Professional Development and Skills Report for Holiday Inn

This report delves into the realm of professional development within the context of Holiday Inn, examining the key benefits for various stakeholders and the employer's expectations regarding employee competencies. It assesses the importance of continuous professional development, explores relevant learning theories and approaches, and critically evaluates the author's own skills and competencies. The report includes a personal skill audit, identifies strengths and weaknesses, and proposes a detailed development plan designed to enhance specific skills and competencies. Additionally, it covers a simulated job interview experience, analyzing strengths, weaknesses, and challenges. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the professional development process, including a reflection on the interview and drawing conclusions about the overall experience and its implications for career growth and development.

Professional Identity
and Practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................4
Examine the key benefits of ongoing professional development for different stakeholders
within Holiday Inn..................................................................................................................4
Expectation of Employer in Relation to Skills and Competencies.........................................5
Evaluate the importance of on going professional development and the associated professional
skills within Holiday Inn........................................................................................................5
Critically evaluate own skills and competencies to meet employer expectations..................6
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
Assess own abilities, skills and competencies .......................................................................6
Review a range of learning theories and approaches which are used for personal and
professional development.......................................................................................................8
Evaluate own skills and competencies and the most appropriate development approach to
develop personal and professional skills ...............................................................................9
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................9
Construct a development plan to improve chosen skills and competencies within work.....9
Provide a detailed development plan that applies underpinning upon learning and
development theory..............................................................................................................10
Produce a comprehensive development plan setting out clear achievable strategies, goals and
objectives..............................................................................................................................11
LO4................................................................................................................................................12
Undertake a job interview for floor manager.......................................................................12
Review key strengths and weaknesses for interview process..............................................12
Evaluate a job role and obstacles and challenges faced.......................................................13
Produce detailed and coherent reflection of own abilities and skills during interview process
..............................................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
The term Professional Development is used in wide area of context in development with
the help of training programs, professional learning so that improvement could be made in
professional knowledge of an individual (Brooks, 2016). Holiday Inn is chosen as the company
to complete this assignment which was founded in the year 1952 and is headquartered in
Buckinghamshire, London. It provides their customers with services such as accommodation,
lodging, food and many more services for their satisfaction. In this report, the coverings will be
related to key benefits of ongoing development for stakeholders and competency expectation of
employers. Additionally, it will provide skills for job role, theories for personal and professional
development along with the development plan to improve some skills. Lastly, it will include job
interview and reviewing of strengths and weaknesses of applied interview process.
LO 1
Examine the key benefits of ongoing professional development for different stakeholders within
Holiday Inn
On-Going Professional Development practises includes practises such as conducting
events, seminars, training programs and many more practises so that their knowledge and skills
related to their specialisation could be improved. The key benefits of On-Going Development for
different stakeholders in Holiday Inn has been provided as under:
Benefits to Employees:
 With the help of providing employees with ongoing professional development, it will be
possible to make improvement in their motivation level because their increased efficiency
in work will help in increasing their motivation (Cruess, Cruess and Steinert, 2016).
 The increased efficiency of employees in relation to the work will impact upon them
positively as this will help in increasing their job as well as personal satisfaction.
Benefits to Employers:
 The increased efficiency of employees with the help of providing them with ongoing
professional development programs, employer will be able to achieve competitive edge
over their competitors.

 Further, with the help of these development programs it will be possible to increase the
speed of growth of the organisation and will help in building trust and confidence
towards the products and services of an organisation in the minds of customers. This is
positive impact for employer.
 Per unit cost of production of the company will also be lowered down by increased
efficiency of employees (Cruess, Cruess and Steinert, 2016).
Expectation of Employer in Relation to Skills and Competencies
While providing a job role in an organisation, there are many expectations which are
made by employer from their employees regarding their performances towards their job role. So
the expectations of employer of Holiday Inn from the Floor Manager has been provided as
under:
Delegation of Work: Employer expects from the Floor Manager to make employees capable of
taking responsibility and accountability at their own so that they could be creative and
improvement in their skills and knowledge could be made.
Communication Skills: The employer also expects from Floor Manager to have good
communication skills so that information can be properly communicated to remove issues related
to overlapping of work and making effective communication in between employees and
management.
Team Leading and Development: Another important skill which is needed in Floor Manager of
Holiday Inn is of Team Leading and Development so that efforts of employees may move in
direction which will go towards achievement of goals and objectives of organisation (Cyrino,
2016).
Evaluate the importance of on going professional development and the associated professional
skills within Holiday Inn
On-Going Professional Development is important because with the help of this, new skill
and knowledge development could be made in employees which will not impact much on
working of organisation and will also help in learning employees new things. As due to new
changes, morale of employees goes down but these development programs makes it easier for
employees to get theoretical knowledge as well as to have knowledge of practical aspects as well
which helps in learning new things in an easier way (Pihl-Thingvad, 2015). As Holiday Inn is

providing their employees with training programs at the time of implementing change so the
associated skills are provided as under:
Leadership Skill: With the help of this skill, it will be possible to manage properly and
make employees ready to get involved in training programs.
Time Management Skills: As ongoing development programs are provided so this skill
needs to be developed so that coordination could be made in training times and office working
hours (Guile, 2014).
Critically evaluate own skills and competencies to meet employer expectations
The required skills for Floor Manager in Holiday Inn are provided in which there are
some skills in which I am good and there are also some in which I am weak as well. However, I
am good in team leading and development skills and delegation of work but when we talk about
communication skills and technical skills, there are chances of improvements which are needed
to make so that I could effectively perform my job role and tasks in an efficient and effective
manner.
LO 2
Assess own abilities, skills and competencies
For the assessment of own skills, abilities and competencies for the post of Floor
Manager in Holiday Inn, the use of Personal Skill Audit will be done. My personal skills audit
has been provided as under:

The above is the audit of my own skills, competencies and abilities are the essence of job
role provided to me to perform the duties and responsibilities of Floor Manager of Holiday Inn.
This Personal Skill Audit helped me in knowing about my own strengths and weaknesses. On the
basis of the above skill assessment the description of my strengths and weaknesses are provided
as under:
Strengths Weaknesses
 I am good in team leading and
development skills.
 However, my communication skills are
not much good, they are average.
 My Critical Thinking skills are also
good and are part of my strength which
helps me in identifying different
solutions to particular problem and
choosing the best alternative.
 On the other hand, I am weak in
decision making skills.

 In delegating work to my juniors, I am
good as I know the capacity and level
of efficiency of every individual which
helps me in proper delegation of tasks.
 In doing technical things, I am average
so there are improvement grounds in
this aspect as well.
Opportunities Threats
 By team handling skills, it explores
future career growth and development
scopes for me.
 Weak communication skills will impact
negatively on my personality in front of
employees, colleagues and management
as well.
 Proper delegation of work will provide
company with positive results so there
are chances that I will be provided with
wider area of organisation to cover.
 Low knowledge of technology will stop
my future chances of growth and
development in my career (Hayward
and Li, 2014).
Review a range of learning theories and approaches which are used for personal and professional
development
Personal and Professional Development process is an important practise for making
betterment in the efficiency of employees and organisation as well. This will not only help
employees professionally but also at personal level as well. So the explanation of different
Learning Theories and Approaches are provided as under:
Behaviourism Approach: The following approach tells that the development in the nature and
behaviour of an individual occurs due to environment in which he/she is residing. So by
improving the working environment, it will be possible for Holiday Inn to make improvement in
nature and behaviour of their employees (Kearney-Nunnery, 2015).
Cognitive Approach: The following approach says that an individual learns by doing new
things such as by thinking mentally and trying new things which makes development in their
skills and knowledge. So Holiday Inn should provide their employees with cognitive skills so
that they could make use of their own mind and develop new things and ideas.
With the help of these approaches, it will be possible for Holiday Inn to improve learning
ability of employees working in their organisation. Additionally, the explanation of theories is
also provided as under:

Social Learning Theory: This theory states that people learn new things by observing
the attitudes of other people and as a result of those observations, learning is being improved.
The Floor Manager of Holiday Inn must be creative and provide new ideas to employees so that
their employees could also become creative (Wald and et. al., 2015).
Kolb Learning Theory: The following four stages which are test, experiences, reflection
and conceptualise will make it possible for an individual to learn new things. So this theory says
that an individual pass through these four stages and with the help of these four stages, it will be
possible for them to develop new things and learnings. The Floor Manager of Holiday Inn should
also make use of this theory in making their employees to improve their learnings.
Evaluate own skills and competencies and the most appropriate development approach to
develop personal and professional skills
There are some areas of improvements which are needed to make in my own abilities and
knowledge with the help of which it will be possible for me to achieve efficiency and
effectiveness in my performance so that the goals and objectives for which the organisation was
established could be fulfilled well as personal goals of employees as well. As such I am good in
team leading and development skill, delegation of work and average in communication skills
where improvement is required (Warner, 2014). On other hand, the skills in which I am weak is
technical skill in which main focus is to be made so that my performance could be enhanced.
The most appropriate development approach for Floor Manager's Job Role is Cognitive
Approach because here it is more important for them to make application of new things. It is not
a place where they will learn from others and copy but distinction is required to make their
separate place in organisation. With the help of this, approach, it will be possible for them to
create distinction in between for their career growth and development.
LO 3
Construct a development plan to improve chosen skills and competencies within work
PDO is document by which description is provided about goals and objectives, skills and
competencies to make continuous improvement and career development (Nicholls, 2014). So the
description of Personal Development Plan is provided as under which will give me a chance to
improving my skills and competencies and to overcome my weaknesses.

Skills &
Competencies
Goals Activities for improving
skills
Effectiveness of PDP
Communication
Skill
6
Months
To improve this skill,
participation will be done in
seminars and group
discussions so that
improvement could be made.
With the help of attending seminars
and group discussions, I will come to
know about areas where I lack in
communication and on the very basis
improvement could be made.
Decision
Makings
4
Months
To improve this skill, I will
determine different answers
to an issue and will do their
critical evaluations as well to
know about best solution.
I will be able to make most effective
decision in context of company to
achieve their goals and objectives.
Use of
Technology
6
months
This skill will be improved
by working under IT Expert
so as to have knowledge
about different concepts.
Getting knowledge from experts,
opportunities related to career
growth and development will also
increase.
Provide a detailed development plan that applies underpinning upon learning and development
theory
Skills Learning theory Importance of theory Result
Communication Social Learning
Theory
The following skill
will be improved with
the help of interacting
with more and more
people.
The outcome will be
improvement in
communication skill
and hence will
increase my
participation.
Decision Making
Skills
Kolb Learning Theory The improvement in
this skills will be made
with the help of
Outcome will be
related to improved
knowledge,

covering the stages
covered in this theory
which will help in
making accurate
decisions after
analysing the situation
properly.
professional and
personal growth along
with career progress
and development.
Produce a comprehensive development plan setting out clear achievable strategies, goals and
objectives
The comprehensive development plan of learning and training has been provided as
under:
Learning/Training Targets Strategies Outcomes
Communication Skills 6 Months With the help of
attending seminars,
group discussions and
interacting with
friends and families.
The overall
improvement in
communication skill
will be made which
will help in both
understanding and
delivering
communication to
employees.
Technical Skills 6 Months By taking classes from
IT Expert,
improvement in this
skill will be made.
The outcome will be
related to improved
knowledge of technical
things and I will also
be able to use different
technical equipment’s.
Decision Making
Skills
4 Months By thinking critically
and finding different
solutions to a single
The outcome will be
improved performance
and career

problem, this skill will
be developed.
development by
improving this skill.
LO4
Undertake a job interview for floor manager
The interview which has been conducted is for the post of Plant Head in Structured
Interview. So the description of questions which have been asked from me are as follows:
Interviewer: “Hello.”
Interviewee: “Hello Sir.”
Interviewer: “Introduce yourself ?”
Interviewee: Hii Sir, my name is Alen Head. I Live in 1 Main Street, New Cityland, CA 91010. I
had completed Bachelor of Commerce and Master's in Business Administration in Marketing. I
had also worked for four years as an Assistant Plant Head in Premier Inn Hotel. So currently, I
am looking for some job opportunity to work in your organisation so that I could also learn
something new from this organisation and also to provide something new to this organisation as
well. Thank You.”
Interviewer: “Please explain about your reason to work with us?”
Interviewee: As already provided the reasons which is my own interest for working with this
organisation and expecting for more growth opportunities as compared to other companies. The
presence of this company is also oversees so it is possible that I could also get a chance to look
outside. I have also listened much about this organisation and now want to experiences it.
Interviewer: “According to you, what are the important skills needed in a Plant Head ?”
Interviewee: Skills which from my point of view are important are communication skills,
technical skills, delegation of responsibilities, leadership skills are essential for this job role.
Interviewer: “Okay, thanks for you precious time. We will come back to you soon. Nice to meet
you.”
Interviewee: Thanks you so much sir. Pleasure is all mine.”
Review key strengths and weaknesses for interview process
The Strengths and Weaknesses of Current Interview Method for the Job Role of Plant
Head has been provided as under:
Strengths Weaknesses