Professional Identity and Practice

This document explores the importance of ongoing professional development and self-assessment in the context of the hospitality industry. It examines the benefits of ongoing development for both employees and employers, as well as the expectations of employers for managerial positions. The document also includes a self-assessment of abilities, skills, and competencies, and reviews various learning theories and approaches for personal and professional development.

PROFESSIONAL
IDENTITY AND
PRACTICE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Examination of key benefits of ongoing professional development................................1
P2. Investigation of professional employer expectations.......................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P3. Assessment of own abilities, skills and competencies.....................................................3
P4. Reviewing a range of learning theories and approaches used for personal and professional
development...........................................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P5. Construction of a development plan.................................................................................7
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P6. Undertake a job interview for suitable service industry role.........................................10
P7. Reviewing key strengths and weaknesses of applied interview process........................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Personal and Professional Development is an effective area of practice which is associated
with ensuring effective improvement within certain set of skills in order to secure a prominent
and desirable place within a desirable job role. Furthermore, it is an imperative aspect for people
as it helps them in appropriately and effectively assessing their strengths and weaknesses in
terms of the particular job role (Marañón and Pera, 2015). In addition to this, it would also help
these individuals in enhancing and developing several skills and competencies which ensures
their professional growth and development. In this relation, the report below is based on
Rosewood Hotel, which is one of the most prominent hotel branches in the United Kingdom. In
this context, the report is divided into two parts, where the first part is associated with
exploration of importance of on-going professional development and self directed learning, along
with a detailed assessment of one’s own skills and competencies and different types of learning
and development approaches. Furthermore, the second part of the report covers a brief
professional development plan, along with demonstration of a range of service industry and
transferable skills for a job application.
TASK 1
P1. Examination of key benefits of ongoing professional development
Ongoing professional development refers to a continuous improvement within the skills
and competency of employees of a company. Moreover, it is a necessary element which
enhances the performance level of the firm which allows them to gain a competitive edge within
the markets in which they serve. Furthermore, within hospitality industry, it is quite crucial for
the enterprises to focus on ongoing professional development to ensure customer satisfaction as
well as enhanced image domestically as well as internationally (Clarke and et. al., 2015).
However, ongoing development has several benefits to different stakeholders of Rosewood
Hotel, such as the employers of the company as well as the employees. Hence, advantages of this
type of development are explained in context of both these entities below:
Benefits to Employees:
 Job Satisfaction Level: One of the most crucial benefits which employees would be
receiving through ongoing development is the satisfaction level within the job. For
instance, within a hospitality organisation, ongoing development would help the
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employees in increasing skills such as communication, management and so forth, which
would provide them personal satisfaction and a sense of learning.
 Productivity: Each employee requires being better and contributing within the job role
they play. Hence, ongoing development would ensure that the weaknesses of employees
are eradicated and strengths and further competencies are induced, which help them
become more productive at the workplace and accomplish their personal agendas as well
(Wald and et. al., 2015).
Benefits to Employers:
 Skilled Workforce: A major benefit of ongoing development which employers
experience is a skilled and competent workforce. This allows the firm to further increase
their performance amongst customers and enhance the sustainability in the sector.
 Competitive Advantage: This benefit for the employers of Rosewood Hotel is associated
with a prominent edge over competitors in the marketplace. This is because consistency
is facilitated in the firm, which allows employees to constantly provide better results, as a
result, higher customer satisfaction and better competitive advantage.
P2. Investigation of professional employer expectations
A managerial position within hospitality industry is highly crucial, as it requires individuals
to completely and effectively plan, organise and execute the operations, functions and resources
of the organisation. Hence, in this context, employers of organisations such as Rosewood Hotel
have several expectations from aspiring managers for the company in relation to several skills
and competencies. Hence, some of the prominent capabilities expected by employers are
explored in detail below:
Skills Communication Skills:
One of the most imperative and necessary skills which is expected by employers within
Rosewood Hotel is communication skills. Managers within the hotel are required to deal with a
number of customers each day, even those which are not affiliated with the languages like
English. Moreover, they are also required to provide clear and precise instructions to
subordinates, which is a key requirement of the hotel. This, it becomes one of the key
expectations of the employers within Rosewood Hotel (Edwards, 2015).
 Problem Solving Skills:
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In Rosewood Hotel, much like in other hospitality organisations, managers and employees
are required to deal with various problems on daily basis, which must be dealt by the company in
an appropriate manner to provide enhanced services to the customers. Thus, since this aspect
could arise spontaneously and requires effective attention within the same, employers expect
problem solving skill within managers of the company to deal with problems in an effective
manner.
Competencies Work Ethic:
A prominent competency which is required by individuals at managerial positions within
Rosewood Hotel is work ethic. It refers to ethically managing the work and keeping up with the
consistency in aspects like punctuality, accountability, respect as well as professionalism. The
reason for expectation of this skill is that customers prefer those organisations within the
hospitality industry, where employees are very much ethical, considerate and passionate about
their jobs. It hence becomes another key expectation of employers within Rosewood Hotel
(Salifu and Agbenyega, 2016).
 Teamwork:
Hospitality industry is all about working amongst groups and coordinating each activity
within the organisation to ensure high quality service delivery to customers. Hence, in
perspective of Rosewood Hotel’s employers, teamwork is an essential skill which must be
included within individuals at the managerial positions. Furthermore, several aspects within this
competency include coordinating with team members, communicating with them, consistent
information sharing, providing suggestions, following orders within group and so forth.
Hence, these skills and competencies are expected by the employers within Rosewood Hotel
with respect for their managerial position, which is required by these individuals to consistently
perform their operations effectively (Wald, 2015).
TASK 2
P3. Assessment of own abilities, skills and competencies
Self assessment is an effective activity which is required by individuals to identify their
personal strengths and weaknesses in line with their desirable job roles. For a manager within
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Rosewood Hotel, my personal self assessment is explained below by usage of SWOT analysis,
which is a framework for determining effective strengths and weaknesses along with external
opportunities and threats:
Strengths:
 Communication Skills: One of the most prominent strengths which I posses is the
communication skill. I am quite effective when it comes to communicating to customers
as I deal with them very professionally, which allows me to actively listen to their
problems and ensure that each of their need is tended to. Furthermore, I appropriately
provide precise and clear instructions to individuals in context with work.
 Leadership Skills: My leadership skills are quite good as I ensure participation of each of
my subordinate and senior in taking crucial decisions for the company, which helps me
empower my employees and keep them motivated (Gibbs, 2015).
Weaknesses:
 Time Management: I find these skills very hard to possess, as I fail to plan and prioritise
my tasks in ways which could contribute in effective time management. Moreover, I am
quite ineffective in dealing with multi tasking, which further delays my activities.
 Decision Making: Another weakness possessed by me is the lack in decision making.
This is because I tend to panic when it comes to taking crucial decisions for the
organisation. Moreover, I fail to evaluate the factors influencing the situation in an
appropriate manner, which enhances the time taken by me to reach to an effective
decision.
 Conflict Management: Despite being good in communication, I fail to resolve conflicts
between two parties, especially when either party is related to me. The reason for this is
because there arise a conflict of interest which refrains me from taking an ethical
decision.
Opportunities:
 Enhancement in Position: One of the major opportunities in context of this role is the
promotion to a better position, such as a branch manager, which would enhance the scope
of my practice and contribution towards the company (Cyrino, 2016).
 Increased Knowledge: Another opportunity for me is enhancement in knowledge through
appropriately working towards learning new aspects about the job role of manager within
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the Rosewood Hotel, such as better management of people, development of analytical
skills, calculative decision making and so forth.
Threats:
 Competition: This threat is quite severe for me in context of the job role as there are
many individuals in this same field who might be way better than me and hence, could
cause disadvantage for me.
 Perceptions: Another threat for me is difference in perceptions of individuals. For
instance, while providing instructions to a subordinate, there might be times where the
individual has a different perception of seeing the same aspect. This would cause
challenges for me to apply my knowledge into practice (Cruess, Cruess and Steinert,
2016).
On the basis of the above skills, a personal skills audit is mentioned below, which contains
several scores for these areas above, from individuals such as assessors, colleagues, peers and so
forth:
Skills and Competencies Score to Self Score by Others
Communication Skills 9 9
Leadership Skills 8 10
Time Management 6 5
Decision Making 5 3
Conflict Management 6 4
Hence, as per the display above, my time management, decision making and conflict
management are appropriate areas of improvement which is required by me to enhance my
competence (Cruess, and et. al., 2015).
However, there are several team roles which were provided by Belbin which reflects
several team characteristics which individuals could analyse. Hence, in my context, these roles
are mentioned below:
 Shaper: These are the individuals who challenge the whole team to effectively improve
and stay dynamic.
 Implementer: These people transform the concepts and ideas into action.
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 Completer Finisher: As per this role, team members are responsible to accomplish
activities with utmost perfection.
 Co-ordinator: A traditional approach is required by these leaders to handle other
individuals effectively through active listening and valuing each member on the table.
 Team worker: They are the ones who is responsible towards provision of support in
teams and ensure coordination (Jackson, 2016).
 Resource Investigator: A rather curious and innovative nature is possessed by these
individuals to accomplish different tasks effectively.
 Plant: These are the innovators who induce creativity in processes within the team.
 Mentor Evaluator: They evaluate and analyse ideas of other individual and assess the
same effectively in context of removing any scope of inefficiency.
 Specialist: Specialised knowledge is possessed by these individuals to get things done
effectively.
According to the analysis above, I have certain characteristics that are mentioned above, such
as I am a resource investigator as I could not attempt to dwell in an activity without analysing the
resources and bringing in innovation. Moreover, I am an effective plant, along with a firm team
worker
P4. Reviewing a range of learning theories and approaches used for personal and professional
development
It is required that several theories and approaches are used by individuals to learn the weaker
and necessary skills and competencies and convert them into practice for effective improvement.
Hence, theories and approaches which I can use to learn my weaker skills are explained as under:
Learning Theories:
 Constructivism: This theory works on the notion that learning is a constructive and an
active procedure. Individuals in this theory construct self subjective representations of
several objective realities. Furthermore, I could learn several techniques, concepts and
methods by performing detailed hypothesis of my personal experiences as well as the
environment (Carrillo, Baguley and Vilar, 2015).
 Cognitivism: This theory is appropriately and effectively based upon several internal
mental processes and provides focus on activities like knowledge, memory as well as
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problem solving aspects. Hence, implementation of this theory could be allowing me to
enhance my problem solving and decision making skills effectively.
Learning Approaches:
 VARK Style: This approach is associated with certain methods through which learning
styles could be categorised by individuals to ensure learning in the best method. Hence,
Visual, Audio, Reading/Writing, as well as Kinetics could be used by me through
questionnaires that would be giving me my accurate learning style.
 Kolb’s Learning Cycle: It functions upon several stages related to learning. The very first
stage is related to encountering new and effective experiences. Furthermore, observation
of learner to identify any inconsistencies between experience and understanding is
required in the next stage. Moreover, the next stage is related to development of abstract
concepts, or a new or modified idea. Hence, this could help me in shaping up new
experiences based on my past ones.
However, out of all these theories and approaches, I believe Constructivism theory and
VARK learning style would suit me best as for the role of manager within Rosewood Hotel. The
reason for this is because both these aspects would allow me to develop my expertise based on
experiences and prominent styles of writing, which is quite effective in relation to enhance my
competence level for the role of Manager (Jourdan, and et. al., 2016).
TASK 3
P5. Construction of a development plan
It is necessary for individuals to enhance their competence in context of their weaker skills.
This would allow them to become more effective in their job role and secure their future. For
manager within Rosewood Hotel, a personal development plan is being designed by me to
improvise my competence and acquire the desired job role. Hence, this development plan is
described below:
SKILLS CURRENT
PROFICIENCY
TARGETTED
PROFICIENCY
DEVELOPMENT
OPPORTUNITIES RESOURCES TIME
Time
Management
5 10 This skill would
be improvised
through
undertaking
The
resources
which would
be required
3 Months
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several
workshops
which would
help me in
developing of
these skills
through
providing
complex
activities upon
different
timelines. The
opportunity it
would present is
effective
management of
time and
prioritisation of
activities which
would provide
me benefit as per
my job role.
for
improving
these skills
are the tools
and
equipments
used for time
management.
Decision
Making
3 10 To enhance
competence
within this skill,
appropriate
seminars would
be attended
which would
help me in
gaining insight
Manuals and
Past journals
would serve
as resources
in this aspect.
6 Months
8

of how past
managers took
effective
decisions.
Opportunities
within the same
would be to
improvise my
spontaneous,
ethical and
analytical
decision making
that would allow
me to take
calculative risks
and formulate
strategy as a
manager.
Conflict
Management
4 10 Feedbacks would
be acquired by
me for this skill
by my seniors
that would be
helping me in
effectively
managing
conflicts at
workplace. The
opportunity
within the same
is enhancement
VARK
learning
cycle and
Constructivis
m theory
would act as
effective
resources.
12
Months
9

of ethical frame
of mind while
taking decisions.
TASK 4
P6. Undertake a job interview for suitable service industry role
For a specific service sector role, it is highly crucial that an appropriate interview is taken,
which effectively and essentially would help the employers in determining the key candidate for
the job (Webb, 2017). Hence, in this relation, below is an interview process of Rosewood Hotel,
for the post of Manager.
INTERVIEW
Interviewee: “Good Morning, Sir.”
Interviewer: “Good Morning, have a seat!”
Interviewee: “Thank You, Sir!”
Interviewer: “Shall we begin with the interview?”
Interviewee: “Most certainly, Sir!”
Interviewer: “Alright. So, according to you, what must be the key skills which a manager within
hospitality sector should possess?”
Interviewee: “Communication, I believe is one of the most important skills. Moreover,
management and leadership capabilities must also be evident within a manager!”
Interviewer: “What would be your approach towards dealing with an unhappy customer?”
Interviewee: “The very first task performed by me would be to appropriately ask the customer
regarding the problems with our services they are facing. Secondly, I would be giving them
assurance that their needs would most certainly be catered to, immediately! Furthermore, I would
work towards finding the root cause of the problem and resolve the same effectively.”
Interviewer: “How would you manage huge but attainable demands of multiple customers in the
quickest way possible?”
Interviewee: “Delegation and Management would be two prominent approaches which I would
be applying in this case. I would immediately approach managers of different departments and
would be allotting them duties with clear instructions and timelines. Furthermore, for
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management purpose, I would be undertaking periodic feedbacks to ensure consistency in
operations!”
Interviewer: “Alright, last question. How would you be resolving a problem related to unethical
means used by a worker to complete their tasks, such as bribing others or coercions?”
Interviewee: “Firstly, I would be discretely and stealthily confirm such activities and if those are
actually happening, then I would be reporting to the authorities immediately, who would be
taking necessary decisions related to the scenario!”
Interviewer: “Alright, you may leave. Thank you so much!”
Interviewee: “Thank you for your time. I’m hoping to hear from you soon!”
P7. Reviewing key strengths and weaknesses of applied interview process
After the interview, it is necessary that the key strengths and weaknesses are identified
reviewed. Hence, for this purpose, below are the strengths and weaknesses of the interview
process mentioned above.
Strengths:
 Precision: The questions that were asked within the interview were very much direct and
thus, required direct answers only. This does not leave any scope of unprofessional
exchange of information which contributed in finding the right candidate for the job.
 Spontaneity: Another prominent strength of the interview was that spontaneous round of
questions and answers were commenced. This helps in acquiring honest and clear
answers from the interviewee, which helped in determining whether they are the key
candidate for the job role.
Weaknesses:
 Time Consuming: Weaknesses of this process includes time consumption. This is
because descriptive questions and answers are exchanged throughout the process, which
added to the time.
 Lengthy: The answers could sometimes be quite big, as reflected in the process above
and hence, was quite lengthy for both the interviewee and interviewer (Kearney-Nunnery,
2015).
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CONCLUSION
Hence, it is concluded from the report above that professional identity and practice is one of
the most important elements which must be included by individuals to ensure effective growth
within their careers. Examination of benefits of ongoing professional development helps in
analysis of the requirement of this aspect within an organisation to ensure effective working.
Moreover, investigation of employer expectation leads to realise the skills and competencies
which are required by employees to possess. Furthermore, assessment of own abilities, skills and
competencies allows to identify the strengths and weaknesses of an individual in terms of
different criteria. Moreover, learning theories and personal development plan allows enhancing
the scope of improvement when it comes to ensuring personal development. Lastly, undertaking
a job interview and reviewing its strengths and weaknesses allows in a detailed analysis of the
process and assurance of future development in selecting individuals for a particular job role.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Carrillo, C., Baguley, M. and Vilar, M., 2015. The influence of professional identity on teaching
practice: Experiences of four music educators. International Journal of Music
Education. 33(4). pp.451-462.
Clarke, C., and et. al., 2015. Sustaining professional identity in practice following role-emerging
placements: Opportunities and challenges for occupational therapists. British Journal of
Occupational Therapy. 78(1). pp.42-50.
Cruess, R.L., and et. al., 2015. A schematic representation of the professional identity formation
and socialization of medical students and residents: a guide for medical
educators. Academic Medicine. 90(6). pp.718-725.
Cruess, R.L., Cruess, S.R. and Steinert, Y., 2016. Amending Miller’s pyramid to include
professional identity formation. Academic Medicine. 91(2). pp.180-185.
Cyrino, M.C.D.C.T., 2016. Mathematics teachers’ professional identity development in
communities of practice: Reifications of proportional reasoning teaching. Bolema:
boletim de educação matemática. 30(54). pp.165-187.
Edwards, J., 2015. Paths of professional development in music therapy: training, professional
identity and practice. Approaches: music therapy & special music education, 7(Special
Issue: music therapy in Europe: paths of professional development). pp.44-53.
Gibbs, P. ed., 2015. Transdisciplinary professional learning and practice. Springer.
Jackson, D., 2016. Re-conceptualising graduate employability: The importance of pre-
professional identity. Higher Education Research & Development. 35(5). pp.925-939.
Jourdan, D., and et. al., 2016. School health promotion and teacher professional identity. Health
Education.
Kearney-Nunnery, R., 2015. Advancing Your Career Concepts in Professional Nursing. FA
Davis.
Marañón, A.A. and Pera, M.P.I., 2015. Theory and practice in the construction of professional
identity in nursing students: A qualitative study. Nurse Education Today. 35(7). pp.859-
863.
Salifu, I. and Agbenyega, J.S., 2016. Teacher motivation and identity formation: Issues affecting
professional practice. MIER Journal of Educational Studies, Trends and Practices. 3(1).
Wald, H.S., 2015. Professional identity (trans) formation in medical education: reflection,
relationship, resilience. Academic Medicine. 90(6). pp.701-706.
Wald, H.S., and et. al., 2015. Professional identity formation in medical education for
humanistic, resilient physicians: pedagogic strategies for bridging theory to
practice. Academic Medicine. 90(6). pp.753-760.
Webb, S.A. ed., 2017. Professional identity and social work. Taylor & Francis.
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