Learning Portfolio Assessment 2: Placement Experience at Novotel Hotel

This report details a student's learning portfolio assessment based on their placement experience at the Novotel Hotel in Sydney. The report begins with an executive summary and table of contents, followed by an introduction to the hospitality industry and the student's journey from an interviewee to an employee in the food and beverage department. The report reflects on the recruitment and selection process, comparing the student's perceptions with the employer's. It analyzes the induction and training programs, comparing the Novotel's training standards with those of the Park Hyatt Sydney. Furthermore, the report explores the Planet 21 program, leadership styles, and the importance of stakeholder relationships, both internal and external, to the hotel's success. The student evaluates their strengths, areas for improvement, and biggest achievement during the placement, concluding with learning outcomes and goals for the future. The report utilizes Gibb's reflective cycle for self-evaluation and provides recommendations for improvement in various areas of the hotel's operations.

Running head: PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
PART A: Learning Portfolio Assessment
[Placement]
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
Executive summary
The study has shown my journey from being an interviewee to become the part of Novotel Hotel
in Sydney. Through this journey, I have learnt many more things. The study has depicted the
journey in a simpler form. The study has shown that how it is possible to evaluate the personal
development after being hired into a company. It has suggested Gibb’s reflective cycle to
conduct the evaluation. Moreover, this paper is a good guide for those who are beginning their
career in any industry and have aimed at achieving the maximum success through it.

2PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 3
Answer to Question 1:........................................................................................................................... 4
Reflection on the journey-................................................................................................................. 4
Answer to Question 2:........................................................................................................................... 5
Reflection on learning and observations-.......................................................................................... 5
Answer to Question 3:........................................................................................................................... 6
Analyzing the training program-....................................................................................................... 6
Comparing the training standard with Park Hyatt Sydney-...........................................................6
Answer to Question 4:........................................................................................................................... 7
Answer to Question 5:........................................................................................................................... 8
Importance of a balanced interrelationship between the different stakeholders-...............................8
Answer to Question 6:......................................................................................................................... 10
1. Evaluation of self-strengths-....................................................................................................... 10
2. Areas of improvement-................................................................................................................ 11
3. My biggest achievement during placement-................................................................................11
4. Learning outcomes...................................................................................................................... 11
4.1 Goal for the next twelve months-.......................................................................................... 12
Conclusion........................................................................................................................................... 12
References........................................................................................................................................... 13

3PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT

4PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
Introduction-
The hospitality industry has now become a potential sector for the job seekers. The trend
is very healthier for them in Australia. People from the different parts of world are flocking to
Australia. Consequently, there has been flood of investment in the tourism industry in Australia.
It is expected that by 2025 the tourism sector will play an even bigger role in the country
(Hotelmanagement.net, 2017). Henceforth, there will be expected growth in the construction of
various new hotels and extension of rooms in the reputed hotels across the country. The expected
scenario has already produced ample of curiosity in the graduate professionals. They have
realized the potentiality in the industry. There have been enough recruitment and selection
process in the hotel industry in Australia. The trend is moving for many other reasons as well.
People from different parts of world have their desire for being a part of the Australian
hospitality industry because of its ever changing working environment and fast paced nature of
work. The country has comparatively very lesser population than any other developed nations
but still it has booming trend for the hotel industry. Graduate professionals have adequate chance
of getting job straight after the certification program. The certification program is powerful as
well (Auschs.edu.au, 2017). These are few circumstances, which have created enough curiosity
among the job seekers in the different parts of world. This particular study revolves around
my experience of the entire placement process during my hiring into the Novotel Hotel in
Sydney. The paper covers my experience of the entire placement process. Moreover, this also
covers the internal human resource system in the Novotel Hotel in various domains such as its
recruitment & selection process and training & development process.

5PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
Answer to Question 1:
Reflection on the journey-
I have done certification course in hotel management. After completing the course, I
started giving interviews. Consequently, my efforts paid off and I ended up getting a job in the
Novotel Hotel in Sydney as an attendant in the food & beverage department. However, the
journey was indeed difficult before I entered into the interview room. This is because of skill set,
which is required to be a part of the hotel industry in Australia. Communication, learning,
planning, problem-solving, teamwork, self-management and technology-orientation are the some
skills, which are required to clear the interview successfully (McManus, 2013). I am good with
few of the skills such as communication and learning; however, I am terrible with the others such
as self-management, problem-solving and technology. The shortfalls that I have had made me
nervous while I was there for the interview.
Despite the challenges at the interview room, I was able to clear that. This has
surprisingly happened, which I had least expected. To get a job in such a reputed Hotel is not that
easy. However, I have felt some flaws in the recruitment process (Assaf & Agbola, 2014).
My perceptions- I have felt that the human resource manager who took the interview was very
loosely connected to the cultural values of the job. It was not possible for me to clear an
interview that has a long list of skill set. However, it just happened because of the less concerned
HRM towards the interview etiquettes and its cultural values for the organization (Kryger, 2015).
Employer’s perceptions- The HRM of the Novotel Hotel feel that they are innovative as they
have moved away from the traditional format of interview to a modern form that consist
networking, targeted selection, behavioral interview, internal workforce market etc. This is

6PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
indeed less innovative. Innovativeness could have been if they had considered online recruiting
system (Potts & Nazarian, 2015).
Answer to Question 2:
Reflection on learning and observations-
The initial stage at my tenure in the Novotel Hotel was the induction conducted by the
human resource department. This is a very vital stage as it lets employee know about all the
policies & rules that exist in the organization (Manoharan, Gross & Sardeshmukh, 2013). I along
with other employed professionals went through the induction process. It was informative as it
educated us on different important things such as payroll, leaves, job responsibilities, ethical
policies, workplace etiquettes, risk management and training & development program (Pennanen
et al., 2016). However, I somehow could not grab the entire content of the induction. This can be
because of various reasons such as poor communication quality of few of the speakers in the
induction, highly professional sessions etc. This can also be because that the induction module
were very complicated and were hard to understand. Approachability was also missing in me,
which is why I could not ask for a repeat on the few identified areas.
Recommendations-
According to me there should be the inclusion of some necessary elements in the
induction process. The induction should be precise and clear (Williams et al., 2015). This will
be lot easier to understand then. The communication quality of speakers should be more
gettable and understandable as well. They are needed to be informative rather than just
communicative (Pollard et al., 2015). Additionally, the various part of the induction should be

7PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
easy to understand. An emphasize discussion is required on some of the contents of the
induction process. This will help the employees understand the critical elements such as ethics of
etiquettes and risk management at workplace (Omisore & Okofu, 2014).
Answer to Question 3:
Analyzing the training program-
The training program is extensively designed in the Novotel Hotel in Sydney. It gives
ample of exploration to the employees, so that, they could reach to the leadership position in a
very quick time. They feel that their training program is high on innovativeness; however, I have
found some shortfalls. The training plan was not detailed as a result many employees were left
with no clues on some crucial segment of the training. This has also attracted few complaints
against the inability of few employees to resolve the escalated issue (Kensbock et al., 2014).
However, I was given an extensive exposure to my job responsibilities. I am working there as an
attendant in the food & beverage department.
Comparing the training standard with Park Hyatt Sydney-
After comparing the training program at Novotel Hotel in Sydney with the training
offered to the employees at the Park Hyatt Sydney, I was able to find some shortfalls in the
training module. Park Hyatt in Sydney is better than Novotel in terms of offering a detailed and
tailor made module for training. There is a frequent rotation in the various other
departments in Park Hyatt Hotel, which is to some extent is missing in Novotel Hotel. These
two factors are very necessary to gain an utmost knowledge of working in a hotel industry
(Herington, McPhail & Guilding, 2013). Nevertheless, for a graduate professional like me, it is

8PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
necessary that I get ample of exposure to a varied range of expertise. This is necessary to enrich
the leadership quality in the hired professionals. It is even much effective than the leadership
program offered at the Novotel Hotel for a fact that it trains on practical facts.
Answer to Question 4:
The Planet 21 Program is a collection of 21 objectives. They want to influence the entire
planet, which is why they have initiated the Planet 21 Program to help the planet attain a most
pleasant experience. Following are some of their objectives listed in the mentioned Planet 21
Program (Novotel.com, 2017):
 To give importance to local sourcing
 To use the resources available in this world without even jeopardizing its future
 To attain a diverse status in offering the services and satisfying the needs of customers
 To manage the wastage of water
 To manage the wastage of materials
 To play an effective role in reducing the pollution from air
The objectives can only be fulfilled with the help of a leadership program. The company has
done well by introducing the leadership program to nourish the interested professionals to help
them become the leaders (Dredge et al., 2013). They have used “Coaching” as their leadership
style to fulfill the requirement of the planned leadership program. The leadership program needs
much supports especially there is a need of skilled workforce (Negrut, Mihartescu & Mocan,
2015). Novotel is continually engaged in infusing such talents; however, they need to take help
of contemporary modes of recruitment. The recruitment process is strategically scripted but it
lacks in terms of innovation. Online recruiting system should there be in place. This will help the

9PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
company get talents from different parts of the country, which is very necessary to get the
required number of skilled professionals (Melanthiou, Pavlou & Constantinou, 2015).
Answer to Question 5:
Importance of a balanced interrelationship between the different stakeholders-
The business objective of my company is to become one of the leading hotels in Sydney.
The company has thought to fulfill the desire by producing leadership quality professionals who
will carry the set organizational responsibilities. The organizational objective can only be
attained if it maintains a balanced relation between the internal and the external stakeholders.
This is necessary as every action is related to each other. For example, customer’s feedbacks will
only confirm whether the thought module is extensively covered by the employees. This will
also give place to improvement in the leadership program. This will also give place to further
improvement in the existing leadership program if at all it is needed (Grissemann, Plank &
Brunner-Sperdin, 2013).
It is necessary to understand who the stakeholders in the hotel industry are. In the hotel
industry, employees, management team, human resource department are the internal
stakeholders. Customers, suppliers and the local government are the external stakeholders. The
organizational objective of my company is to become one of the leading hotels in the industry. It
is indeed never possible if it does not have good interrelationships in between both the internal
and the external stakeholders (Gannon, Roper & Doherty, 2015).
The interrelationships will be good if the employees are capable enough to handle any
unexpected situation such as customer’s complaint handling. Further, this is only possible if the

10PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
human resource system of Novotel provides adequate training to its professional to groom them
as leaders. Additionally, professional needs to be good in customer service. This can be attained
if employees have capabilities in them to perform like a leader. This gives rise to the necessity of
supplying quality professionals, which means that Novotel needs to have a better relationship
with its suppliers. Additionally, the hotel where I am working needs to be good in the sight of the
local government of Australia. To fulfill the organizational objective to become the leader in the
hotel industry in Australia, it is necessary that it gets ample chances of expansion into the other
parts of the country. This is indeed very difficult if it does not have a proper support of the local
government (Thrassou, Vrontis & Bresciani, 2014).
It is evident from the above discussion that it is imperative for my company to have a fair
interrelationship between the internal and the external stakeholders. This will help in fulfilling
the organizational objective of my company, which is to become one of the leading names in the
hotel industry in Australia.

11PART A: LEARNING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
Answer to Question 6:
1. Evaluation of self-strengths-
Figure 1: Gibb’s Reflective Cycle
(Source: Pianpeng & Koraneekij, 2016)
Gibb’s reflective cycle has helped me evaluate my personal strengths in my tenure with the
Novotel Hotel. The first stage in the reflective cycle has helped me analyze the strengths and
weaknesses in a descriptive way. Some of the strengths that I have are interrelationship skills,
good communication and teamwork. However, the cycle has also helped me found some areas of
improvement as this will improve my chances of becoming a talented professional in the hotel
industry. Some of the areas of improvements are learning capability and responsiveness to the
customer’s complaints (Pianpeng & Koraneekij, 2016).