Employability Skills at the National Trust: A Comprehensive Report

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EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS
NATIONAL TRUST

Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Company Overview...........................................................................................................................2
LO1 Be able to determine own responsibilities and performance.........................................................1
1.1 Develop a set of own responsibilities and performance objectives.............................................1
1.2 Evaluation of own effectiveness..................................................................................................2
1.3 Recommendations for Self Improvement:...................................................................................3
1.4 Motivation Technique for improving the quality of performance...............................................4
LO2 Be able to develop interpersonal and transferable skills................................................................5
2.1 Develop solutions to work-based problems................................................................................5
2.2 Communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels...........................8
2.3 Identify effective time-management strategies...........................................................................9
LO3 Understand the dynamics of working with others.........................................................................1
3.1 Explain the roles people play in a team and how they can work together to achieve shared
goals..................................................................................................................................................1
3.2 Analyse Team Dynamics..............................................................................................................2
3.3 Suggest alternative ways to complete tasks and achieve team goals..........................................2
LO4 Be able to develop strategies for problem-solving.........................................................................3
4.1 Evaluate tools and methods for developing solutions to problems.............................................3
4.2 Develop an appropriate strategy for resolving a particular problem...........................................4
4.3 Evaluate the potential impact on the business of implementing strategy...................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................6
References...........................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
Employability skills are transferable skills. The individual must acquire relevant skills
and knowledge to become employable. For any job role, the employers decide the skills
and the knowledge employees need for performing the job. Employability skills are also
known as fundamental skills. The employability skills are important as it defines the
way an individual will get along with the customers, co-workers. The skills and
knowledge of employees decide the overall performance and success of the business.
The employability skill of an individual can help in getting a job at an organization. It is
the responsibility of the individual to making sure that the skills and the knowledge
required for the job role are present with the individual and he can apply in the
workplace. Lack of employability creates a lot of hurdles during recruitment.
Individuals with relevant skills and knowledge will be able to give competition to other
candidates. The employability skill will make the candidates stand out from the crowd.
Employability skills are referred to as transferable skills because we can easily adapt
according to the skills and the knowledge we require for a particular job role (Lowden
et al., 2011).
Company Overview
National Trust is a charity organization founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert
Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley. The founder of the company saw the
importance of national heritage and open spaces. The main aim of the national trust is
to protect the natural heritage of people. The company attract around 22.5 million
visitors of all ages and background each year. National trust maintains gardens, historic
houses, gardens, mills, forests, castles, miles of coastline, islands, holiday cottages, pubs
and inns, whole villages and even a goldmine. National Trust also runs a multimillion
food retail chain.
Number of members: 5.5M
Employees: 11,000
Visitors: 22.5M
Volunteers: 61,000
Natural Reserves: 76
Historic Properties: 500
The main aim of the National Trust is to;

 Manage and maintain the national special places, conserving, protecting and
providing access to the coast, countryside, historic homes and gardens.
 Restoring a healthy, natural and beautiful environment
 Offer the best experiences that move, teach, and inspire people
 Help people in looking after their living places
LO1 Be able to determine own responsibilities and performance
The Membership and Visitor Welcome Manager is responsible for welcoming the
member and ensure that the best services are delivered to visitors. The manager will be
responsible for managing the front line admission operation, selling National Trust
Membership to the paying customers, recruit and motivate a team of staff and volunteer
to ensure that the visitors are welcomed in a friendly manner (Rosenberg et al., 2012).
1.1 Develop a set of own responsibilities and performance objectives
As a visitor and the Welcome Manager at National Trust, I will be responsible for
welcoming the visitors. It is very important that the visitors feel welcomed and they
have a great experience at National Trust. My main responsibility is to deliver high-
quality customers service. I have the responsibility of delivering high-quality customer
service through a flexible customer focus approach (Husain et al., 2010).
1. Responsible for promoting the company products and service to the customers
and identify the opportunity for recruitment of new members.
2. Apply people management skills by setting personal objective and conducting
the personal review.
3. Setting a target and delivering the performance review
4. The manager will be responsible for working under pressure, manage difficult
situations and complaints
5. Responsible to manage the financial and work to increase the profits and reduce
cost
6. Strong in data analysis and numeracy
7. Strong people management skills, responsible for building a strong relationship
between the employees and customers
8. Strong communication skill

9. Able to operate general IT systems especially the MS Office
1.2 Evaluation of own effectiveness
Figure 1: Direct and Indirect Relationships
Source 1: ResearchGate
As a Welcome Manager at National Trust, I will be responsible for ensuring that the
visitors have a great experience. I will be responsible for making sure that the visitors
are having the best experience. Try to present the positive, friendly, helpful and
approachable image of Nation Trust. Effective communication and the coordination
between the staff and visitors have helped me in understanding the visitor’s needs. As a
welcome manager of national trust, I am responsible for presenting the friendly image
of the company. Properly greet the members so that they feel supported. I am
responsible for selling membership to visitors (Wilton, 2011). The main aim is to meet
financial targets. The awareness about the trust procedure helped me in maximizing
recruiting efficiency and reducing the error during the recruitment. For improving the
coordination and the communication among the staffs and effective team management

is required. I am responsible for creating a great place for my colleagues. One of the
main responsibility as a welcome manager is to meet the membership targets. The
visitor's area should be maintained in a presentable manner so that the visitors enjoy a
comfortable and welcoming environment (Andrews and Russell, 2012). For attracting
the visitors it is important that the property is well maintained and the is looking the
best for the visitors. The management of safety and security also falls into the
responsibility of the Welcome Manager. I should make sure that other people follow the
processes and procedures of the National Trust to minimize the risk. I have to stay alert
while managing the cash handling process. Organizational processes such as the
legislation must be followed. To effectively manage the legislation process I have to
study the laws and regulations. The promotion of the membership and conservation
messages to visitors will support the National Trust mission (Rangkuti, 2015).
1.3 Recommendations for Self Improvement:
As a Welcome Manager at National Trust, I must ensure that the customers are happy
and they can enjoy their stay at National Trust property. For this, I have to improve my
interpersonal skills. Effective communication skills will help me in better
communication and coordination with the employees and the staff members. It is my
responsibility that the visitors feel welcomed and have the best experience at National
Trust property. For improving the financial of the company, I have to sell the
membership to potential customers. For this, I have to develop a better convincing
ability.
For telling the benefits of the membership I must know its benefits and how it is going
to help the customers. While recruiting employees, assessment of their skill and the
knowledge must be done properly (Addams and Allfred, 2013). For this first, I have to
understand the role and responsibility of the job role. Every candidate must be judged
based on the skill and their ability to perform their duty. Better financial planning will
help me in defining the budget requirements. Effective coordination and communication
will help in making sure that the team members aware of the task they have to perform.
Development of team spirit among workers will be my main target. Working in teams
reduces the time required for completing the task. This is very important as timely
delivery of services to customers will improve the customer’s satisfaction rate. For the
management of these tasks the time management skills are required (Quast, 2013).

I will have to develop better time management skills for managing multiple tasks within
time limits. To make sure that the visitors are safe and secure I have to define the safety
standards that must be followed by all the staff and the visitors. For designing the safety
standards I must be aware of safety regulations. I can develop these skills by taking a
basic level of Safety training.
1.4 Motivation Technique for improving the quality of performance
Maslow – Hierarchy of Needs
According to the Maslow need theory, a person can only be motivated if the following
needs are satisfied.
Physiological needs: is referred to the basic requirement such as the food, water,
shelter etc. As a manager, I am responsible to make sure that the workers get access to
safe drinking water. Healthy food can be provided by setting a canteen at the workplace
(Osabiya, 2015).
Safety and Security: Every workplace must be safe and secure from health hazards. To
improve the performance of the employees, it is important that the working
environment is safe and secure.
Belongingness and love: Employees feel happy when the organizations treat them like
their family members. Managers can ask employees if they have any personal issues.
Friendly behaviour can result in the motivation of employees.
Esteem: is referred to the need for appreciation and respect. Every employee deserves
that they are treated with respect.
Self-actualization: Every individual must try to achieve full potential. Self-actualization
is referred to as full utilization and exploitation of capability, potentialities and talents
(Lunenburg, 2011).

Figure 2: Maslow Theory
Source: 2: Medium
LO2 Be able to develop interpersonal and transferable skills
2.1 Develop solutions to work-based problems
Introduction
Resolution to any problem will depend on proper analysis of the problem. Any
assumption should not be made about workplace conflict. The manager must try to
understand the main reason for conflicts between employees. It the responsibility of the
managers to know the circumstances that are causing the conflict. Some employees are
not able to complete their work on time due to this other employees have to work hard
to complete the task on time. This is creating a workload on other members.
Conflict Management
The workplace is becoming unfriendly and the team members are becoming
intimidated. Different factors can cause hostility among the employees. For the
successful resolution of the issues, it is important to know the main reasons for
conflicts.

The conflicts among the employee can be resolved through various ways, but first, the
manager should allow employees to the short issue among themselves, this will ensure
that the conflicts will resolve without the intervention of managers. Providing a
guideline for resolving the problem and encourage staff members to approach other
members positively. The manager should make it clear that they are not going to solve
the problem, but they can facilitate discussion among employees (Noe et al., 2017).
When dealing with conflicts, it is important that the best judgement should be used. A
structured approach will help in resolving the conflict.
 First determine if the conflict is emotionally charged, then take access to the
severity of the conflict.
 After accessing the situation the manager should communicate with
employees individually and let the employee know that the managers are
aware of the conflicts.
 Encourage employee for open communication and resolution of conflicts by
themselves.
It is not necessary that the conflicts will resolve in agreement. In this situation,
employees should acknowledge that there can be differences in the opinion or approach
and come up with a solution together.
Some situations are more complex and might not resolve on their own. Therefore the
manager should get involved in the process of conflict resolution (Brubaker et al.,
2014). If conflicts are ignored then there are chances that it can affect the entire
workplace. This can easily tarnish the image of the National Trust. Every employee
should be made aware that they will be accountable for their behaviour.
To resolve the issue it is important to listen to both sides. This helps in understanding
the view of both parties. The main problem is that some employees are not able to
complete their work on time, due to this other employee have to bear the workload
burden of these employees. This problem requires the involvement of managers
(Gillespie et al., 2015). Some employees are lacking time management skill due to which
they are not able to achieve their target on time.
Researching changes in the workplace:

Communication: Effective communication between employee and managers is very
important. Encouraging employees for communication can result in better coordination
and team management.
Structure of the organization: The organizational cultures have a huge impact on
employees. Managers should ensure that the working environment is free from any type
of discrimination. Availability of equal opportunity can result in improved employee
satisfaction.
Fix responsibility of employee: Fixing responsibility and targets for each worker can
improve the performance of employees. By this, each employee will know its
responsibility and work in the direction of achieving the targets.
Culture of the organization: can play a very important role in motivating employees. The
positive working environment can help in reducing conflict with the organization. A
motivated and engaged employee will not involve themselves in conflicts.
Generating solutions:
It is the responsibility of the manager to help the team to perform at the highest level of
productivity. Providing training, prioritizing their work, help employee in optimizing
their daily schedule can help in effective time management (Anderson, 2016).
Setting clear expectation and timelines: According to research most of time
management issues arise due to ineffective leadership. Effective management of the
task at hand is important, the manager must try to allocate the task according to skill
and ability to carry out the task. Most of the time management issues arise due to lack of
effective communication. Team members don’t know what task they have to work on.
Setting clear goals and timelines can help in improving the productivity of the
employees.
Use time audit: On average employee have around 7-8 hours for carrying out their task
but according to research activities such as email, meetings etc. takes most of the time. A
time audit will help in knowing where time is going every day. A team audit can be
performed by accessing the difference between time required for performing the task a
task and the set time limit.

Teach teams to plan and estimate time in a better way: Providing time management
training will improve the time management skill workers. A proper plan can help in
improving the productivity of employees.
Build Policies: To improve the work culture it is necessary that the organization form
policies manage conflict and improve the productivity of the organization by improving
the time management.
Conclusion:
The best solution to the problem is to encourage communication between employees.
The manager will have the responsibility of setting a daily task. Providing motivation
can help in improving the productivity of the employees (Dwivedula and Bredillet,
2010). Here prioritization of work can help in improving the situation. The most
important task must be completed first. To improve the time management skill of
employees a training session on time management can be introduced.
2.2 Communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels
Interpersonal skill and communication skill is very important skill an individual can
poses. Effective communication is very crucial for both organization and employee.
Through communication skills, an employee can communicate with colleagues,
managers and customers.
Aggressive: The managers that follow an aggressive approach to communication do not
listen to the employee problem. The employee does not get a chance to express their
views and opinions. This approach is a very ineffective way of communication.
Passive: This way of communication is done through indirect communication with other
employees. The employee feels hesitation while communicating with managers and
colleagues.
Assertive: This approach to communication is the most effective way of communication.
Both employee and manager listen to each other. Effective communication between
employee and manager help in forming a relationship. Through this approach,
managers can share objective and targets which helps in achieving goals and targets.
2.3 Identify effective time-management strategies

Time management is one of the most
important skills a person can have.
Effective time management helps in
accomplishing more in a short period.
Completing the task on time will make
sure that more time is left for doing
other activities. Time should be
managed properly. The extra time left
from work can be utilized for learning a
new skill. Nowadays a large number of
apps are coming that can be utilized for
management of time. Effective time
management skills have many benefits.
Teaching time management techniques
to employees will ensure that the time
will be spent wisely. Without time
management the staff will not be able to
provide the services on time. This can
create a negative impact on the business
as well as the customer experience. The
visitors might not enjoy their stay at the
National Trust Property. Some
employees are not able to complete
their work on time, teaching them
effective time management is very
important. Most of the employees are
working on time but some employees
are unable to finish their task on time.
Organization: There are many benefits
to being organized. Maintaining a
calendar can help in improving time
management. The workers should
follow a set time table for providing the
services on time.
Prioritization: the manager will have
the responsibility of defining the
priority off each task. There are many
ways through which prioritization can
be done. The workers can finish a
smaller task first then they can work on
achieving the longer tasks. National
Trust is a travel and tourism business.
The services need to be delivered on
time. Therefore the priority of the task
will be based on the time. The time-
sensitive tasks will be finished first.
Goal-setting: Goal setting is a very
crucial management skill. Goal setting
helps in clearly understanding the end
goals and what must be prioritized to
meet the goals and targets. Setting both
long term and short term goals can help
to achieve success in the carrier. The
manager will have the responsibility of
managing staff. Setting goals for each
staff member will help in the effective
management of workers.
Communication: Strong
communication skill helps in clear
communication with the workers. This
will ensure that the plan and goals are
clear to the people. Through effective