Importance of Ongoing Professional Development in Hilton Hotel - A Case Study

PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
AND PRACTICE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
Key benefits and importance of ongoing professional development...........................................3
Skills and competencies expected by employer..........................................................................4
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................5
Skill audit.....................................................................................................................................5
Learning theories and development approaches..........................................................................6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................7
Personal Development Plan.........................................................................................................7
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................10
Job Interview.............................................................................................................................10
Strengths and weaknesses of interview process........................................................................10
Reflection...................................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Personal and professional development is basically associated with the development of
these professional skills and talents that are necessary in order to develop a comprehensive
portfolio (Gould, 2017). The Hilton Hotel was founded in the year 1919 by Cornard Hilton and is
an international brand of hotels that have their hotels, restaurants etc. in multiple countries. The
current report will evaluate the importance of the ongoing professional development and then
compare the required skills and competencies by the employer against the actual skills for a
particular job role. The report will further present the different learning and development
approaches and theories that can be used and the personal development plan will be prepared
accordingly. Lastly the report will undertake an interview process and identify the strengths and
weaknesses of the entire process along with the detailed reflection evaluating the interview
undertaken.
MAIN BODY
LO 1
The chain of Hilton Hotels has been in operation all over the world and the excellent quality
of services that they provide makes it difficult to hire employees that match up to the level of
skills and expertise that are mainly required.
Key benefits and importance of ongoing professional development
The concept of ongoing professional development basically indicates that the development
activities pertaining to skulls and knowledge are being carried out and adopted by the individual
so that the overall process of learning and development does not get disrupted (Fleming and
Daw, 2017). It also assists in improving the quality of work that is being done and the
development of the personality as well. The importance of the ongoing professional development
can be identified as:
 Latest Trends and Standards: The engagement of an individual in the ongoing
professional development helps them in getting trained according to the latest
developments that have occurred regarding the skills and techniques that are to be
developed (Waters and Craske, 2016). This helps in increasing the competitiveness and
also enhances the overall skill development process. The changes and modifications in
these skills are at an extremely rapid rate and it is necessary to adopt and integrate the
latest standards with which the process will be improved overall.
3

 Fosters personal growth and encouragement: The practice of ongoing professional
development also helps in the encouragement of the personal growth factors where the
individual themselves feels empowered. This also increases the overall contribution that
the individual is able to give while working in the teams or in the organisations (Vetere
and Stratton, 2016). Additionally, the experience that is amassed in the development of
different activities helps in the increase ability to deal with the critical challenges and
situations as and when they arise.
 Increased Opportunities: The enrolment in the ongoing professional development also
increases the number of opportunities that arises before an individual not just in the
professional work place but in the overall attitude as well. Additionally the development
in such a manner also improves the individual’s capability to lead others, manage things,
incorporate multi skilling and also influence or coach others by keeping them under the
individual. All these are the new opportunities that are given to the individuals with
developed professional skills.
Therefore these are the points above that help in illustrating the different benefits and the
key importance of engaging in the ongoing professional development.
Skills and competencies expected by employer
Since the job title being sought is of the operation manager in the Hilton Hotel, there are
certain skills and competencies that will be inherently expected by the employers while selecting
a candidate for this particular job role (Pritchard, 2017). These skills and competencies can be
classified as follows:
 Strong leadership skills: As the operation manager in the Hilton hotel, there will be
numerous departments that will need leadership as the role of operation manager is
significant specifically in the front office department. it is therefore necessary to take
effective decisions and implement them firmly and quickly gaining the confidence and
trust of all the subordinate employees as this is the key aspect in developing leadership
skills.
 Increased accountability and responsibility: An operation manager is tasked with the
duty of handling all the operation related activity such as monitoring the housekeeping
department, the facilities that are being given, security aspect, checking up on the
availability of the rooms and their cleanliness etc. i.e. overall the duty of operations
4