Employability Skills: A Report on Travelodge Hotel

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Employability skills
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Develop a set of own responsibilities and performance objectives.......................................4
1.2 Evaluate own effectiveness against defined objectives.........................................................6
1.3 Make recommendations for improvement.............................................................................7
1.4 Review how motivational techniques can be used to improve quality of performance........8
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................11
2.1 Develop solution to work based problems...........................................................................11
2.2 Communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels...................11
2.3 Identify effective time-management strategies in relation to the work-based experience or
in your role as a manager at Travelodge....................................................................................13
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................15
3.1 Explain the roles people play in a team and how they can work together to achieve shared
goals...........................................................................................................................................15
3.2 Analyse team dynamics within the organisation.................................................................16
3.3 Suggest alternative ways to complete tasks and achieve team goals...................................17
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................18
4.1 Evaluate tools and methods for developing solutions to problems with reference to your
chosen organisation or Travelodge Hotel..................................................................................18
4.2 Develop an appropriate strategy for resolving a particular problem of labour turnover with
reference to your chosen organisation or Travelodge Hotel......................................................18
4.3 Evaluate the potential impact on the business of implementing the strategy......................19
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................21
References......................................................................................................................................22

Introduction
The study of the concept of the employability skills brings the various benefits to the
organisation. With the help of this, the organisation is able to analyse the skills which are
important for the employees to have and also how these skills could be enhanced so that the
objectives and the goals of the company could be achieved. In an organisation, the employees of
the company are the real assets who help the company in achieving various aspects of the market
like in gaining the competitive advantage, in delivering the services, producing the products etc.
Here, the concept of employability skills could be defined as the skills and knowledge of the
employees towards the market and the organisation that helps the company in enhancing the
value of the company in the market through achieving is business goals. In the current
assignment, the employability skills of the employees of the company Travelodge would be
analysed.

Task 1
1.1 Develop a set of own responsibilities and performance objectives
Some responsibilities are assigned to the employees when the company hires them. Here, the
company wants them all to perform the responsibilities which basically work as a guide for the
employees to achieve the goals and objectives of the company. Travelodge belongs to travel and
tourism sector and like other organisations, some responsibilities also have been assigned by the
organisation for its employees (Taylor, 2016). Here, my own responsibilities for the customer
service manager designation of Travelodge are explained:
Personal Responsibility (Direct/indirect Responsibility):
Taking personal responsibility is a crucial skill, as I have to take responsibility of my actions,
words & performance at work. It means I will take credit of my success, and take responsibility
of any failure as well. Following are my own skills are explained:
- Decision Making Skills: Being Customer service Manager at Travelodge, it is my
responsibility to take decisions. Before taking any decisions, I have to carry out following
process;
- Leadership Skills: Customer service managers at Travelodge hotels are responsible to
lead overall running of their hotel – therefore, I have to exhibit all leadership qualities
such as;
- Adhere Corporate Vision: A Customers Service manager at Travelodge hotels should
always focus on Corporate Vision such as:
 Maximize Sales & Profit
 Customers Services
GatherallrelevantinformationIdentifyallalternativesCost&BenefitAnalysisMakeDecisionReviewmydecisionStrongCommunicationPassion&Committment

- Meeting all deadlines & Targets: As a customer service manager in Travelodge, I
would be responsible for meeting all the targets and deadlines given to me in achieving
the business goals of the company.
- Communication skills: As a customer service manager in Travelodge, I must be sure
about the communication skills of mine as I should be good in written and oral
communication skills.
Performance objectives
Performance objectives commonly known as Performance Goal-Setting which could be
described as a process which enables employees to plan and organize their work in order to
achieve predetermined or agreed targets. Performance objectives must be clear, concise and
attainable, and in this way, the SMART objectives are used. SMART objectives are measure
criteria for the objectives of the company or employees that explain that the objective of the
company must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Result oriented and Time bound.
Following are some performance objectives for the designation of customer service manager in
Travelodge:
Objective Description
Team Performance The overall performance of team must be result oriented
towards the business goal of the company.
Improved Customers
Feedback
The overall objective of the performance of the company
must be improve the feedback of the customers towards the
service of the Travelodge
Increased room Occupancy Make the room occupancy increased is also the target of
Travelodge
Service Enhancement/
Sustainability
Enhanced the performance of the employees so that services
quality could be enhanced.

1.2 Evaluate own effectiveness against defined objectives
With the help of the self evaluation process, the strengths and weaknesses, skills and knowledge
could be identified. The table given below explains my self-evaluation against defined
objectives, as per standard set by Travelodge Hotels for the designation of customer service
managers
Self-Evaluation Against Defined Objectives Explain How effective you were to fulfil your
job responsibilities
Description
Responsibilities
Responsibilities
Undertaken
Task description ( Action taken
by me)
Result
Decision Making
Skills
Decision making is complex
process, where I find some
difficulties.
Needs to be
improved
Leadership Skills Although I am team leader at
work, but I believe my current
leadership skills are average.
Needs to be
improved to
achieve the
task.
Adhere Corporate
Vision
Focusing on Sales & Revenue, as
well my Customers Services
skills, I believe is on average.
As a manager
this also
needs to be
improved.
Meeting All
Deadlines & Targets
Most of the times, I meet all
deadlines and I achieved almost
all job specified targets.
-
Leadership Course My currents level is about Needs to be

Performance
Objectives
(On-The-Job
Training)
average, therefore Management
set objective to complete this on-
the-job training program.
improved
Customers’
Feedback
The current level of customers’
feed for me and my team members
is quite satisfactory.
-
Room Occupancy My skills to use “discounts,
promotions, and marketing” are
about average.
Needs
improvements
Time Management
Skills
My time management skills are
good, and the ASPIRE program
will further develop my skills.
-
Sustainability I am familiar with Corporate
Social Responsibility, but the
level of understanding is about
average.
Needs
improvements
Communication
Skills
The communication skills of my
are average
Needs
improvements
1.3 Make recommendations for improvement.
The employability skills can be enhanced or improved with learning, experience, practice or
education. Following are some recommendations for improvements.
Recommendations for Improvements
Responsibilities/
Objectives
Current Levels
Of my Skills
Recommendations

(Rating
1= low
5= high)
Decision Making &
Problem Solving
3 Proper cost-benefit-analysis, proper evaluation of
alternatives, more research before decision.
Leadership &
Teamwork
3.5 Lead by example; build more trust, proper planning
and organization, set defined team’s goals.
Corporate
Vision
2.5 More commercial awareness, keep an eye on past &
present trends, networking with senior managers.
Communication
Skills
3.5 More focus on listening, more clear conversation, no
ambiguity, and more positive gestures.
Sustainability 3 Discuss with seniors, read Travelodge CSR policy,
understand the concepts of sustainability.
1.4 Review how motivational techniques can be used to improve quality of performance
In order to review motivational techniques, the explanation of the different motivational theories
is explained below:
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
As per Maslow, once the basic needs are fulfilled, they tend to move to higher level until highest
self-actualization level. The needs explained by this theory are:
1. Physiological needs:
2. Social need:
3. Love and belongingness

4. Self esteem needs:
5. Self actualisation
Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory:
Herzberg states that there are some certain factors at workplace which cause job satisfaction; and
some other factors cause motivation (Vernon and Blake, 2017). These factors could be explained
as the hygiene factors and motivators which are explained below:
- Hygiene factors: This includes the three needs of Maslow motivation theory that
includes physiological needs, social needs and love and belongingness. These are the
needs which need to be fulfilled by the organisation to keep the employee satisfied.
Figure 1: Herzberg two factor theory (Lam, 2016)
- Motivators: This includes the two other needs of Maslow motivational theory that
includes self esteem and self actualisation. These needs should be fulfilled to keep the
employees motivated towards the goals of the company.
Douglas McGregor’s X & Y Theory:
As per McGregor, in an organisation, the employees could be divided on the basis of two
theories; X theory and Y theory where X theory represents a typical worker who has low

ambition and Y theory represents ambitious and motivated worker. The description of these two
factors X&Y theory is explained in the diagram given below:
Figure 2: McGregor’s X & Y Theory (Senior, 2015)

Task 2
2.1 Develop solution to work based problems.
The problem solving skill comes under the most important skills that the company always seeks
in employees while hiring them. The problem solving skills could be defined as the ability of the
employees towards identifying the problems in the organisation and also using the approach to
solve them. The problem solving skills basically includes problem identification, quality
assurance and risk management. As a customer service manager in Travelodge, I also face many
problems in the organisation. Two of them are explained below:
Management & control and Communication:
Travelodge belongs to the travel and tourism industry where the organisation is known for its
services quality and punctuality. So there should be a proper management and control in the
organisation so that the services could be enhanced and should be given a right time to the
customers (Rousseau, 2013). However, Travelodge is a known organisation of travel industry
and the services of the company are really liked by the customers but if the company is able to
manage the make proper management and control and also could enhance the communication in
the organisation then it could gain huge profit into the market.
New policies for employees:
In Travelodge, here must be some policies for the employees like incentives, recognition etc so
that the employees could be motivated towards achieving the goals and objectives of the
company. With the help of these policies, the employees also would feel committed towards the
organisation and in this way they would help in planning and controlling of the resources of the
company.
2.2 Communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels.
The communication process in the organisation could be referred as sharing the views and
opinion from one person to another. The communication in the company could be executed
through reading, writing, speaking and listening. Here, in the company Travelodge, a formal

communication process could be executed through two levels which are upward communication
and downward communication.
Upward communication:
Upwards communication in Travelodge executed when the information is given from employees
to the management of the company. This is basically executed through formal letter. Here, an
example of formal letter is given which is basically given from the lower management to top
management to make them aware of the problems that employees are facing in Travelodge.
Formal letter
XYZ
Board of directors
Travelodge
Date: 1st February, 2019
ABC
Customer service manager
Travelodge
Dear Sir,
Here, I am writing to make all of you aware of the problems that the customer services
department of the company Travelodge is facing. As we aim to deliver the quality services to the
customers and the employees of the company ply a very important role here. Here, I want to
make you aware of that the employees of the company are not satisfied with the policies
provided to them from the side of Travelodge. It would be good if the company plans to add
some new policies for the welfare of the employees. Another concern is that there is not proper