational productivity- Ongoing professional
development of employees is also beneficial for improving efficiency of organisation. Improving
efficiency include reducing time involved in different activities of organisation and reducing cost
associated with different organisational activities. Efficient employees also contribute in
increasing productivity of organisation and this increases productivity of organisation and
enables organisation to have satisfied customers. This is also a benefit for customers of
organisation and efficient employees and effectively working organisation also is able to
consider different regulations and follow them appropriately and this is the benefit for
government as their governance improves over organisations.
Opens door for future opportunities- This is also a benefit associated with ongoing
professional development of employees. According to this, opportunities for future growth and
development of employees also open and this can be in and outside organisation (Kjaer, Vedsted
and Høpner, 2017). Employees become able to get promotion within organisation and this is a
type of opportunity that they can get through ongoing professional development. This is because
employees who are highly competent become able to get preference over others for promotion
and similar opportunities.
P2 Professional employer expectations of skills and competencies within Marriott
Professional employers have several expectations from their prospective employees for
different job roles in their organisation. Employers in Marriott Hotel also have expectations from
their prospective employees in terms and skills and knowledge. Expectation of professional
employers from prospective Marketing Manager are-
Good team working skills
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Good team working skill is one of the skills that is expected by professional employees
for a role of marketing manager. Good team working skills enable marketing managers to work
with different personnel in Marketing department and carry out marketing related task
effectively. Good team working skill involve that individual is able to show their capabilities
while working in a team environment and consider capabilities in skills of others and work with
harmony (Di Gregorio and et.al., 2019). Good team working skills to include that while working
in team employees are able to work as dedicated team member and have their focus for team
goals and objectives.
Communication and networking ability
This is another skill and competency expected from marketing manager by professional
employer in Marriott Hotel. Communication skill is concerned with ability of individuals to
share their ideas in the opinion effectively and considering ideas and opinions of others.
Networking skill or ability involve that individual are able to develop relationships and create
network which is useful for carrying out professional activities and fulfilling their responsibility.
Networking is very important for marketing manager as it involves ability to develop relations
with new contact and promote organisation and its offerings. Marketing manager has one of the
responsibilities to promote it hotel and this is why networking skill is very important for them.
Strong attention detail
Professional employee in Marriott Hotel also expects that employees have a skill and
competency in which they are able to provide strong attention to detail. Strong attention to detail
is an ability through which individuals become able to identify small and often ignored aspects
of a situation. Strong attention to detail improves decision making by marketing manager and
they become able to make effective decisions on the basis of adequate details (Cortez and
Johnston, 2019). Along with this developing marketing campaign and promotional activities also
required that attention to detail is paid for creating strong and effective promotional campaigns.
Creativity and writing skills
Developing promotional campaigns and marketing content is one of the important
responsibilities of marketing manager and this is why skill and competency for creativity and
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writing skill is also expected by professional employer from marketing manager. Creativity and
writing skills involve that marketing managers are able to think creatively and out of the box that
is something new. Writing skill involve that different principles of effective writing are adopted
and included in writing and this involved that required adequate and appropriate content is
included in writing so that right information can be provided to audience.
Adaptability
Trends in marketing are changing very frequently and this is why it is important that
marketing managers have adaptability. This means that they are able to think in different
directions and are able to adapt new and improved Trend in industry. It is important that
marketing managers considered trend in promotional and marketing content for Marriott Hotel.
This is because promotional and marketing content help in attracting more customer and
marketing have become a very important element of success of hospitality industry and for
Marriott (Schlee and Karns, 2017). Hospitality industry is adopting several new and creative
ways for promotion and marketing and this is what marketing manager is required to consider
and adapt.
Social and digital media marketing skills
Social and digital media marketing skills are very important and are expected from
potential marketing manager. Social and digital media marketing have become one of the very
important aspects of overall marketing by organisation and this is why it is important that
marketing manager have competency to effectively manage marketing over social and digital
media. In this it is important that marketing manager have knowledge about marketing over
different social media sites as well as how they can create and launch marketing on digital media
platforms.
Analytical skills and competency for marketing technology
In present times marketing and promotional activities are significantly based on analytics
and this is why it is important that marketing managers have analytical skills for effective
decision making. Along with this competency for use of marketingtechnology is also important
and marketing managers need to have competency to use and operate marketing Technology.
7

Marketing technology is concerned with different software and tools that help in achieving
marketing goals of organization (Pharswan, Ilavarasan and Kar, 2020). Knowledge of marketing
technology and analytical skills can contribute in increasing overall competency and
employability of candidate by fulfilling Expectations of employer.
LO2
P3 Own abilities, skills and competencies for role of Marketing Manager
Personal Swot Analysis
Strengths
Communication skills- This is one of the strength according to which communication skills both
verbal as well as written are good. Enabling effective communication and validation for good
communication skills have been done by peers and self observation of communication skills.
Strong attention to detail- This is also a strength according to which individual provides strong
attention to small elements of the situation and this enables to identify opportunities and threats
in a situation for organisation. Strong attention to detail also help in improving and enhancing
quality and efficiency of the work that individual is doing.
Creativity and writing skills- Creativity and writing skills are very important for job role of
marketing manager and this is why it is a strength having creativity and writing skills. Creativity
enables individuals to have ideas and develop them those ideas in a way that are unique and have
not been thought by others. Writing skill is also very important for marketing manager when they
are required to create content and message for marketing and promotional activities (Mishra,
Prodhomme and Guemas, 2019).
Weaknesses
Team-working skills- This is one of the weaknesses or can be said as area for improvement.
According to this business individual feel difficulty in working with in a team and also have
issues in relation with performance in a team. Increasing demand for team working stills this is a
very important weakness and requires an individual to work on developing team working skills.
8

Analytical skills- Analytical skill is also weakness according to which individual does not have
any knowledge of analytics and it's working in decision making. Analytical skills is an area for
development for individual that can increase their employability for the role of marketing
manager.
Knowledge of marketing technology- Marketing technology is being increasingly used by all
kind of organisations and this is why knowledge of marketing Technology has become essential
for marketing manager. Lack of or no knowledge of marketing technology is a weakness for
potential marketing manager and is also an area of improvement for marketing manager (Hart
and et.al., 2017).
Opportunities
Job in hospitality industry- Job in hospitality is one of the opportunity for individual having
above strengths and when they are able to work on identified areas for improvement and skill
development.
Career in marketing firm- Having above strengths and working on weaknesses and areas for
improvement individual can create a career in marketing firm. This is why marketing firms also
have opportunity for individual.
Developing analytical skills- Development of analytical skills also creates several opportunities
and increases its employability of individual in marketing area. Analytical skill is also highly
expected for job roles in marketing area (Mishra, Prodhomme and Guemas, 2019).
Threats
Impact of weaknesses- Impact of weaknesses can create threat for successful career in marketing
and in this lackof knowledge and skills required for marketing career are included.
Competition- Increasing and intensified competition is also threat for candidates who are looking
to create a career in marketing area. Competition based on skills and competencies have a
significant threat because having or not having single skill can create a big impact on
employability of individual.
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Technological changes- Individual having lack of knowledge of technology and its application
in marketing area have a threat from technological changes (Pourghasemi and et.al., 2017).
Above swot analysis outlines that there are strengths that are useful for success of
individual in role of marketing manager. However, there are areas in which individuals need to
work on and these areas involve lack of required skills for the job role of marketing manager.
Individual can work on these areas to improve their overall employability skills and this can be
done through professional development planning and implementation of the planning.
Continuous professional development can also be helpful for individuals to develop skill that
they lack.
P4 Learning theories and approaches
There are some learning theories and approaches are applied for improving skills of a
person and helps in enhancing knowledge. It is important to apply some approaches so that a
person can learn and understand things easily. It will help in improving performance of an
individual person. In hospitality industry, choices of customers are changing rapidly, so it is
important to make products according to choice of consumers and satisfy their needs and wants
(Şanal, 2017). Proper training should be given to employees for how to treat guest and provide
them best services. It is important to apply some learning theories and approaches which will be
beneficial in achieving goals and objectives of company.
Cognitive learning theory
Cognitive learning theory refers to understanding how human mind works when they are
learning something. How much capacity a person is having to learn new things and what are the
ways by which they understand topic. It is important to identify what are the ways by which an
individual person can understand things and it focuses on how information is processing by brain
and how they are learning things. It helps students in finding solutions to problems so that they
will not face problem while working in an organisation (Zahedpisheh and et.al., 2017). Cognitive
learning theory helps in understanding things in a better way and students will develop some
skills which are required at the workplace. Cognitive learning makes things easier and people
can understand in simple way. It enhances learning capacity of person and boost their confidence
so that they can develop skill required at the workplace.
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Behaviourism theory
Behaviourism theory focuses on improving behaviour of employees and they can learn
through interaction. People should learn from the environment and develop skills which are
essential at workplace. Behaviourism theory helps an individual person in enhancing knowledge
and developing skills. The theory helps in improving behaviour of a person and learn how to
behave with colleagues, seniors and other members in an organisation. This theory has the ability
to define behaviour and also helps in measuring change in behaviour. It is important to improve
behaviour of a person because it reflects about nature of an individual (Shamim and et.al., 2017).
Behaviour theory helps in making some assumptions which will help in measuring changes and
make plans according to that. Behaviourism theory has the ability to define behaviour and goals
are clearly defined. It will help in enhancing knowledge of person and develop skills such as,
how to behave in an organisation, communication skills, teamwork skills, leadership skills and
many other which are required at the workplace.
Social learning theory
Social learning theory focuses on importance of observing, modelling, identifying
behaviour, attitudes and emotional reaction of others. It helps in influencing human behaviour
and their learning skills. Social learning theory helps in increased engagement among learners to
learn something new, develop self organisational skills, encouraged collaboration and develop
skills which can be used in the workplace. It is essential that an individual person should have all
the necessary skills to work properly in an organisation (Kasim and et.al., 2018). Social learning
theory provides better environment to understand behaviour of person and how they learn things.
Approaches for personal and professional development
Coaching- This is an approach for personal and professional development, this will help in
improving skills of a person and enhance knowledge. To improve personal and professional
qualities coaching should be given so that an individual person can learn how to do work and
they will get knowledge. When coaching is given to someone then it helps in increasing overall
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efficiency and better work will be done. A person should attend training sessions to learn new
things and it will help in improving skills (Yumatov and et.al., 2017). Coaching will help in
understanding things in easy way and better work can be done in an organisation.
Supervision – For personal and professional development, supervision should be done so that it
can be identify in which area improvement is required and plans can be made accordingly. It is
the responsibility of managers to check performance of employees and provide them training
improving their work and focus on achieving goals of hotel. In hospitality industry, trends and
choice of customer is changing rapidly, so managers have to make plans according to that. An
individual person should make plans or strategies to improve person and professional skills,
work according to plan which is made and if any improvement is required then it must be done
(Sipe and Testa, 2018). This will help in achieving goals and objectives of organisation as well
as personal goals are also achieved.
LO3
P5 Professional development plan
Skills to be
improved
How to improve Timeline Sources Evaluation
Communication
skill
Communication
skill can be
improved by
interacting more
with people and
boost confidence.
Learn new words,
understand their
meaning and how
to use it. To
improve
Within 2 months Sources which
can be used to
improve
communication
skills are, you
tube, dictionary to
learn new words,
coaching can be
join for
improving
Feedback will be
taken from
colleagues and
seniors. After
improving skill,
advice will be
taken from senior
member (Bates
and Morgan,
2018). Good
communication
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communication
skill, interaction
is required
because while
talking with
people it can be
identified that in
which area
improvement is
needed.
communication. skill help in
attracting more
people and helps
in generating
more profit.
Critical thinking
and analysis
To improve
critical thinking
and analysis,
observe people
within
organisation and
try to learn from
them. Observe
that how other
people are
working and
practice should be
done. To improve
skill, firstly know
what you want to
do, consider
consequences
after selecting an
option, do
research to
Within 3 months Do training in a
hotel to learn how
other people are
handling issues,
develop foresight,
understand your
mental process,
ask questions to
senior members.
This will help in
enhancing
knowledge and
skills will be
developed. Some
points can be
learn from you
tube or google.
Evaluation will
be done by
solving some
situations and
take good
decision. Critical
thinking and
analysis help in
improving ability
to take decisions
and make plans
for growth of
hotel. In
hospitality
industry, many
times situation
will arise in
which quick
decision are to be
taken which is
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determine
whether correct
option is chosen
or not. Make
improvements if
required so that
goals and
objectives can be
achieved.
beneficial for
growth of
company
(Matherson and
Windle, 2017). It
is important that
a person should
have the ability to
take quick
decisions and
solve problems in
creative way.
Active learning To improve active
learning skills,
write down things
which you know,
ask questions to
senior members,
make notes of
main points what
you have learned
from training
sessions,
summarise what
is your learning
from sessions,
explain topic to
someone else to
understand it in
better way.
Within 1 month Sources by which
active learning
can be improved
are, by discussing
things with other
members,
problem solving,
try to understand
case study, role
play and other
methods. Self
monitoring
should be done to
accomplish goals
and objectives.
Take help from
google and
increase learning
Active learning
can be evaluated
by determining
results and it will
help in making
better plans for
achieving targets.
It is important to
improve active
learning skill
because in hotels
it is essential to
listen carefully
what guest is
saying so that
better services
can be provided.
Quiz or
14

Complete all
activities on time
so that work can
be finished within
given time period.
When an
individual person
will listen things
carefully then it
will help in
learning things
easily. Proper
plans should be
made and define
goals and
objectives. Ask
questions to
senior members
and learn how
they are applying
plans or strategies
, learn things
from them and it
will help in
enhancing
knowledge.
power. Interact
with peer and
follow their
instruction.
assignments
should be given
to students to
identify whether
they have learned
something or not
(Leary and et.al.,
2020). Feedback
must be taken
and make
improvements if
required.
Teamwork skills To improve
teamwork skills
firstly, identify
your goal and
Within 4 months Sources to
improve
teamwork skills
are, set clear
Evaluation
should be done to
identify that
whether work is
15

objectives which
you want to
achieve, clarify
roles, do not
complain for
anything like,
team members are
not good. Work
together and try
to understand
each other
emotions.
Manage time
efficiently so that
work can be
completed on
time.
goals and make
plans for
achieving those
goals. There must
be effective
communication
among employees
, create teamwork
programs to
motivate workers.
Practical learning
should be done by
joining an
organisation.
completed or not.
It is important to
evaluate skills by
giving work in a
team and
determining that
all employees are
performing well
or not. It is
important to have
teamwork skills
so that work can
be completed on
time. It will help
in improving
performance of
employees and
better work can
be done. There
should be proper
interaction
between workers
to reduce
confusion or
misunderstanding
among members.
This will help in
completing work
on time and with
better efficiency.
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CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion it can be concluded that professional and ongoing
professional development while working in hospitality industry can be very beneficial for
different stakeholders. There are different expectations that employers have from potential
employees and this is why it is very important that employees and candidates have adequate
skills and are able to fulfil expectations of employer in order to get placed in organisation. In this
report, individual abilities, skills and competencies were assessed for the role of marketing
manager. Individual assessment is very beneficial for the purpose of identifying areas of strength
so that they can be capitalised by individual and along with this, individuals also becomes able to
understand areas where they need to do improvement because for overall growth and
development it is important that individual cover all areas and increase their capabilities and
competencies.
17

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