Professional Identity and Practice: Customer Officer Role Report

This report delves into the concept of professional identity, examining its significance within the context of the hospitality and service industry, particularly focusing on the Thomas Cook Group. The report explores the importance of professional development courses for enhancing employee skills and competencies, highlighting the benefits for stakeholders such as increased retention, improved efficiency, and enhanced reputation. It then analyzes the specific role of a Customer and Community Officer, outlining the required skills including quick decision-making, patience, effective communication, and charismatic personality. Furthermore, the report assesses the individual's skills and competencies, including team-player abilities, soft skills, leadership qualities, decision-making capabilities, and accountability, to determine their suitability for the position. A personal skill audit is also included. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of continuous professional development for both personal and organizational growth, providing a detailed analysis of the skills, abilities, and competencies required for success in the chosen role.

Professional
Identity and
Practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1............................................................................................................................................3
P2:...........................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3:...........................................................................................................................................6
P4:...........................................................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5:...........................................................................................................................................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
P6:...........................................................................................................................................9
P7:.........................................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Professional identity refers to the way a person displays their personality in the context to
the profession chosen. Professional identity plays a crucial role in creating a person's behaviour
in the organisation (Bainbridge, 2016). It refers to the professional framework of a person's
beliefs, values, self-concepts and experiences. It is important to have a better understanding of an
individual’s professional identity as this helps in gain knowledge and capabilities. Other than
that, a PDP can be undertaken to enhance the skills of the person. Also, what is the role
performed by the professional identity in the hospitality and service industry will be studied in
the report as a customer judge an organisation on the basis of professionalism displayed by their
employees.
TASK 1
P1
The organisation chosen for the context of this research is Thomas Cook Group. Thomas
Cook Group was established in year 2007 with the merger of Thomas Cook & Son and My
Travel Group Plc. This group manages number of tour operators and airlines in many countries.
The areas of services provided by this group consist of chartered and scheduled passenger
airlines, package holidays, cruise lines, hotels and various resorts in many countries.
It is very crucial for any organisation to have a professional development course
undertaken to enhance capabilities and skills of their employees so that they can perform
extravagantly and organisation can achieve their goals expeditiously. Different stakeholders of
Thomas Cook Group includes customers, employees, investors, government and non-
governmental organisation of multiple countries in which Thomas Cook Group is working
(Bossio, Sacco, 2017). Albeit, indirectly but they do enjoy several benefits because of the
professional development course undertaken for the employees in order to make them learn
several ways through which they can provide ultimate satisfaction to all.
Several Benefits to stakeholders are:
Increased Retention
Improved efficiency
Confidence and Credibility

Enhanced Reputation
On going personal and professional development basically determines as the process in
which regular work is necessary on the developing knowledge and skills of people. On going
professional development recognised as the procedure by which skills and ability of people are
enhanced and updated. This is quite advantageous for employer and employees of the business
which helps them in analysing the need of changes that are requires to be done in the favour of
attainment of growth and success.
Benefits for employer:
Employers are key aspect of business, as employers are putting their significant efforts in
strengthen the workforce of business as to attainment of higher growth and success. Employers
are liable to employs people within work place as per analysis of their skills and capabilities.
Various benefits for employers are described as below: Increased Retention: Various organisations working in the same market as of Thomas
Cook Group, is cutting costs through the resources which were supposed to be used for
employees training. But, Thomas Cook Group Believes that cutting down costs like this
means cutting down the opportunities. These courses are necessity as it will help in
building a brand image and the customers will receive optimum level of satisfaction out
of it as they will get assistance from the staff who are duly trained and knows what they
are supposed to do (Brat et. al., 2016). Improved Efficiency: The implementation of these courses will help the Thomas Cook
Group in effective implementation of different plans and policies as they will get
excessive support from their employees, who knows what to do and what duty they are
required to perform as they are trained accordingly. Confidence and Credibility: These professional courses help in the development of
employees various skills and abilities as well as they will be able to develop confidence
which is very important in the service industry as customers judge an organisation from
the staff that are working for them not from the services undertaken by them. Also, these
courses open the plenty of opportunities for employees to grow and develop.
Benefits for employees:

Employees are the another key aspect of a business as the growth and success of business
is based on the contribution of employees at work place. The growth of firm is directly
connected with the performance of employees at work place. On going personal and professional
development plan has benefits of employees in which some are described as under: Enhanced Reputation: These courses helped in developing the organisation's reputation
in the market as well as when the customers seek the services of Thomas Cook Group, it
will have a positive word of mouth which will bring new customers and enhance the
reputation of the firm in the market.
 Efficient Use of Resources: An untrained employee will misuse the multiple resources
available to Thomas Cook Group which are only limited in the world. These limited
resources have plenty of uses which can only be understand by a trained staff who can
use these resources effectively and efficiently.
These are the several benefits for the stakeholders which are attached to Professional
development Course undertaken in Thomas Cook Group in order to maintain the various plans
and procedures that only be achieved with the help of employees (Bruno, Dell’Aversana, 2018).
P2:
The job role chosen in the context of the Professional Development course that needs to
be undertaken at Thomas Cook Group is Customer and Community Officer. This position
demands from the employee to have enough experience in order to win hearts and minds of
customers by the efficient services needed. The employee in this position handles the queries of
customers and try to provide them with the things required by them. Also, this position demand
employee to effectively solve the issue to make their stay pleasant and then communicate the
issue to team, so, it is not repeated. This position is taking up in London office of Thomas Cook
Group (Burhan-Horasanlı ,Ortaçtepe, 2016).
The Skills and Competencies required for this job is: Quick Decision Making: The employee need to make quick and efficient decision
making in order to provide customers with the things required by them, so that they don't
feel that there problems are not listened and go unhappy. These decisions should be made
in context of the problem faced by the customer and what organisation can provide at that
point of time. The employee should take care that they are not giving false hopes to the
customers as after that they will feel more angry and will bad mouth Thomas Cook

Group. So, all these problems can be undertaken if the employee makes efficient and
quick decisions to fulfil the needs. Patience: patience is a great virtue and it should be there in the employee so that they can
listen to the needs of the customers and provide them with the efficient solutions in order
to meet with their needs and the organisation as they may to deal with a frustrated
customer who is not happy with the services provided to them. This is the key ability
requires to have by the management of an organisation, Moreover the manager of
Thomas Cook Group having patiences as the manager never get frustrated towards the
work or their job responsibility. In the hotel industry patience is required for effective
management of organisational operations. Effective Communication Skills: This position demands the customer to have effective
communication skills which can make the whole process easier as they have to deal with
the customers as well as communicate the problem to the team so that it can never be
repeated in the Thomas Cook Group (Cope et. al., 2017). The manager of Thomas Cook
Group, has good communication skills that are effective for the firm in implementing
good relationship with customers and satisfying their needs. This is most effective in
fulfilling the desires of people and retain them for long time.
 Charismatic Personality: It can be defined as a person who is confident and can help
other feel confident, thus, enhancing the communication process. This position needs to
have such an employee. The manager of Thomas Cook Group has the skill of
charismatic nature, thus the manager is effective in developing confidence level among
employees which may result in higher growth of business through the satisfaction level of
employees.
Thus, this will be the needed skills and competencies required by Thomas Cook Group
for the position of Customer and Community Office in order to meet up with the demands and
expectations of customers (Cottrell, 2015).
TASK 2
P3:
It is essential to study different competencies, abilities and skills to get a desired position
in enterprise. Various abilities and knowledge are used to achieve the desired growth and

development expected. In order to establish a relationship between the abilities, skills and
competences of an individual to the abilities and skills necessary for the job (Cross, Ndofirepi,
2015).
To apply for the position of Customer and community manager in a prestigious
organisation like Thomas Cook Group, it is important to know the various skills, abilities and
competencies possessed by me and what would be their importance for this job.
Various skills, abilities and competencies are:
Team-Player: It is very essential for a organisation to have an effective team as this help
in achieve set goals and objectives. It is the measure through which goals and objectives can be
achieved. I am a team player as the I am comfortable in working in a team and able to justify the
roles and responsibilities allotted to me. I feel that I can keep a team together and this will help in
Thomas Cook Group as well as this consists communication with other team members.
Soft Skills: This reflect different skills that help an individual to interact with other
easily. I am able to share my views with others but still I need to improve my skill in order to
achieve my career objectives and goals. With this, I can perform my job roles in more
appropriate manner.
Leadership: Though, this quality is not required that much for this role, but, this attribute
support my growth & development in Thomas Cook Group. This will assist me in grasp
opportunities as my leaders will be able to delegate some of the work to me if they will see my
potential to handle team members.
Effective Decision-making skills: Though, the decision made by me never have been
turned as a failure, but, I feel I can do better in this genre as the decisions made by me were
effective but not efficient. Better decisions can be made of the same problem incurred by me.
Accountability: This indicate responsibility of different activities implemented to achieve
set objectives. I am able to complete all my duties and tasks allotted to me according to my
designation in organisation. Overall my accountability skill is good but still I need to work on the
same.
These skills and abilities can be used in order to grow and develop in the vast
organisation like Thomas Cook Group.
Personal skill audit

Learning Skills
Skills:
Team-Player
Soft Skills
Competencies:
Accountability
Abilities:
Decision making
Leadership
Target Proficiency
10
10
10
10
10
Existing Proficiency
7
9
7
6
8
From the above mentioned discussion I have been consider that as a manager of Thomas
Cook Group there are various skills, competencies and ability which are requires for me to
develop in respect to attainment of growth in my personal as well as professional level. I have
improve my team plays ability as it is essential for me in maintaining collaboration among team
members in respect to achieving higher growth and profitability. As a manager of travel and
tourism company I have to make consideration regarding development of my decision making
ability thus it is necessary for me to take competitive decisions for the sack of smooth
functioning of operations.
SWOT analysis is the best suitable way which I can apply for developing my skills,
capabilities and abilities. For the purpose of proper execution of the operations of travel and
tourism firm, various strengths and weaknesses of manager are described as below:
Strength Weakness
I am having the skills of soft words as I can
easily motivate others by my words, thus could
help me in providing proper assistance to
others.
My another strength is my leadership ability,
thus this create value for me in directing
people for proper execution of work. I am
I am quite weak in taking quick decision n
regards to the operations of the firm. As my
major weakness is the decision making skill of
mine. I am not much good in taking decision
due to lack of confidence.
My another weakness is my team play skill as
some time I feel lacked due to non effective

applying my leadership skills in guiding
employees towards their job role and
responsibility.
relationship with team mates as this also
misleads me towards taking effective
decisions or guiding others.
P4:
Learning theories are a set framework that explain the process behind how an individual
receive knowledge during learning sessions. Further, this inform application of different designs
thorough different models (Wosket, 2016). Learning theories support development of knowledge
a person as well as it performs a significant role in personal and professional development of an
individual.
Various learning theories and their roles in Process of Personal and Professional Development is:
Behavioural learning theory – It is based on idea that new behaviours or modification
in behaviour of an individual can be learned by learner. In this, positive and negative behaviour
is used as a source of motivation (Bainbridge, 2016).
This theory played a significant role in my understanding as I learned a lot more from
the behaviour displayed by my seniors, managers and colleagues, then, that of classrooms. And
these behavioural traits will always be a part of my growth and development.
Cognitive theory of learning – Cognition reflect thoughts, feeling, ideas and
understanding of an individual and understanding of the environment and about own
(Kensington-Miller, Renc-Roe, Morón-García, 2015).
This theory helped me in understanding myself and the environment in which I am
working more effectively and efficiently. This theory helped in realising my worth in order to
know and reason the activities I am doing.
Constructive theory of learning- This theory is based on the idea that how an individual
acquire knowledge and learn from their experiences. This theory helps in enhancing knowledge
of an individual, as an individual has to perform a task, through which he can gain experience
and knowledge be it at personal or professional level (McMillan, McConnell, O’Sullivan, 2016).
This found in psychology that determined how an individual might acquire knowledge
and learn. It therefore has direct application to education. This theory determines that humans
construct knowledge and meaning through their experience. As a manager of a large travel and
tourism agency, Thomas Cook, I have to concern over developing my own capabilities through

my personal experience, thus proper work experience helps me in assisting towards development
of my own recognition through enhancing some new capabilities and skills.
This theory covers all the aspects of how an individual acquire knowledge and perform
the duties allotted. Same goes for me, this theory helped me in establishment of various
knowledge, skills and capabilities acquired by me in order to grow and learn more things
(Bossio, Sacco, 2017).
TASK 3
P5:
Professional Development Plan will be developed to know about the various weaknesses
and how they can be improved in order to grow (Traynor, Buus, 2016).
A PDP consist of various skills and abilities that a person use and try to develop in order
to grown more. From the various weaknesses analysed, a professional development plan will be
prepared.
Professional Development Plan
Sr.
No
Learning
Objective
Current
Proficiency
Target
Proficiency
Development
Opportunities
Criteria
for
judging
success
Time
Scale
Evide
nce
1 Accountability I do not take
responsibilities
as much as I
should.
To improve my
skill to be able
to take up more
roles and
responsibilities
in Thomas
Cook Group.
Will be taking
more interest
in
organisational
actions and
taking up the
charge.
Access to
more
work and
more
responsib
ilities.
3-4
mont
hs
Tough
er
duties
will be
allotte
d.
2 Soft-skills Not enough to
effectively
take up the
role of
Customer-
To develop
more these
skills in order
to grow more.
By taking part
in various
communicatio
n programs
and interact
Effectivel
y
communi
cating the
things
6-8
moth
s
Effecti
ve
Comm
unicati

Community
Manager at
Thomas Cook
Group.
more with
people.
without
any
problem.
on
3 Effective
decision-
making skills
Not justified
according to
the role
needed.
Able to make
effective
decisions.
Handling the
queries of the
customers and
provide
effective
solutions
Entrusted
with the
more
complicat
ed
decisions
8-12
mont
hs
Handli
ng the
querie
s fast
and
efficie
ntly.
This PDP model will assist me in improve my skills and abilities that help me in achieve
my set goals and objectives.
TASK 4
P6:
Job Interview is known as the process and a conversation that take place between
interviewer and applicant who apply for the specific job at workplace. Interviewer tries to
analyse the knowledge, skills of a person and also the level of confidence as the person is right
fitted for the job or not. After the job interview, recruitment decision is made. A job applicant
tries their best to get the job by impress the interviewer (Trede, McEwen, Trede, 2016).
Before going for the job interview, a person has to submit their CV which reflect their
skills, knowledge, hobbies, educational background and their capabilities. For the following
situation, a CV and a Mock Job Interview will be illustrated in order to achieve the role played
by Curriculum vitae and a mock Job Interview.
CURRICULUM VITAE