Effective Professional Development Strategies

This assignment delves into the concept of professional development, examining various strategies and their effectiveness. It encourages students to analyze research on effective professional development practices, considering factors like reflective practice, mentorship, and continuous learning. The assignment also prompts students to evaluate different professional development approaches and propose strategies for individual or organizational growth.

Personal and
Professional
Development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Evaluating the approaches to self managed learning in Travel Lodge.................................1
1.2 Proposing ways to encourage life long learning process in Travel Lodge ..........................3
1.3 Evaluating the benefits of self managed learning.................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Evaluating own current skills and competencies against professional standards and
organisational objectives.............................................................................................................5
2.2 Identifying own developmental needs and the activities required to meet them..................6
2.3 Identifying developmental opportunities to meet current and future defined needs.............7
2.4 Developing a personal and professional development plan based on my identified needs. .7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Processes and activities required to implement the development plan.................................8
3.2 Implementing the developmental activities as planned........................................................9
3.3 Critical discussion of own learning against aims and objectives included in personal
development plan......................................................................................................................10
3.4 Updated Personal Development Plan..................................................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
4.1 Proposing solutions to work based problems arising in Paramount Travel Hotel Park
Royal.........................................................................................................................................12
4.2 & 4.3....................................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
Books and Journals...................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
In the present hyper competitive and modernised environment, corporate entities are
nowadays demanding skilled, talented, eligible and highly qualified professionals and individuals
which caters the organisation with increasing productivity and performance in the vast, volatile
and dynamic international market. The aspect of conceptualisation is showing a rising trend in
the current business area. The companies are focusing on hiring, recruiting and selecting the
candidate who posses all the skills, talent and relevant knowledge regarding the particular filed
in a very systemic and appropriate way (McNiff, 2010). Doing this allows the entity to increase
its overall productivity thereby enabling it to maintain a competitive and winning edge in the
increasingly tough traded business environment. With regard to this, individuals are now laying
their major concern over enhancing and building their communication, presentation and other
relevant skills which meets the standards and objectives of an organisation in a highly significant
way. Therefore, there exist a rising need and demand for personal and professional development
of an individual (Moon, 2013).
In lieu of this fact, the present report will highlight the crucial aspect of developing the
personal as well as professional skills in order to acquire the desired position of hotel manager in
Travel Lodge. It is one of the leading and fastest growing company of hotel and hospitality
industry and is headquartered in United Kingdom. Consequent to this, the report will focus on
understanding the importance of self managed learning in enhancing the life long learning
process. It will also throw light on evaluating own personal and professional skills as against the
said company's standards and objectives. Furthermore, the report will focus on designing and
implementing an effective personal development plan in order to attain the desired position in
Travel Lodge.
TASK 1
1.1 Evaluating the approaches to self managed learning in Travel Lodge
Travel Lodge is a multinational hotel and hospitality industry which deals in serving its
business operations across the globe. The key places of the company's business operations
encompass UK, US, Spain, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. The company currently
posses approximately 1300 employees under it and is seeking to hire and recruit more
professional employees within its workplace. By considering this fact, the study will deal on
1

recruiting and selecting the well qualified and eligible candidate within the workplace by clearly
evaluating and examining his/her personal and professional skills in a highly significant manner
(Bolton, 2010). Furthermore, with a view to enhance and expand the knowledge, talent,
experiences, skills and competencies of its individual employee, Travel Lodge lays its major
attention over undertaking and implementing effective techniques towards the concept of self
managed learning.
Self managed learning reflects the aspect of intensifying and enhancing the potential of
learning skills in an individual in a systematic and accurate way. It offers the individual with a
fascinating and huge platform to grow and expand their level of knowledge, understanding and
experience in a very systematic and significant way. It benefits the prospective candidate to
create a positive and strong impact on the company's overall performance and productivity of an
organisation (Hamza, 2010). Therefore, with regard to this context, Travel Lodge lays its prime
concern over providing its entire workforce with relevant, knowledgable and effective
approaches towards self managed learning with a view to motivate them and boost up the morale
of their confidence and commitment towards successfully achieving the desired set of company's
goals and objectives within short span of time. The major techniques towards the implementation
and promotion of self managed learning within the workplace, Travel Lodge provides its
employees with the following effective methods- Seminars, workshops and induction sessions- By providing the individual employees
with effective and relevant conduct of seminars, workshops and induction sessions, the
said company is strongly able to brush up their major concepts and knowledge regarding
to their particular subject matter (Bauer, 2010). This allows the entity to gain skilled and
talented workforce as the individual employees are now clearly able to attain a better
understanding of their roles and responsibilities towards organisation's success. Books and journals- By providing the relevant and essential information in books and
journals, Travel Lodge is effectively able to attain the implementation of self managed
learning within its individual employee in a systematic way. Although it is one of the
most traditional aspect of gaining knowledge and enhancing learning skills but is one of
the most effective source of attaining the attributes of self managed learning in a very
significant way.
2

 Media and social networks- The another very powerful way of gaining self managed
learning attributes is by the use of media and social networking sites. It is the modern
way of acquiring detailed understanding of the objectives and purpose of the company in
the hyper competitive business environment. By providing the relevant information in the
company's official websites, Travel Lodge is able to gain the knowledgable, skilled and
talented workforce within its organisational structure (Lago, 2010).
1.2 Proposing ways to encourage life long learning process in Travel Lodge
Life long learning is a much broader aspect as compared to self managed learning
attributes of an individual. It allows the individual to gain relevant and appropriate knowledge
regarding the particular subject which in turn helps him/her to gain life long learning in a highly
significant and effective way. Being an assistant manager in Travel Lodge, I would lay my major
concern over proposing certain effective ways to encourage the process of line long learning
within the organisational structure. Doing this will result the entity to gain highly skilled,
qualified and eligible workforce thereby allowing the organisation to tremendously increase its
productivity and performance in the global market place (Calderhead, Denicolo and Day, 2012).
Following are the ways which I should implement in order to attain the said objective- Conducting effective training and development programmes- By conducting strong,
effective, positive and knowledgable training sessions, I will make sure that each and
every employee within the organisation is clearly able to attain the major knowledge and
skills required for achieving the organisational goals and objectives. This will help the
company to encourage the aspect of life long learning within its workplace thereby
enhancing the learning skills of its employees in a very significant way.
 Self managed learning approach- This approach allows the individual employee to
clearly and effectively assess his/her major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats in the hyper competitive business environment (Zepeda, 2012). Doing this will
allow the individual employee to clearly understand their strengths and use it to
overcome their weaknesses and threats effectively thereby enabling them to attain life
long learning process in a very significant and systematic way.
1.3 Evaluating the benefits of self managed learning
The self managed learning approach within an organisation renders the company with
innovative and highly skilled professional which caters to the rising productivity and
3

performance of the entity in the fast changing global world. It allows the firm to gain a strong
and positive brand recognition across the globe within a short span of time.
With regard to this context, the major benefits of self managed learning to Travel Lodge
and me as an assistant manager are explained as follows-
Advantages of self managed learning in Travel Lodge Results in gaining a positive work culture- By the implementation of self managed
learning, Travel Lodge is effectively able to gain a positive and strong work culture
where the employees work in proper coordination and cooperation to achieve the
common set of organisational goals and objectives in a timely manner (Reeves, 2012).
 Benefits the company in attaining a committed and confidence workforce- The another
crucial benefit of self managed learning is that it allows Travel Lodge to gain a
motivated, committed, loyal and confident employees which helps the company to attain
maximum sales and increase its profit and revenue margin in an effective and impressive
way.
Advantages of self managed learning to me as an assistant manager in Travel Lodge Improves the personal, professional and developmental skills- By attaining the process
of self managed learning within the said workplace, I am effectively able to enhance my
overall personal, professional, interpersonal and developmental skills in a very effective
and impressive manner which in turn helps me to gain promotions within the concerned
entity.
 Makes me confident in providing strong and effective business decisions- The
implementation of self managed learning allows me to make effective and strong
judgements based on certain business circumstances and allows me to gain confidence in
taking active participation in the problem solving and decision making process of the
organisation.
TASK 2
2.1 Evaluating own current skills and competencies against professional standards and
organisational objectives
Skills essential for
gaining the position
My current
attributes and skills
Areas which need
improvement in my
Importance of skills
in Travel Lodge/
4

of Hotel manager in
Travel Lodge
skills Company's
standards
Communication skills Excellent
communication skills
Formal
communication and
presentation skills.
Formal
communication and
presentation skills will
render the said entity
to enhance its overall
service quality.
Management skills Poor command on
managerial skills
Improving the
attributes to manage
the time properly by
effectively meeting the
set targets within the
pre determined time
frame.
Effective management
skills will allow Travel
Lodge to deliver high
business results.
Leadership skills Moderate skills of
leadership
Developing my skills
to strongly and
effectively handle the
contingent business
situation by
systematically
directing and
managing the
individual employee
within the workplace.
Proper leadership
within the workplace
will allow the
employees to work
with full coordination
and cooperation to
achieve the common
set of company's goals
effectively.
Technological skills Strong command on
MS Excel and MS
Office
Gaining relevant
knowledge regarding
the new and
innovative software
and application
Appropriate
understanding of
innovative
technologies will serve
the said entity with
5

programmes to
effectively manage the
said hotel.
enhancing its data base
management system in
order to successfully
expand its business
operations.
2.2 Identifying own developmental needs and the activities required to meet them
In order to determine my own developmental needs and aspirations, it becomes important
for me to carry out a self assessment with a view to identify my major strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats in a very significant way. With regard to this fact, I lay my considerable
attention over conducting the SWOT analysis in order to determine my major developmental
needs and what all activities are required to meet such needs.
STRENGTHS
 Excellent communication and
presentation skills.
 Strong command on technological
advancements.
 Offers higher business results when
working under a supportive team.
 Impressive inter-personnel skills.
WEAKNESSES
 Inadequate knowledge on management
skills.
 Not so effective leadership skills.
 Lacks in decision making and problem
solving skills
OPPORTUNITIES
 Building strong employee-employer
relationship within the workplace.
 Providing the organisation with formal
and effective business presentations.
 Attending relevant training and
development programmes.
THREATS
 Increasing competition in the global
market place.
 Rising trend of online dealings and
marketings.
2.3 Identifying developmental opportunities to meet current and future defined needs
Developing opportunities that are crucially available to me with a view to meet the
current and future defined needs of Travel Lodge are explained as follows-
6

 Managerial skills- In order to gain the desired position of hotel manager within Travel
Lodge, the most important skill which an individual requires to posses is the management
skills which helps the said entity to deliver higher business outcomes. Therefore, with a
view to improve my managerial skills I would lay my major focus over managing the
time activity by setting smaller targets and brushing up all the concepts of management in
a very significant way. This offers me with the opportunity to make effective planning
along with directing and organising the employees within the said workplace.
 Leadership skills- Another crucial skills required to attain the position of hotel manager
in Travel Lodge is the leadership skills which helps the company to gain a coordinated
and cooperated workforce in an effective and systematic manner. In order to enhance my
leadership skills I would focus on improving my listening and delegating skills. I will
delegate the work to my team followers which matches their interest and specifications.
Doing this would allow me to gain employee support and effective production.
2.4 Developing a personal and professional development plan based on my identified needs
With a view to develop a personal and professional developmental plan on the grounds of
the needs which are identified by me in order to acquire the position of hotel manager in Travel
Lodge includes the answers of the following questions-
What are my needed skills?
The needed skills as discussed above in order to become the hotel manager of the
concerned entity includes the following- Management skills- The management skills will help the said organisation to enhance its
internal as well as external business operations thereby enabling it to achieve a higher,
positive and valuable business results within the standard time frame. As employee with
effective and strong managerial skills tends to be the core asset for the organisation and
helps the company to maintain a competitive and winning edge in the international
market.
 Leadership skills- The another most important skill required by me is the leadership
skills. It is important to attain the quality and skills of a leader in order to effectively
delegate the work and responsibilities to the subordinates and to bring in proper
coordination and cooperation among its workforce in order to achieve the company's
success impressively.
7

How will I develop such skills?
By analysing my current and future defined needs, it becomes mandatory for me to
develop and enhance such skills to become the hotel manager of Travel Lodge in a very
significant and impressive way. In order to develop the required skills I will crucially lay my
prime concern over the following points- Management skills- In order to enhance and improve my managerial skills, I will set
smaller targets and will focus on achieving such targets within the standard time frame
set. This will allow me to manage my time effectively which in turn will result in
improving my managerial skills. Also, I will take active participation in planning,
organising and directing the employees working activities to effectively manage the
internal working structure of the company. Furthermore, I will also focus on reading
relevant books, articles and journals to brush up my managerial concepts impressively.
All such steps will allow me to enhance and develop my management skills significantly.
 Leadership skills- To develop my leadership skill I will focus on actively attending the
company's team meetings and will delegate the work to my team members according to
their specification, interest and eligibility. Also, I will focus on gaining expert advice and
suggestions from my supervisors in order to develop and enhance my leadership skills.
Time frame required to enhance such skills? Management skills- 1-2 years (taking certified diploma course)
 Leadership skills- 6 months
TASK 3
3.1 Processes and activities required to implement the development plan
By analysing and examining the above prepared development plan of my skills and
attributes, it now becomes mandatory for me to implement such plan in a highly systematic and
appropriate manner. For this I will lay my considerable concern over undertaking the following
processes and activities in a very significant manner-
 Firstly, I will develop, enhance and improve my managerial skills in a very effective and
impressive manner. For achieving this objective, I will focus on pursuing a certified
professional and management diploma course which will help me in planning,
organising, directing, monitoring ad controlling the work activities of my employees in
8

an accurate and systematic way. Furthermore, I will focus on managing my time by
setting smaller targets and achieving such targets within the time set by me. All such
activities will effectively and significantly allow me to implement my personal
development plan impressively.
 Secondly, I will lay my major attention towards enhancing and maximising my
leadership skills in a very effective and strong manner. To do so, I will deal with active
and impressive participation in the team meetings of the concerned entity to gain better
understanding of the activities which are essentially required to attain the company's
purpose and objectives. Also, I will focus on delegating the work according to the person
specification and job description which will allow me to gain higher productivity and
increase in the company's performance effectively.
3.2 Implementing the developmental activities as planned
With a view to execute and implement the developmental activities as planned by me, I
will lay my significant concern over documenting the following activities in an effective and
appropriate manner- Expert mentoring and continuous guidance- In order to enhance and develop my
management and leadership skills, it becomes essential for me to take expert advice and
suggestions to improve my attributes, behaviour and skills within the workplace. I will
focus on gaining continuous guidance and expert mentoring which will allow me to make
effective managerial and business decisions which in turn will help me to enhance my
management and leadership attributes (Shortland, 2010). Therefore, I will deal with my
seniors and executives to gain such skills in order to become the hotel manager in Travel
Lodge. Online learning process- The another way of gaining and enhancing my leadership and
managerial skills requires the technique of online learning process. This provides e with
the platform of gaining detailed understanding of the major roles and responsibilities of a
hotel manager within a hospitality industry and in turn helps me in enhancing my
required skills in a very significant manner.
 Training and development sessions- Also, I will focus on attending effective and
relevant training and development sessions in order to attain a deep understanding of how
to enhance my managerial and leadership attributes in a significant and systematic way.
9

3.3 Critical discussion of own learning against aims and objectives included in personal
development plan
The most important phenomenon of enhancing and improving the personal and
professional skills for gaining the desired designation in Travel Lodge requires the rising aspect
of own learning skills and attributes in a very significant way. Own learning attributes plays a
major role towards assisting the overall growth and development in my personality in an
impressive and effective way (Throop and Castellucci, 2010). With regard to the above discussed
development plan of my current skills, there exist the improvement demand for two major skills
which will help me to become the hotel manager in the stated entity. Management skills- To develop and enhance my managerial skills, I will focus on using
own learning techniques to gain a detailed and clear understanding about the major
concepts of management and functions within an organisation. For achieving this
purpose, I will join a certified diploma course in HR management which in turn will
benefit me to attain theoretical knowledge and implement such knowledge in the working
activities of Travel Lodge.
 Leadership skills- In order to enhance my leadership skills, I will focus on understanding
the changing and contemporary issues taking place within the organisational structure.
The own learning process in understanding the major forms and skills of leadership
through books, journals and articles will allow me to attain a detailed knowledge of
various forms of leadership style which I can implement within the workplace to achieve
the company's success within the standard time frame. This will allow me to achieve the
organisational standards in a very significant and systematic way.
3.4 Updated Personal Development Plan
Skills required Developmental scale Measures to improve
such skills
Time required to
improve such
intending skills
Management skills Moderate I will deal with
making use of the
external opportunities
in planning and
2 years
10

organising the
activities of employees
by learning effective
management theories
and techniques.
Leadership skills Low I will focus on
analysing the existing
standards of
hospitality industry
and will implement
such benchmarks to
deliver higher business
outcome.
6 months
Communication skills Effective I will deal with
delivering formal and
effective business
presentations to
enhance my
communication skills
as per the said
company's standards.
2 months
Technological skills High I will focus on
pursuing certified
computer course and
gain diploma in it to
accomplish the
standards and
objectives of Travel
Lodge in an effective
and significant
1 month
11

manner.
TASK 4
4.1 Proposing solutions to work based problems arising in Paramount Travel Hotel Park Royal
Paramount Travel Hotel Park Royal is one of the leading hotel chain headquartered in
London, UK. The said organisation is currently facing a sudden downturn in its overall business
productivity and performance in the fast changing and tough trading international market. The
recent study reveals the fact that the said company is facing the major challenge of increasing
staff turnover in a significant way. The major reasons of its staff turnover involves the following
business aspects-
 Heavy workloads on individuals
 Low employee morale
 No staff motivation
 Low job satisfaction
 High mental stress
 Ineffective communication structure
 Unrealistic and unhealthy competition
By analysing all such major challenges, the company is highly recommended
implementing and undertaking the following solutions in a highly significant and appropriate
manner-
12

Motivating the staff
Paramount Travel should lay its considerable
concern over implementing a motivated and
positive work culture in order to boost up the
morale and confidence level of its individual
employee to effectively contribute towards
company's success. The company should
provide its workforce with exotic and attractive
rewards and incentives systems in order to gain
their trust, loyalty and commitment towards the
company's success and objectives (Desimone,
2011). It should also provide its employees
with such rewards that includes appraising the
performance of individual employee in front of
other in order to gain a strong sense of
motivation from them.
Team Working
In order to reduce excessive workloads on
individual employee, Paramount Travel should
focus on understanding the significance of
team dynamics and implementing the concept
of team working within its workplace. Doing
this will help the company to attain higher and
valuable business results thereby reducing the
work pressure from individual employee
(Hunzicker, 2010). Also, with team working,
the said entity will be effectively able to attain
a strong sense of coordination and cooperation
among its employees to achieve the common
set of company's goals in an effective and
13

timely manner.
4.2 & 4.3
This section has been covered in PPT
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that in order to attain the position of hotel
manager in Travel Lodge it becomes essential for me to plan and develop my own assessment
sheet in order to analyse my core skills, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and major threats.
The study helped to gain effective understanding about the concept and importance of self
managed learning in the changing business scenario along with the growing importance of life
long learning in a very significant manner. Also, the report focused on analysing my current
skills and the ways through which I can improve my skills to attain the desired position in the
stated travel company. Furthermore, the report helped to gain detailed understanding regarding
the various factors that results Paramount Travel to face high employee turnover along with the
reasons to overcome it to achieve the leading heights of company's success within the standard
time frame.
14

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bauer, W.I., 2010. Your personal learning network professional development on demand. Music
Educators Journal. 97(2 ). pp.37-42.
Black, P.E. and Plowright, D., 2010. A multi‐dimensional model of reflective learning for
professional development. Reflective Practice. 11(2 ). pp.245-258.
Bolton, G., 2010. Reflective practice: Writing and professional development. Sage publications.
Calderhead, J., Denicolo, P. and Day, C., 2012. Research on Teacher Thinking (RLE Edu N):
Understanding Professional Development. Routledge.
Desimone, L.M., 2011. A primer on effective professional development. Phi delta kappan.
92(6 ). pp.68-71.
Ebert-May, D., Derting, T.L., Hodder, J., Momsen, J.L., Long, T.M. and Jardeleza, S.E., 2011.
What we say is not what we do: effective evaluation of faculty professional development
programs. BioScience. 61(7 ). pp.550-558.
Hamza, A., 2010. International experience an opportunity for professional development in higher
education. Journal of Studies in International Education. 14(1 ). pp.50-69.
Hunzicker, J., 2010. Characteristics of Effective Professional Development: A Checklist. Online
Submission.
Lago, C., 2010. On developing our empathic capacities to work inter‐culturally and inter‐
ethnically: attempting a map for personal and professional development. Psychotherapy
and politics international. 8(1 ). pp.73-85.
McNiff, J., 2010. Action research for professional development: Concise advice for new action
researchers. September books.
Moon, J.A., 2013. Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice.
Routledge.
Reeves, D.B., 2012. Transforming professional development into student results. Ascd.
Shortland, S., 2010. Feedback within peer observation: Continuing professional development and
unexpected consequences. Innovations in Education and Teaching International. 47(3 ).
pp.295-304.
Throop, R.K. and Castellucci, M.B., 2010. Reaching your potential: Personal and professional
development. Cengage Learning.
Watts, M.D., 2010. Certification and clinical ladder as the impetus for professional development.
Critical care nursing quarterly. 33(1 ). pp.52-59.
Zepeda, S.J., 2012. Professional development: What works. Eye on education.
15