Trainee Manager Self-Assessment at Titan Travel

This assignment involves a self-assessment for a prospective trainee manager at Titan Travel. The candidate analyzes their personality traits, management style, and skillset in relation to Titan Travel's organizational culture and requirements. They identify areas for personal development, setting objectives and outlining a plan to enhance their skills in line with the role's demands.

The Developing Manager - Titan travel
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Table of Contents
Task 1 - Principles and practices of management behavior...............................................................3
1.1 Compare the different management styles in Titan Travel and Thomas Cook......................3
1.2 Discuss the leadership characteristics of the senior managers working in Titan travel........4
1.3 Evaluate the communication process within Titan Travel.........................................................4
1.4 Analyze organizational culture and process of change in Titan travel....................................5
Task 2 - Review own potential as prospective manager.....................................................................6
2.1 Assess own management skills and performance so as to work in Titan travel....................6
2.2 analyses own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats............................................7
2.3 Set and prioritize objectives and targets to develop own potentials........................................7
Task 3 - Show managerial skills within a business and service context...........................................8
3.1 Lead and motivate a team to achieve an agreed goal or objective.........................................8
3.2 Justify the managerial decisions made to support the achievement of agreed goals and
give recommendations for improvements..........................................................................................9
Task 4 – Create a career development plan for employment within a business and service
context......................................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Explain how own managerial and personal skills will support career development and set
the agenda for future..........................................................................................................................10
4.2 Review career and personal development needs, current performance and future needs
to produce a development plan with career goals and objectives................................................10
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................12
References..............................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
Developing management skills by a person is very crucial in present times so as to
attain prominent positions within the organization. This is required so as to move
forward in the career path and achieve success in it. However this technique requires a
lot of commitment and is not an easy task (Ulrich and Dulebohn, 2015). The present
study has been prepared on Titan Travel which is among the top most escorted tour
operators in UK and provides services in about 70 nations (Titan travel, 2018). The firm
was regarded as most successful UK based tour operator in 2017 and was also largest
consumer choice poll for leisure travel. The emphasis of present study will thus be on
assessing the management style of the firm; leadership traits of senior managers and
organizational culture of business. Other than this, the authors potential as a trainee
manager within the company will also be judged through self-assessment and setting
objectives for career development within Titan travel.
Task 1 - Principles and practices of management behavior
1.1 Compare the different management styles in Titan Travel and Thomas Cook
Management style can be defined as the ways by which a decision is made by the
management in context with the organization who are a part of the firm. There exist
different management styles such as autocratic, democratic, participative, affiltiave as
well as Laissez -faire style (Kunhke, 2011).
The management at Titan Travel adheres with participative management style on a
regular basis where work is done by taking the view point of employees and thus
instilling team working within them (Titan travel, 2017). This approach further leads to
creation of new ideas given from employees as to how the working of company can be
improved. These can be related to how tourism experience can be improved or need for
using online apps for travel bookings. There is also an adherence to affiltiave leadership
style where the management creates emotional bonds with the employee. The style is
usually used when the employees feel stressed out on account of bad encounter with a
traveller; usage of new technology among others. This helps to increase bonding, trust
and belongingness factor with the company (Sessa and London, 2015). The
management of Thomas Cook on the other hand makes the use of Autocratic style
where decisions are taken by manager himself and employees are made to work under
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closed supervision. Managers first of all give task and command to the staff members
and then monitor the overall performance. Trust only happens when they do task well
which is then delegated to them on a regular basis.
1.2 Discuss the leadership characteristics of the senior managers working in Titan travel
The common leadership traits of the managers working for Titan Travel are as follows;
 Adaptability – The managers in Titan Travel are the ones who can easily adjust
to changing situations and can handle any task in hand. This can be in form of
responding to the demands of a weary traveller or working on behalf of an ill
employee.
 Passion for work – this is one such trait that has been observed in almost all the
senior managers of the company. It was the passion, excitement and energy that
helps the managers in creating difference to the traveler which is being served by
them.
 Creative – the leaders in Titan Travel further possess the trait of creativity with
respect to creating templates for the trips; giving new travel experiences to the
tourists among others. They focus on instilling the same spirit in the employees
as well and are open to feedback given by the staff. This trait has aided the
company in proving unique experiences to the travellers (Solnet, Kralj and Baum,
2015).
 Communication skill – this trait is most needed in a manager while working with
Titan Travel as communication is required to be done with consumers on oral
and written basis. This includes handling queries of travellers; dealing with tough
tourists; preparing good travel brochures and responding to consumer feedback
given on social networking style (Kunhke, 2011). It is the presence of good
communication that makes the leader treat the consumers in the best possible
manner.
1.3 Evaluate the communication process within Titan Travel
Titan Travel adheres with the process of circular communication where focus is given
on 3 basic steps being listening; learning as well as leveraging. The manager listens to
the query of employees (inability to work on new technology) as well as consumers
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(issue in cleanliness) so as to assess their overall requirements of what kind of
response is being expected by them. Focus is given on valuable information provided to
them through the emotions, moods and pitch of voice.
Then comes learning to learn stage where specific response is asked from the
consumer or employee and the manager is now willing to act on the issue. Engaging
with the consumer or employee helps in finding sustainable solutions for the issues and
they can be easily dealt with by the manager (Shuck and et.al., 2014). For example, the
employee may be trained in the technological front by taking separate sessions as per
his or her need. The consumer may be satisfied by ensuring cleanliness and hygienic
standards throughout his travel time.
Last is the leveraging stage where the need is to deliver what has been asked from the
client and employee. This can be in form of improving the training delivery whenever
new technology arrives in the company and improving cleanliness and hygiene
standards. By making an improvement in service it will show that the needs of individual
has been met (Ulrich and Dulebohn, 2015).
This process has been quite advantageous within Titan Travel as it has led to creation
of trust between employee or consumers and the management. Hence a long lasting
loyalty has been instilled in the company.
1.4 Analyze organizational culture and process of change in Titan travel
Organizational culture can be defined as a set of assumptions, values as well as belief
system that governs the behavior of individuals in an organization. These values have
been found to have a strong influence on the people in terms of how the employee
dresses, acts as well as performs with respect to job (Shuck and et.al., 2014)..
The organizational culture within Titan Travel is of innovation, passion for work and
team spirit. This tendency is even prevalent in their travel managers who have a
passion for travel ad inspire other employees to do so. The management further invests
in growth and development of employees and provides them training programs when
the need arises. It tries to maintain a friendly work culture and ensure that employee
enjoy there working (Titan travel, 2018). As a part of change, the firm trying to recruit
employees from different cultures so as to create cultural diversity in the work place.
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This is being done to generate new ideas and perspectives within the company so that
varied solutions can be obtained for any given problem. This strategy may further assist
the company in expanding there business in worldwide markets through creation of
global leaders. The change being introduced within the firm is likely to be a positive one
as the company works on the ideology of team work, innovation and respects the
opinion of each other.
Task 2 - Review own potential as prospective manager
2.1 Assess own management skills and performance so as to work in Titan travel
As I am looking to build my career in the reputed organization such as Titan Travel
which has a presence of many opportunities for growth and development in the field of
travel and tourism. Hence it is essential for me to judge myself in the area of managerial
skill and performance so as to gain recognition. The skill set and my performance in the
same is as follows;
 Communication skill – As per my self-evaluation it can be said that I have a good
command on my verbal, nonverbal and written skill set due to my education in
English medium. However I am required to work more in the area of verbal
communication in order to deal with international visitors. It is thus necessary to
learn different languages so as to communicate easily with culturally diverse
people.
 Adaptability – I am required to make myself more adaptable with the changing
times so that it is easy for me to grab any opportunity when it arises. As of now I
get nervous when any such critical situation arises and have to call my manager
to handle it. This skill set if developed in a proper manner will aid me to handle
critical situations such as a weary traveller with ease.
 Creative – I find myself instilled with great ideas and innovative ways of working.
This is most likely to assist in my overall working within titan travel. However I am
required to link my creative nature with making the travel experiences of my
travelers a memorable one. A little effort is needed in this direction which can be
attained with some practice and as I start handling different situations in Titan
Travel.
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 Work based passion – I sometimes tend to get lazy when it comes to doing job in
a satisfactory manner. I am required to work on this skill set in order to become a
good manager within titan travel.
2.2 analyses own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
On the basis of my assessment made above, I have prepared by own SWOT analysis
so that I can focus more on the strengths, minimize threats/weakness and take
advantage of the opportunities that are available in front of me.
Strength
Good in the area of written and nonverbal
communication
Good command on English language
Innovative and creative way of working
Weakness
Lack of grasp over other languages
Inability to handle critical situations
Not able to link creativity with work
situations
Being lazy when it comes to work based
responsibilities
Opportunity
Need to learn a few foreign languages
Making myself more adaptable through
keeping my mind open and being ready to
accept upcoming situations
Making myself more creative in the area of
travelling
Increasing my enthusiasm and energy
towards work
Threat
Employees who are sound in multiple
languages
Employees who are more adaptable than
me
Experienced employees who are working
in Titan Travel since some time
Passionate staff members
2.3 Set and prioritize objectives and targets to develop own potentials
In order to convert my weakness into strength and threats into opportunities and for
reviewing my own potential as a trainee manager for Titan Travel I am required to set
objectives and targets for career development. These are as follows;
 To learn a new language in every six months.
 To make myself adaptable for facing critical situations in 4 months.
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 to link my creative nature with work based situations in 2 months
 To increase my enthusiasm and energy towards work in a weeks’ time after
joining.
Task 3 - Show managerial skills within a business and service context
3.1 Lead and motivate a team to achieve an agreed goal or objective
As a supervisor in my previous travel and tourism firm I was required to lead and
motivate my team from time to time. A situation arose when there was heavy work load
in the company on account of travellers who wanted to utilize there Christmas holidays
in travelling. Hence my manager gave me a target to respond to 100 queries in a day
and convert atleast 20 leads into consumers. This was a tough task as some of the
employees were on holidays which had already increased the work pressure. Hence I
took the charge of attaining the target in a timely manner. I formed small teams of 4
people and clear goals were set where each team was required to handle 20 queries
per day and generate 5 consumers for the company. Each team was headed by a
leader who was the senior most members. This was done in order to develop leadership
skills within the members. By this technique I offered them opportunities for self-
development and also increased their chances for promotion. This made them feel
motivated to give their best possible performance.
In the start I adhered with autocratic style of leading and supervised there work very
closely. When I found an increase in flow then I adopted participate approach wherein
input and suggestions were invited by me on how to do things better. I even helped the
team members whenever they were stuck with a query or needed help. Some members
were also new to the organization and took time and also committed mistakes. Rather
than shouting I encourage them to try again. This made them quite confident as I was
able to pay individual attention to them. The work load went away in a week and
strategy adopted by me was also successful one. The target was attained easily by the
team and all were quite happy with their individual performance. In order to further
motivate the employees I asked my manager to give them performance bonus so that
they are ready to give the best in coming times as well.
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3.2 Justify the managerial decisions made to support the achievement of agreed goals
and give recommendations for improvements
As per the above example of motivated and leading a team in my previous company, I
was required to make several managerial decisions. The first was the adoption of
autocratic approach which was justified in the start as work pressure was too much and
there was no time to take input from the team members regarding the work. The
adoption of participative approach after sometime was also essential in order to relieve
the work pressure and increase my overall participation. Moreover some of the clients
had high demands whose response was only possible after mutual discussion took
place within the team and ideas were generated. Also, there was a presence of some
new members as well who were not much aware about the work hence it was my duty
to make them understand the process and thus increase my involvement within teams.
The major managerial decision taken by me was of appointing a leader for every team.
This succession planning was a huge necessity to increase motivation of employees
and create new leaders for the company so as not to face any issue when key member
resigned from the company.
I personally feel that the managerial decisions taken by me were good for overall
betterment of the company and also led to development of employee skill set. However,
there is still a need to bring certain improvements. There was a need to appreciate the
team members while the work was being performed by them (Chile, Fraccaroli and
Sverke, 2017). Also I should have provided some training to the new members before
making them a part of team. This is as the mistakes made by them were quite difficult
to rectify in the work load which was present at that time.
Task 4 – Create a career development plan for employment within a business and
service context
4.1 Explain how own managerial and personal skills will support career development
and set the agenda for future.
In the present times, I am planning to make a career in travel and tourism firm such as
Titan Travel which has a presence of many opportunities to gain higher positions. In this
regard, it is essential for me to have certain managerial and personal skill set in me to
gain recognition of top management. As discussed in above sections, I am required to
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develop my verbal communication, workplace creativity; Adaptability and passion for
work so as to attain success within the organization (Petkovzki, 2012). Other than this, I
am also required to develop certain other skill set which is as follows;
 Time management – Titan Travel is most concerned about how the services can
be delivered to the consumers in a timely manner and with the desired
satisfaction level. I am thus required to churn my time management skill set so as
to meet the desired objectives in personal and professional context.
 Stress management - I often have a tendency to get stressed out whenever any
critical ask arises in front of me. This is a major drawback which can affect my
overall managerial skill. It at times makes me less productive and demotivated
which can affect the performance of those employees who are working under
me. The critical situations are most likely to arise in Titan Travel when consumers
will be dealt by me especially during work load. Hence I am required to get over it
as soon as possible.
4.2 Review career and personal development needs, current performance and future
needs to produce a development plan with career goals and objectives.
What are the
developmental
objectives
What activities are
needed to attain
the objectives
What support
resources are
required
Target date
for
achievement
of objective
How to evaluate objective
achievement
Time
management
Setting deadlines
for myself
Referring to books
and articles on time
management
Consulting
supervisors for time
management
issues faced by me
Working as per
Making a time
planner
Keeping a table
clock on work
space
Internet
1 month Meeting needs of clients in a
timely manner
Lack of stress on account of
time left to complete other
tasks
Feedback from manager
Increase in overall team
performance
Positive comments from
seniors and other employees
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daily planner
(Mathieu and et.al.,
2014).
Stress
management
Completing work
on time.
Observing manager
while he handles
critical situations
Mediation and yoga
sessions
Listening to good
music
(Tannenbaum and
Cerasoli 2013).
Surrounding myself
with positive people
Referring to books
and internet articles
on stress free
working
getting the support
from the team
members
Trainer for
meditation and
yoga
Collection of
good songs
Internet
Books
Advice from
manager
2 months Increase in work productivity
Ease in handling critical
situations
Increase in morale and
motivation
Able to handle employee
complaints
Praise from seniors
(Consiglio and et.al., 2013).
Conclusion
From the above report it can be concluded that management style and skills of senior
manager found in Titan Travel is quite close to my overall personality which makes me
fit for the role of trainee manager within the company. The organizational culture is also
based on the concept of innovation and team work which is quite suitable to my
working. On reviewing my skill set as prospective manager I have found out that I am
required to develop a grasp over a few foreign languages followed by making myself
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adaptable towards handling of critical situations. In this regard, objectives for career
development have been set by me followed by preparing a developmental plan on the
basis of it.
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