Time Management Strategies PDF

Employability Skills

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 My responsibilities and performance objectives...................................................................1
1.2 Evaluation of own effectiveness against objectives..............................................................1
1.3 Recommendations for improvement.....................................................................................2
1.4 Improvement of quality of performance through motivational techniques..........................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Development of solutions for work-based problems at Travelodge.....................................3
2.2 Letter to senior management regarding problems at Travelodge..........................................3
2.3 Effective time management strategies..................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
3.1 Roles of people in a team and achievement of shared goals.................................................4
3.2 Team dynamics analysis.......................................................................................................5
3.3 Alternative suggestions for achievement of tasks and team goals........................................5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
4.1 Tools and methods for development of solutions at Travelodge..........................................5
4.2 Strategy for solutions for labour turnover.............................................................................6
4.3 Impact on Travelodge due to implementation of strategy ...................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Employability skills are the transferable attributes, knowledge which if present, creates a
successful employee. Travelodge has been in the travel and hospitality business since 2013 and
employability skills is an important factor at organisation This report will brief responsibilities
and performance objectives of HR manager and their own effectiveness against it. It will analyse
the improvements in company and motivational techniques followed. This report will cover
work-based problems and strategies for developing their solutions. It will also cover team work
dynamics and analysis of strategies and their impact on Travelodge.
TASK 1
1.1 My responsibilities and performance objectives
Travelodge is company that requires a good work force to achieve goals and ensure
successful performance in the company. I have to create responsibilities and performance
objectives.
I, as HR manager of Travelodge, have compiled a list of responsibilities and performance
objectives to be followed and achieved by myself and my teammates.
Responsibilities:
 Assisting and resolving the queries and grievances of my teammates and management.
 Ensuring smooth function and recruitment and selection process.
 Analysing work performance and training and development.
Performance Objectives:
 Due to the interaction with customers, I like to create a good quality of customer service
with communication skills.
 My objective is to maintain good employee manager relations.
 I want to improvise flexible timing so that work can be done effectively.
1.2 Evaluation of own effectiveness against objectives
A list of responsibilities and performance objectives is futile, I have to make certain that
these objectives bring out some result at Travelodge. As an HR manager, I have recruited
employees and trained them to have a good command over their communication skills.

Their analysis is done from time to time to ensure that they are working towards
achieving these objectives. If there are any drawbacks, I will create various motivational
programs to help my teammates gain the positivity required. I have created a variety of rewards
and appraisals on the basis of the work performance. This has helped me in improving my
communication skills and made me a better guide and leader and help me focus on my objectives
as well and attain the effectiveness required at my company.
1.3 Recommendations for improvement
With objectives that I have set and evaluation of its effectiveness, I have noted all areas
in which improvement is required.
Many employees are still not comfortable approaching HR management, and hence their
queries are left unattended which causes incompletion of organisational goals. I should create out
office activities with ice breaking strategies, to make my teammates comfortable. This will
ensure better communication and teamwork.
Some employees were not happy with the appraisals and rewards as they felt it was
unfair. I have decided to restructure the appraisals and evaluate them. I should ensure that each
employee gets the fair amount of work and the reward accordingly. I have created better
strategies for them and shall soon evaluate it.
1.4 Improvement of quality of performance through motivational techniques
An HR manager has to make sure that the employees and teammates are motivated from
time to time. A list of financial and non-financial techniques of motivation is created to boost the
performance of my employees (Lowden and et.al, 2011).
 Incentives: Incentives are a very important aspect of motivation. It ensures that employee
of Travelodge is provided with the right amount of incentive.
 Recognition: Employees get motivated when their work gets recognized. At end of the
day, we all come together and give recognition to hard working employees.
 Individual Motivation: Every person is different and gets motivated differently. HR
management will talk to each employee, finds out what motivates them and implement
that strategy.

TASK 2
2.1 Development of solutions for work-based problems at Travelodge
Being in the hotel industry, Travelodge faces problems with employees due to
miscommunication or misinterpretation. These problems are addressed to HR management and it
is assured that issues get solved on time.
Hospitality has very long and irregular working hours which causes a decrease in the
productivity and efficiency in the performance of the employees. Human Resource management
can create a solution with brainstorming, in which, employees can choose a certain number of
hours and shifts they can work for (Wickramasinghe and Perera, 2010).
The rate of retention of employees has been decreasing for a while at Travelodge. This
may be because of the dissatisfaction of the employees or due to better work opportunities. With
proper brainstorming and evaluation, a solution has been derived in which regular feedbacks and
suggestions are taken by the employees that helps the management in knowing how they feel and
keeping them happy.
2.2 Letter to senior management regarding problems at Travelodge
To,
Mr. ABC
Senior Management
Travelodge
Subject: Addressing work-based problems and implementing solutions.
Respected Sir,
It has, unfortunately, come to the attention of the HR team that our employees at
Travelodge are facing problems and need to be evaluated and solved as soon as possible.
These include complaints of irregular and long working hours which have decreased their
productivity and there has been a decline in the rate of retention of our employees.
We hope to have a session in which we can find the solutions to our problems.
Please contact HR team for further queries.
Thank you.
Regards,

Name
4th August 2018
In terms of introducing 2 examples of communication skills of my own at work, I believe
being a good listener that in turn makes me a good communicator. I am an active listener who
pays close attention to what other’s say. This helps me in responding suitably. Other than this, I
also possess the skills of empathy to respect other’s views, even if it does not match to my own
perception.
2.3 Effective time management strategies
Travelodge management follows a list of time management strategies to increase
productivity and accomplish the company objectives.
 Plan and Organise: Employees are suggested to identify their responsibilities and the
time spent on each task and organise their work schedule accordingly.
 Avoiding multitasking: Employees are encouraged to not multi task as it gets confusing
and productivity gets reduced.
 Personal Planning tools: The management of Travelodge has to help the employees by
providing them personal planning tools, so that they can strategically plan their work load
and perform to the fullest of their capabilities.
 Weekly, monthly, quarterly to do list: Employees are encouraged to prepare a to-do list
on the basis of weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. This helps them to keep track of their
work, how much they've accomplished and how much remains (Top 5 employability
skills, 2018).
TASK 3
3.1 Roles of people in a team and achievement of shared goals
Team members and supervisors of Travelodge have to work together in a team with good
spirits and equally contribute their share of work in order to accomplish goals of company
(Wilton, 2011). This is mainly on referring to Belbin’s team role model management that
consists of total nine different roles, as stated below-
1. The Shaper

These are the dynamic team members and love to face challenges. They help in keeping a
positive attitude in the team.
2. Implementer role
They are one who get work done. They are well organised and create plans from ideas given
by team members.
3. Monitor Evaluator role
These are logical thinkers of team. They evaluate the work done and look out for corrections
to be done.
4. Resource investigator
They are usually good at maintaining effective relationship among the team members and
are open minded which in turn assists them to look for new set of ideas.
5. Plant
They are the creative thinkers of the team and are good at bringing innovative ideas but
often gets impractical and produces such ideas that are complex for others.
6. Coordinator
These people are the planners with effective skills of coordination in them to look upon
the procedures and delegate responsibility to others.
7. Completer finisher
These are the most efficient members in a team to completely understand the plan and
detect any existence of risks in it. They are often considered to be a perfectionist with a
tendency of paying attention to even the smallest detail.
8. Team worker
This being the most sensitive member of the team is known to create a sense of harmony
as well as togetherness in other teammates. However, they find it difficult to face any
conflicted situation at work and make decisions at such critical time.

9. Specialist
Specialists are those who have a vast knowledge in their area and also reflects an advisor to
provide information on a specific topic. The contribution of a specialist is substantial to
motivate the teammates and enhance their technicalities as well.
All employees of Travelodge stay focused on goals that are to be accomplished. They
regularly organise brainstorming sessions to get out best of ideas from team and at end measure
their success and accomplishment of goals together (de Guzman and Choi, 2013).
3.2 Team dynamics analysis
This is to define the term team dynamics which means such invisible forces which operates
among distinct set of members in a group. These dynamics greatly impacts on the way a team
behaves and thereby requires the use of effective team development model for formulating a
group. Team’s dynamics have a huge impact on Travelodge. They affect profitability of firm,
employee retention rate, company's reputation, staff performance both individual and team work
and feelings of workers towards organisation (Stoner and Milner, 2010).
They are mostly psychological factors that influence direction of Travelodge's team
performance and ethics. The company has mostly had a positive team dynamic which has helped
them attain productivity and efficiency and has strengthen the employee manager relations. The
team members share their views and opinions and provide each other with new ideas. Every
employee has a unique personality at Travelodge which has helped them to have a successful
team dynamic. The cited firm can thereby use a well-known model of team development called
Tuckman’s theory of team development which consists of 4 main stages, as referred below-
1. Forming- At this particular stage, leaders play a vital role in gathering a team with some
allocated tasks to be completed within a specific time period. Herein, each of the team
members are seen to behave self-reliantly with much time spent on planning,
accumulating data and create a bonding.
2. Storming- This is yet another phase in which, the team starts getting involved and
produces different set of ideas to attempt the previously assigned task. It is a crucial stage

in which, the relationship among the team members may either broke or made due to
conflicting thoughts and opinions of one another.
3. Norming- This phase is significant in terms of working towards harmonious work
practices with an agreement towards working on similar rules and values. This depicts an
ideal stage to trust on each other and work for the achievement of a common goal.
4. Performing- It indicates a strategic move by the formulated team with a clarity of
working towards a shared vision. At this stage, in case any disagreement occurs, it should
be positively resolved within the group through a common agreement among the
members.
3.3 Alternative suggestions for achievement of tasks and team goals
Team work in Travelodge is of utmost importance for timely work and generation of
profits. However, there together exists some principal role of teams in terms of combining
the resources, skills and competencies of several teammates to achieve an organisational
goal. Team usually represents a group of highly focussed members who are operating to
attain success by undertaking the specific tasks to be performed with an equal involvement
of all teammates. However, sometimes Travelodge's goals are not achieved and for this,
the company has compiled alternative suggestions to achieve the team goals and tasks.
 Setting of standards: Travelodge sets certain standards for their employees with regard
to their working style and work ethic.
 Sharing Travelodge goals: When the company shares its goals in detail with their
employees, they get a better understanding about it and can effectively work towards it.
 Trust: The bond between employees helps in creating trust amongst each other. This
helps them as a team to achieve goals of company.
The quoted entity can also refer applying a procedural framework to build competent teams
with some particular set of activities, as referred below-
 Transitional process- This is the 1st stage in which, the chosen enterprise will refer
analysing the mission with clear specification of goals and forming effective
strategies for its timely attainment.

 Action process- This on other hand includes monitoring progress towards the
achievement of goals by together monitoring the systems as a mean of
synchronising with the team members.
 Interpersonal process- This phase is responsible for managing conflicts among the
team members and create a sense of motivation in them to build their confidence.
An amalgamation of all aforesaid procedure is effective in terms of building
effective teams that is capable enough for an overall accomplishment of organisation’s
goals and objectives.
TASK 4
4.1 Tools and methods for development of solutions at Travelodge
Tools used for solutions for the problem of long and irregular working hours and rate of
retention are:
 Employees with longer working hours get more pays and rewards. It is specially with
respect to an effective reward system within which, the employees will be rated in
accordance to their performances and contribution in work. This is also referred to be the
most effective mean of retaining a talented set of workers and keep them satisfied during
their work tenure to perform well and bring productive outcomes.
 Employees get the allotted time according to their preferences. This is in terms of
providing a provision of flexible working to the employees and keep them contended
towards the fulfilment of both their personal and professional obligations.
 Feedback is taken from the employees regularly. This is referred to be yet another
effective method of developing workers at both personal and professional level. A 360-
degree feedback method with feedback from peers can also result in encouraging the
employees to perform well and help them cultivate.
 The company ensures a healthy environment to work in. By this, Travelodge can attain
cultural competence at their workplace to avoid any state of conflicts at the workplace.
4.2 Strategy for solutions for labour turnover
This is to define a strategy which is an action taken up by the managers to attain the
organisational goals. It is all about integrating the activities of the enterprise to utilize as well as

allocate the rare resources within the work environment to meet up the undertaken goals. It also
represents the blueprint of the decisions taken up by the organisation.
Also, on demonstrating the long- term goals of Travelodge, they are intending to grow
rigorously in the upcoming years and is thus aiming at retaining their employees. For this, they
have come up with the following strategies for keeping a low labour turnover (Wibrow, 2011).
This involves below action plan to achieve the set organisational goal of expanding in greater
numbers-
 Internal recruitment helps the company in retaining their employees by offering
promotions regularly.
 Travelodge encourages feedback from the employees and listens to them carefully.
 Motivation with incentives is given to the employees regularly.
4.3 Impact on Travelodge due to implementation of strategy
Travelodge's HR management created a list of strategies for the solutions to problems
faced. These strategies play a direct impact on the company.
Internal recruitment ensures that no excess expenses occur in the company. It saves time
and energy of HR management. Regular feedback is taken and this helps management to analyse
employees and get to know them better. Motivating employees has been a positive factor and has
helped in retaining staff. This is to evaluate the above implemented plan of Travelodge to attain
the long-term goal of enlarging its presence all over the globe. It can be accomplished with
assistance of internal recruitment methods to promote the talented set of workers appointed
within the organisation and are working from a longer time period. It is successful in terms of
providing them a sense of gratitude due to the recognition of their contributed efforts. Another is
in regard to attain regular feedback from the workers which is also efficient in terms of involving
them in the process of decision making. It in turn assists in regarding the views of employees and
respecting their thoughts and ideas for their greater engagement at work. Lastly, the action plan
of motivating them with the help of incentives is also effective in terms of gratifying those who
gives a special preference to it. However, linking it with that to the performances carried out by
the workers is of utmost importance to get profitable as well as productive outcomes.

CONCLUSION
From above study, it can be concluded that manager of company has to successfully
develop their responsibilities and performance objectives by analysing employee's performances
and assisting them whenever required. It has helped the HR management to gain more
experience and improve their productivity. Employees are motivated regularly with rewards and
incentives and proper working hours have been allotted. Work-based problems have been
strategically solved and Travelodge has shaped employees with the required skills and have
successfully given them employability skills.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
De Guzman, A. B. and Choi, K. O., 2013. The relations of employability skills to career
adaptability among technical school students. Journal of Vocational Behavior.82(3).
pp.199-207.
Lowden, K. and et.al., 2011. Employers’ perceptions of the employability skills of new
graduates. London: Edge Foundation.
Stoner, G. and Milner, M., 2010. Embedding generic employability skills in an accounting
degree: development and impediments. Accounting Education: an international
journal.19(1-2). pp.123-138.
Wibrow, B., 2011. Employability Skills. At a Glance. National Centre for Vocational Education
Research Ltd. PO Box 8288, Stational Arcade, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Wickramasinghe, V. and Perera, L., 2010. Graduates', university lecturers' and employers'
perceptions towards employability skills. Education+ Training. 52(3). pp.226-244.
Wilton, N., 2011. Do employability skills really matter in the UK graduate labour market? The
case of business and management graduates. Work, employment and society. 25(1). pp.85-
100.
Online
Top 5 employability skills. 2018. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.thebalancecareers.com/employability-skills-list-and-examples-4143571>