Professional Identity and Development at Marriott Hotels: A Report

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PROFESSIONAL
IDENTITY
MARRIOTT HOTEL
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
LO1.................................................................................................................................................4
P1 EXAMINING THE KEY BENEFITS OF ONGOING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR
DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS WITHIN A SPECIFIC ORGANISATION..............................................4
P2 INVESTIGATION OF PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYER EXPECTATION OF SKILLS AND
COMPETENCIES..........................................................................................................................7
LO2............................................................................................................................................... 10
P3 ASSESSMENT OF OWN ABILITIES, COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS FOR A SPECIFIC JOB ROLE. 10
P4 REVIEWING A RANGE OF LEARNING THEORIES AND APPROACHES USED FOR PERSONAL
AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESS........................................................................13
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 16
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................17
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INTRODUCTION
This assignment is based on the professional identity of a person that helps him to achieve his
career goals and aims in life whether to get a job or to be successful in life. Everyone has some
set of skills and abilities that decide the career of a person. Most of the skills are developed not
before acquiring the job but after getting experience from on job training and development,
this is the natural learning process that benefits both the employer and employee. There are
different job role for different people and their distinctive abilities so for each job roles
expectation of the employer is to be valued and developed before the individual goes for and
recruitment and selection process. So for developing skills firstly, the required skills are to be
identified, then individuals’ own abilities and competencies are to be analysed than the gap
between the known skills and required skills is to be fulfilled by learning the skills that are
required for selection. These skills can be developed through the application of different
learning theories and approaches that are provided by different scholars identified through the
gaining experience in the real field of work.
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LO1
P1 EXAMINING THE KEY BENEFITS OF ONGOING PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT FOR DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS WITHIN A SPECIFIC
ORGANISATION
Marriott hotels and resorts group is hotel and leisure based company that has its presence and
recognition worldwide with 7000 properties in more than 130 countries of the world and have
30 different brands that make Marriott hotels group experience and connect to people
worldwide. Marriott was found in 1927 with an aim that success is never final and it can go on
and on. They believe that their guests value them most and they are consumer oriented and
believe to serve the world with their excellence and integrity of values and cultural believes.
Marriott hotel was ranked as the 33rd position in the world's hundred best companies in the
world, as they earn high revenues providing world-class facilities to the guests whether
business guests or tourist guests.
Figure- Brands of Marriott Hotel
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Source – Marriott hotel, 2019
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BENEFITS TO EMPLOYER
1. Skilled Workforce – Through on-going professional development the employees get the
opportunity to develop their skills and abilities like teamwork, problem-solving ability,
leadership skills, developing operations related abilities etc. this led to a better and
skilled workforce that will make fewer mistakes and work-related errors. Better
performance in front of guests gaining customer satisfaction (Burchell et al., 2013).
2. Employee Engagement and Employee Turnover – Through on-going training and
development, the employees feel confident in the work they do as training solves their
work-related problems. Employees feel that the company is developing their skills to
they feel a sense of commitment towards the company and they create a bond with the
employer. Employee engagement is increased hence ultimately the employee is satisfied
and will commit to the organisation with fewer chances of leaving the organisation
reducing the employee turnover (Burchell et al., 2013).
3. Creativity - Through development and training of employees the efficiency and
effectiveness of employees is increased at work and they make more innovative and
creative ways to solve the problems, this gives an employer the competitive edge, as
well as unique and innovative ideas, increase the brand value of the company (Burchell
et al., 2013).
4. Succession Planning Becomes Easier - The on-going development of employees help in
shaping future leaders and future achievers, these skill development events can help in
identifying the talent in every employee, each employee have some qualities one may
be good at something and other may be good at some other work and they can help
each other in future which creates a good working culture in the Marriott hotel. At
Marriott, teamwork is most important and to initiate that this on-going development is
a good step to take within an organisation (Burchell et al., 2013).
BENEFITS TO EMPLOYEE
1. Personal satisfaction- Personal grooming and personal satisfaction is the key to creating
success even if the talent is unknown, through on-going development the confidence is
built in the employee. This confidence boosts up the will and inner effectiveness of the
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employee makes an employee more approachable. This also boosts up the confidence
of the employees and simultaneously makes them more update with the current trends
and industry requirements building up the employee’s morale and motivates their inner
self (Burchell et al., 2013).
2. Better Job opportunities– The experience gained with on gong job development makes
the good impression of the employee to be reflected in the resume. This helps the
employee for further job opportunities that require knowledge and experience in the
given field gained through ongoing skill development (Burchell et al., 2013).
3. Personal development- The on-going development of the employee makes employee
develop the skills that make him efficient and grow personally like problem-solving
ability, ability to handle pressure, decision-making skills are developed through on-going
development (Burchell et al., 2013).
4. Hidden talent and creativity- Through on-going training and development the
employee gets to know his hidden talent, his creative and innovative strength that can
only be identified when there are a variety of options and after experiencing them the
innovative ideas start coming and the creativity level grows (Burchell et al., 2013).
5.
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P2 INVESTIGATION OF PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYER EXPECTATION OF SKILLS
AND COMPETENCIES
To be an employers’ first choice one needs to possess some good skill and abilities that make
the employer feels that the individual is the right choice for the right job. To fulfil the
employer's expectation the candidate applying for the interview have to develop the job-
related skills that are explained below-
MANAGER
The manager of the hotel has to manage several departments including housekeeping staff,
restaurant staff, cleaning staff, finance department etc. so to perform all these duties and
functions there have to be a set of skills that are required for a manager.
Communication skills- For a manager of very big hotel chain communication skills are needed
to be excellent because a manager needs to deal with international guests, clients, celebrities
and big business personalities so for this his personality should be influential, satisfying with
good communication skills and influential skills. The manager is the representative or the face
of the hotel, so he needs to be a presentable and excellent communicator. If the manager
doesn’t have good communication skills then he will not be able to convince his staff,
subordinates and how will the goals of the organisation will be fulfilled (Silverman et al., 2016).
Multi-tasking- Manager has to handle internal and external people internal includes human
workforce, management and superiors, subordinates and external includes guests, suppliers
and other people so to handle these people it requires skills of multitasking (Pyo, 2013).
Ability to handle pressure- The manager is the mediator between the subordinates and the
upper management he has to manage all the staff and simultaneously organise all the
resources, manage the suppliers, handle the guests and their problems, discount and sales
management all is done by the manager. Therefore, the manager of the Marriott hotel should
have the ability to handle the pressure.
Basic knowledge of computer and spree sheet- as in the new era of technology manager
should not only need to have practical knowledge but he has to have technical or technology-
based knowledge, that includes basic knowledge of computers, knowledge of Microsoft
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Excel/spreadsheets. Everything from keeping the records of number of guests to their checkout
and check in timings, list of scheduled duties of different staff, to communicate with superiors
and other all these things require knowledge of technology that is mandatory for a manger to
have otherwise it will be very difficult to manage and analyse the data available online
regarding Marriott hotel , technological knowledge is also required in the online and social
media promotions for facilitating the online customers and their needs.
Financial knowledge- To determine and analyse the trend or seasonal guests' quantity range
the manager needs have the financial knowledge and basic fundamental knowledge, like how
to analyse and interpret the financial statement of balance sheet and income statement of
Marriott hotel. The manager should have the knowledge of how to maintain balance liquidity
and profitability, how to manage working capital etc. as all these jobs are part of a manager's
job.
Interpersonal skills and leadership skills- a manager should first have leadership quality that he
can be developed as a manager because if a person is not a good leader he cannot be a
manager. The manager should have the problem-solving ability, ability to motivate and
influence the staff under him and the ability to maintain interpersonal connections with the
stakeholders of Marriott hotel.
Operational knowledge- The person applying the post for manager post at Marriott hotel
should have the experience of working as a manager in the hotel industry. At least 5-7 year
experience as a manager is mandatory because to manage such big hotels that have five star
standards is not easy and cannot be performed by a fresher so an intellectual experienced
person is preferred in the eyes of an employer.
HEAD CHEF
Experience in continental food and other types of food- a head chef is the person who has the
biggest responsibility of food and excellence in the preparation of food for the guests in the
hotel. For Marriott hotel, a head chef should have the experience to prepare all world-class
cuisines as this is a five-star hotel and their perfection is all a chef needs to have, with ability to
make tasty food and especially should know how to prepare the local food of that country or
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state. Marriott hotel has several branches all over the world and to maintain standardisation at
all places so for this, the head chef needs to have knowledge for the same. He should have at
least 5 years of experience to be a head chef at the Marriott hotel.
Multi-tasking- the head chef should have the ability to do multitasking as there are many
responsibilities and duties of a head chef like checking the quality, taste, quantity of the food
etc. he has to first predict the quantity to be made, which type of cuisines are to be made, all
these things should be performed and presented on time. A head chef has to organise all the
raw materials and maintain the order list from the suppliers so that there is smooth functioning
and the food is delivered on time with highest quality and taste (Pyo, 2013).
Flexibility in work timings- as the hotel runs 24*7 and the restaurants also have to work extra
hours to prepare food so the head chef may have to work extra hours other than the routine
shift, work during the night shifts is also possible so for this the head chef should have the
ability to work for extra hours if required.
Creativity and innovative ability- The head chef is the person who clears the problems at the
restaurants or the kitchen through creativity and new ideas to solve the problems. There may
be situations when the food prepared will be less and the demand or the guest are more so at
that time how can the head chef creatively address his subordinates to prepare on time food
with the best quality that gains guest satisfaction and make their experience at Marriott hotel
delightful.
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LO2
P3 ASSESSMENT OF OWN ABILITIES, COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS FOR A
SPECIFIC JOB ROLE
To apply for a job and to get selected from the employer is not the easy task there are skills that
are required for a specific job role. To apply for a job role first the job specifications, job
responsibilities and duties are to be identified and then using the learned skills to grab the
career-based opportunities. If the skills required are not yet developed or learned that they
have to develop. Below is the assessment of own abilities and skills.
SKILLS, CAPABILITIES AND ABILITIES
1. Communication skills- Good control over language and satisfactory communication
skills. Command over both verbal and writing skills that a manager requires. This skill is
the main and core requirement to work in the hospitality industry because the manager
or every employee has to deal with the guests and have to respond with satisfactory or
assuring answers (Silverman et al., 2016).
2. Leadership skills- good problem-solving ability, influencing power and good leadership
skills. These skills are also important in the hospitality industry because a manager or
any head of a department needs to motivate his subordinates to increase the efficiency
and effectiveness in the workplace, leaders solve the problems of subordinates in a
creative way without panicking in the situations like this.
3. Decision-making skills – During the internship the skills which were learned are
decision-making skills that are to be made on time and after evaluating and analysing
the current and future situation.
4. Good technical knowledge- Good knowledge of computer and digital technology.
Diploma course in computer and Microsoft Office which means full knowledge of MS
Word and MS Excel. Also knowledge of software used in the hospitality industry for
maintaining records of guests.
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SOFT SKILLS – hard skills are technical and tangible skills that are visible to everyone and can be
easily identified by the degree or qualification certificate but soft skills are intangible and non-
technical abilities that a person is required to have other than his hard skills. These skills include
abilities like leadership skills, problem-solving abilities, communication skills, interpersonal skills
etc. these skills are also referred to as transferable skills or professional skills. These skills are
mostly developed through experience and mostly come from individuals’ own personality with
nominal specialisation on these skills. Soft skills are mostly drive through personality,
background and upbringing of an individual so it becomes important to learn how to apply
these skills in job-related opportunities and work-related activities. These skills are not learned
by gaining more and more degrees. The person who is less educated also has the abilities of
soft skills like influential skills, public speaking skills; debating skills etc. at Marriott hotel soft
skills are mostly required as this is the hospitality industry and service based industry that
requires best communication skills, operational skills rather than the theoretical skills of
management and finance (Laker. and Powell, 2011).
HARD SKILLS- Unlike the soft skills the hard skills can only be developed through proper
education and proper learning of the concepts from attending college or through pursuing
diploma courses. These skills are also called technical or tangible skills; there is clear cut
evidence for checking these skills through degree /certificate of specified qualified course. At
Marriott hotel, there is not much requirement of hard skills but if there are technical skills
present in the individual then there are preferred over the others. Unlike the soft skills, these
skills cannot be learned through experiences and they are not personality driven, no hard skill is
built in in an indusial from the birth as the soft skills. These skills are learned; in Marriott, the
hard skill required is a degree in hospitality management is necessary. Other hard skills that are
required are technology-based or computer skills, the knowledge of current software used in
hotel management industry and basic knowledge of making and analysing spreadsheets is
preferable from the employer’s point of view (Laker. and Powell, 2011).
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
1. Good communication skills with very
Weakness
1. Lack of public speaking ability
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