Personal Skill Audit and Professional Development Plan for HR Manager

This report analyzes the personal skill audit and professional development plan for an HR Manager, focusing on the context of Thomas Cook. It begins by outlining the key benefits of ongoing professional development for both employers and employees, emphasizing increased productivity, customer satisfaction, and employee retention. The report then identifies the essential skills and competencies expected of an HR Manager, including leadership, innovation, interpersonal skills, loyalty, decision-making, and time management. The author assesses their own abilities, skills, and competencies for the specific job role, highlighting strengths such as interpersonal skills and weaknesses like time management. The report further explores learning theories and approaches used in personal and professional development, such as the Honey & Mumfered learning style theory. Finally, the report constructs a development plan to enhance chosen skills and competencies, and concludes by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the interview process for the HR Manager role.

PERSONAL SKILL
AUDIT AND
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Key benefits of ongoing professional development for different stakeholders.....................3
P2 Expectations of skills and competencies by professional employer......................................4
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................5
P3 Assessment of own abilities, skills, and competencies for specific job role.........................5
P4 Theories & approaches used in personal & professional development process....................7
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P5 Construction of development plan to enhance chosen skills and competencies....................8
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................10
P6 Job interview for the role of HR Manager...........................................................................10
P7 Key strengths and weaknesses of an interview process.......................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Development plan for professionals is used by companies to establish required skills,
goals and competencies in the organisation. To understand the report better the company h will
take Thomas Cook in consideration which deals in offering packages of tours and trips to its
customers at various destinations. The report will include various skills that are needed in the
company to achieve sustainability. Also, it will include benefits of professional development
plan to employer as well as employees. It includes assessment of talent and abilities for a specific
job role. It depicts construction of development plan to enhance chosen skills and competencies
and at last will show interview process weakness and strength for the role of manage in the
company.
LO 1
P1 Key benefits of ongoing professional development for different stakeholders
Employee's and higher authorities' development plan is adopted by Thomas cook to
establish their goals, skills required and development of competencies along with continuous
support to the employees of the company for career development (Wilkinson, 2017). The
ongoing plan is created by the manager of the company in order to find out the required skills
and resources to support the needs of staff and needs of the company. It begins for the employees
once they join the company. It is reviewed on ongoing basis throughout the year with review
discussion between staff members and supervisor. It provides benefit to both employers and
employees in the Thomas cook.
Benefit to employers Benefit to employees
Professional development of individuals lead to increase in
business reputation as it shows that employer cares about its
employees which attracts talented employees towards the
company.
It increases productivity of Thomas cook as all the employees
get trained properly which increase their efficiency and
ultimately helps the company in increasing their productivity
and help them in achieving economies of scale (Clayton,
2015).
It sharpens the knowledge of
the employees and give then
opportunity to learn something
new.
It helps the employee in
growing and performing their
jobs effectively (Professional
development plan, 2018).
It provides persona satisfaction

It helps the company in retaining new as well as existing
customers as when the employees are professionally
developed, it leads to good communication and decision
making skills which leads to higher customer satisfaction as
employees handles the customer efficiently (Pint and et.al.,
2015).
It allows the company in expanding its netwrok. Although
Thomas Cook is a tour and travels company and is already
expanded but yet these workshops and professional events help
it in expanding globally.
It helps the company in being competitive towards its
competitors and lead to having competitive advantage others
due to fully professionally developed employees.
It increases efficient human relations in the organisation as the
professional development plan focus on increasing diversity,
harmony and communication among employees (Benefits of
professional development plan, 2019).
It is also a great tool that can help Thomas Cook in making
succession planning and reduce the knowledge gap that is
ahead with outside hires. These helps the employees in
mastering skills and shape the development of future leaders.
to the employees which leads
to increase in effectiveness and
efficiency.
This professional development
plan build confidence and
credibility as they continue to
gain new skills and
certificates.
It helps in re energizing staff's
creativity and give them clear
perspectives about their work.
It develops communication,
decision making and
leadership skills among the
employees which help them in
future job as well as current
job (Brière and et.al., 2015).
It helps in increasing
knowledge and skills of the
employees which leads to
overall development of the
employees.
P2 Expectations of traits and competencies by professional employer
Skills and competencies required to be a manager in Thomas Cook are :
Leadership skills – Every organisation require that its manger have leadership skills and
Thomas cook is no exception. The manager need to be a leader in order to guide its staff. There
are number of traveller agents, scouts etc. who are working in the company and need to know

their duties and responsibilities clearly. Also, the leader of the company need to be open to
suggestions and feedbacks from its employees which in turns to increase their coordination with
each other.
Innovation – The other competency that the manager need to have is innovation as there
are many companies dealing in tours and travels and are coming up with innovative techniques,
therefore, too meet the expectation of people and to have competitive advantage the company's
manager need to come up with innovative ideas to attract customers in buying the packages and
book holidays from Thomas cook.
Interpersonal skills - The manager need to possess interpersonal skills as it allows it to
interact positively and work with other\s in efficient manner (Gunawan, 2017). As Thomas cook
is all about communicating with others therefore interpersonal skills are must even in dealing
with customers as well. It helps in creating positive atmosphere in the company which makes the
delegation of task easier.
Loyalty towards the company – One thing that matter to be in the company is loyalty as
if the manager is not faithful to the organisation, the employees can never be. The manger need
to be responsible, caring, dedicated towards the company as well as its employees. It leads to
success and sustainability of the organisation.
Decision making - The other skill that the manager of Thomas cook must possess
decision making skills. The manager need to have the ability to understand issues and
opportunities which it can use to have competitive advantage. The manager need to be able to
develop appropriate solutions to solve the issues. The issues can be customers dissatisfaction,
outdated technology etc.
Time management skills - The manager of Thomas cook need to have the skills of time
management in which the manager have to effectively manage its own and employee's time in an
effective manner so that the work can be completed efficiently (Hawi, 2015).
Professional attitude – The manager mus possess ability to manage the time effectively,
can act in ethical manner, can display leadership, can act and think creatively and can focus on
customer satisfaction along with managing conflicts and display emotional intelligence. This will
help Thomas cook in retaining its employees as well as customers.

LO 2
P3 Assessment of own abilities, skills, and competencies for specific job role
I have figured out that at the time of choosing career as manager that there are various skills
which I found across at the time of working in Thomas cook. The skills and traits one need to
possess and are currently in demand is related to team work. Mainly the tasks are achieved
through effective team work and with the help of this trait, they can achieve more profits in the
business. I find myself more comfortable in communicating with other employees and this can
be said as my basic skill which helps in nourishing my career.
The factors which were identified by me that lead to my personal and professional growth
is related to management of time as managing the work during office hours is important. I found
out that I lack this quality (Arrfelt and et.al., 2015). I didn't manage my time more effectively
which effected my personal life as well professional life. As the work which was need to be
completed within the allotted time, I couldn't complete it and that's the biggest factors which
reduces my careers growth. I found various factors which I think as my strength or I lack in
achieving more success in the organisation.
Strength
I would consider my strength in having good
interpersonal skills. Also, I can be a good
leader to motivate other person to work hard
and achieve their goals with hard work. I am
loyal to my company which is the basic quality
needed in every organization.
Weakness
I found my weakness in managing time. As I
Didn't manage my time accurately which
affects my personal and profession life. The
another factors which reduces my productivity
related to innovation. As due to lack of
knowledge in technology and also lacking in
innovation, I am unable to adapt new
technologies reforms so frequently which
blocks the organisation in achieving more
growth in technological area. I am unable to
bring new reforms in technology at the work
places which reduces my decision making
power to make correct decisions. I examined
that my decision making skills are also not
impressive which are not quick sometimes and

lead to decrease in efficiency of working
operations (Lounsbury and et.al., 2016).
Opportunities
As I have strong interpersonal skills, it can be
the biggest opportunities for me to grow in the
business. As, it is all about communicating
with the customers and making them aware
about the packages of tour and travels therefore
this skill can bring a lot of opportunities in the
way.
Threats
I found that my professional attitude is my
biggest threat as sometimes you need to be
relaxed and calm to talk to your employees.
Due to highly disciplined personality,
employees do not get easily flexible with me
which lead to loss of productivity, absenteeism
etc. (Reilly and Williams, 2016).
P4 Theories & approaches used in personal & professional development process
To enhance profitability and brand image of Thomas Cook it is essential for its managers
and workers to enhance their knowledge so that they are able to create innovative ideas. Further,
Learning skills helps managers and other professionals in developing different skills from their
work & experience. Honey & Mumfered formulated a learning style theory according to which
different individuals born with different learning style which is natural. Thus, this theory says
that it is required for an individual to identify their natural style 1st and work on it to develop
more learnings. This approach is classified in four parts which are discussed below-
Activist- Individuals having activist learning styles are open minded and desperate to try
each & every new thing. This theory is used in personal & professional development process as
with this theory managers and employees of Thomas Cook can experiment new things and able
to learn from them. Developing this approach and styles helps services providers of Thomas
Cook Limited to introduce new and innovative ideas with which it can attract more customers
like Online Booking and Providing Visa in 24 hours. If services providers of company are able to
try new services and offerings than company can compete in market. Further, individuals having
this style are enable to resolves problems by exploring new things and which in turn enhances
their learnings(Truong, 2016).
Pragmatist- People having this learning styles does not only believe in ideas they
implement those ideas in real life and analyse outcomes. Further, these individuals learn from

resolving problems occurred after implementation of ideas. Thus, with this approach professional
skills of managers of different departments are developed by applying theories at work place and
personal skills(Honey and Mumford, 2017).
Reflector- Reflectors are people who learn from observing a performance and collecting
feedbacks by asking questions, Conducting interviews and surveys. For Example- To Market
Manager of Thomas Cook wants to develop a new advertisement and want to publish it on
various online sites than before making this decision a feedback is taken from customers. After
collecting feedback from customers manager make decision regarding selection of sources which
are beneficial and liked by more customers. Thus, with this manager is able to gather knowledge
regarding new techniques and sources. This style helps individuals in developing their personal
skills also as with they are able to make effective decisions related to wealth maximisation and
business expansion.
Theorist- Theorist are individuals who learns from different theories and logical methods.
Thus, this approach also beneficial in learning process as these types of individuals are able to
make different assumptions and make decisions after doing a research. This learning style also
benefits in development of professional skills as with this employees of Thomas Cook are able to
use innovative software like SPSS and Excel for collecting statistical data so that research can be
conducted and for asking questions & collecting feedback from customers(Felder and Silverman,
2018).
LO 3
P5 Construction of plan to enhance chosen traits and competencies
Development plan to improve skills and competencies
Scope of
Developmen
t
Resources that I
can include ?
Things need to be done How will I measure
success ?
Date of
completion ?
Management
of time
Scheduling of
office tasks in a
personal diary to
keep the track and
will prioritize
To manage the time
effectively in office, the
tasks would be scheduled in
time for this and will note all
the tasks in a diary and will
The success of the
time management
will be measured by
completion of the
work within the
10- 15 days
will be taken
for managing
time.

goals according to
date of completion.
make a schedule of their
completion by dividing the
tasks into time taken in
completing them. The focus
will be on activities which
are of high value and I will
avoid answering phone call
in between working hours for
manage time effectively
(Radomska, 2015).
deadline. I will ask
my employees about
my performance so
that I can measure my
development skill
appropriately and
they feel valued.
IT skills The use of
different software
will lead to
development of my
career. IT skills
will include use
cloud security,
metadata design
software. Also, I
will develop and
learn skills of
typing and other
computer skills in
order to I will use
Microsoft word
and Microsoft
office.
Basic computer classes for
developing and learning
essential computer skills
which can enhance my IT
skills. I will also learn using
meta data design and cloud
security software's because
they will help me to retain
and safeguard data. These
software will reduce my
work pressure and can focus
on some other important
tasks (Hennekam, 2016). I
will ask a personnel from IT
department for providing me
guidance regarding
development of my IT skills.
The IT expert will
provide a proper
report by analysing
my work. Also, my
efficient and quick
capability for task
completion will guide
my way of success.
This will
approximately
take 6 - 10
months.
Selling skills Will go in market
and will search for
customers to
I will try to enhance my
selling skills by asking and
reading the reviews of
The effectiveness and
accuracy in selling
will be measured by
This will take
4-5 months to
enhance

improve the selling
skills. Also, will
think of innovative
discounts and ideas
to attract
customers.
customers which will help in
realizing weak points and
poor performance and what
they did not liked in the
package and will try to
improve that.
customer retention of
existing customers as
well as new
customers.
selling skill
and to attract
customers.
Innovative
and creative
skills.
The study of
different cases
related to
innovations and
their success to
gain my creative
knowledge.
I will try to convey my ideas
to the higher authorities for
enhancing my creativity and
innovation skills.
The contribution of
ideas and suggestions
will decide my
success status.
This will take
to develop
within 10 – 15
hours.
Short term and long term goals
Short term goals
 Improvement in management of time Enhancing decision making power
Medium term goals
 Increasing creativity by joining new creative courses
 Developing personality and confidence to be able to sale products.
Long term goals
 Learning basic computer skills related to technology up gradation
 Innovative ideas
LO 4
P6 Job interview for the role of HR Manager
CV of HR manager

DAVID JONAS
2 Main street, New city land, FS 90120 UK (555) 322-75678 [e-mail]
Questions
1. What are your career goals as a HR manager
I strive to deliver the best possible service to my clients and create memorable and lasting
experience with every trip they take with our company Thomas cook. I will always seek ways to
adopt innovative ways to exceed the sales of the company and will take more and more
responsibilities with time.
2. How important is it for you to build a relationship with your customers and how can you
do it?
The most important thing for me is to maintain relationship with the customers as without that
the company will reach nowhere. Building relationships creates a difference and can help the
company in retaining the customers which will ultimately increase goodwill as well as profits of
the company. It can be done by taking feedbacks from the customers about their trips and

destinations, providing them with benefits, staying in touch with them with the help of emails
and messages etc.
3. What kind of promotional technique can the company use to attract more customers?
The company can use all kinds of advertising techniques like personal selling,
advertisement on television and newspaper but the most impactful promotional strategy can be
social media techniques in which various platforms like Facebook, Instagram can be used to
attract the customers by showing them various offers on trips and other facilities.
4. How you will solve the issues and conflicts between employees?
I will first try to understand the issue between the employees and will call them one by
one whoever is involved in the conflict. Both of the parties will e given equal amount of time to
tell their perspective and then I will come to a conclusion without being bias (Firdauz, 2015).
5. How you will develop the employees of the company ?
By introducing professional management plan which will focus on training the
employees and enhancing their creativity and innovation which will increase the innovative
techniques in the company and will lead to overall development of the company and its
resources.
P7 Key strengths and weaknesses of an interview process.
Strengths
The strength in the interview process was that I was confident with the answers I have
given and maintained eye contact with the interviewer throughout the interview. The other
strength was the experience I had and that gave the knowledge and has improved my
communication skills which helped me in talking to the interviewer fluently. The body language
I maintained was subtle and not that rigid which made me feel more confident.
Weaknesses
The weakness was that I was not comfortable and was shy when interviewer asked me
personal questions related to my interests and hobbies. The other weakness was that I was not
sitting straight and in beginning I was fidgeting with my documents which was not appropriate
but soon I got the sense and stopped doing it (De Araújo, 2015). The other weakness was that I
dint kept the smile on my face throughout the interview which is important.
However, the smile need to be there on the face throughout the interview which would
have given a good impact on the interviewer and would have enlightened the whole