Professional Identity and Practice Report: Merchant Hotel Analysis

This report delves into the concept of professional identity, examining its significance within the context of the hospitality industry, specifically using the Merchant Hotel as a case study. It explores the importance of ongoing professional development and self-directed learning in enhancing professional identity and career opportunities, emphasizing the benefits for both employees and employers. The report outlines the skills and competencies required for a canteen manager, including communication, service orientation, and management skills, along with a self-assessment of the author's strengths and weaknesses. It then discusses various learning theories, such as operant conditioning, cognitive, and social learning theories, and proposes a social learning approach for the canteen manager role. A professional development plan is presented, identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, along with a personal audit chart to assess skills. The report concludes with a plan for developing time management skills. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of professional identity and practice in the hospitality sector.

Professional Identity
and Practice

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
Importance of on-going professional development and self-directed learning to enhance
professional identity and career opportunities.............................................................................3
Learning theories and approaches...............................................................................................5
Professional development plan....................................................................................................6
Service industry and transferable skills for a job application......................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

Introduction
Professional identity is the identity of an individual on the basis of their job role within
an organisation. It is also defined as one’s belief, attitude, values, experience, perception and
many more which is directly linked with their professional life. Some essential skills are required
to create a positive professional identity at workplace. With the help of professional identity it is
clear that which task is done by whom (Cruess, Cruess and Steinert, 2019). In context of
hospitality sector, professional identity is essential to clarify within their hotel to analyse which
employee will perform which work for the benefit of their hotel to serve best services to their
customers. The Merchant hotel that’s headquartered is located in Belfast, UK. It was opened in
1820. The owner of this 5 star hotel is Bill Wolsey. The following report covers importance of
on-going professional development and self-directed learning to enhance professional identity
and career opportunities, skills, competences and the different learning and development
approaches, professional development plan and service industry and transferable skills for a job
application.
Main Body
Importance of on-going professional development and self-directed learning to enhance
professional identity and career opportunities
Organisation overview- Merchant Hotel is one of the oldest and popular hotels in UK
which is known by its best services. It is founded in the year 1820 and recently Bill Wolsey is the
owner of this hotel. There are many departments in this hotel like Kitchen department, marketing
department, housekeeping department and many others.
Mission- Their mission is to fulfil the demand of their guests and make them comfortable to
arrive in their hotel next time again to gain their customer loyalty for lifetime.
Vision- Their vision is to establish them self as a highly valuable hotel in UK which is known for
their good services and gain competitive advantage and become the leader of their industry.
Objectives- Their main objective is to fulfil the needs and wants for their customers.
On- going professional development is the process where employees get the chance to
enhance their skills and talents while performing their job (Goodolf and Godfrey, 2021). It is
very essential for both employees as well for employers. In context of Merchant hotel, they focus
on on-going professional development of their employees because it help them to motivate them

self. The Merchant hotel promotes their good working employees so that they get motivated to
work well and others who are not performers will also get motivate. It also creates job
satisfaction for employees which further help them to enhance their performance. From
employer point of view it is benefited because on- going professional development of employees
makes a good relationship between employer and employees which help them to complete their
task on time by gaining employees trust. Secondly, professional development of employees
enhances their skills and talents and makes them experience of how to tackle the things. Hence,
employers get benefited to work with better skilled workforce.
Skills and competences of a Canteen Manager are mentioned below-
 Communication skills- It is essential for a Canteen manager to communicate with their
co-workers to convey the message that which dish will be prepared by what time
(Rasmussen and et. al., 2018). Secondly, communication skill is required to communicate
effectively with customers and taking their feedbacks that whether the like the food
dishes or not.
 Service oriented skill- This is the job of providing better services. Hence, it is essential
for canteen manager to analyse how they can provide better services to their customers to
make them satisfied.
 Management skills- The basic role of canteen manager is to manage the manpower and
other useful resources in kitchen department of a hotel. Hence, it is essential for canteen
manager to have proper knowledge and skill of how to manage their workforce and
resources in the kitchen.
According to my self assessment, I am having few good skills in which I am leading to
perform the mentioned job role. On the other hand I also have some weak skills which are
necessary to improve well for performing the job role. I am good at communication skill because
I communicate well with my co-workers and also influence customers to try the new dish. I have
good management skill that I manage my co-workers and junior employee that what they have to
do and how. I also manage my activities and department in case of shortage of resources. I am
lacking behind to learn some skills which is necessary to become canteen manager and they are
time management skill and control over emotions. I am unable to manage time properly and
sometimes I become emotional and aggressive on little things which is supposed to be ignored in
such big hotels.

From the above self assessment it is critically evaluated that some skills and talents
meet the requirement of canteen manager. Whereas some lack of skills are obstacles for meeting
employer’s expectations. Good management skills are those hard skills which are my strengths
whereas communication skill is soft skill which again falls in my strengths. It is good to have
such skills but Time management skill is also essential for the mentioned job role in which I am
lacking behind. Being sensitive and emotional on little things at workplace is not good at all.
Hence, I am meeting recruiter’s expectation in some points and also lacking behind to meet some
expectation of recruiter which is necessary to improve.
Learning theories and approaches
Some of the learning theories are explained below-
Operant conditioning learning theory- This learning theory states that human
behaviour affected by reward and punishment system (Pierson, Goulding and Campbell-Meier,
2020). It is noticed that human behaviours likes to perform those task which will provide them
benefit in return and they avoid doing those task which will punish them. Hence, this theory of
learning further explains that there should be a reward system in every organisation to motivate
employees to learn new things which help them to perform their job roles.
Cognitive theory of learning- This learning theory consists with mind learning and
neglects physical activities to learn something. Here, an individual’s knowledge, thoughts and
memory help them to learn things (Gholami and et. al., 2021). Here, an individual first analyse
the current environment that what is happening and what type of requirement is necessary to
handle the situations then that person take some corrective measures according to them which
best suits to handle the situation because earlier that person is taught by someone that what
should be done in such situations. When the situation arises then that person reminds what he
learnt earlier and he applies the same solution which he learnt before.
Social learning theory- Here, an individual observe others that how they are
performing their task and tries to learn from them. Within an organisation it is essential to
observe the trainer and other co-workers to learn how to perform the task. Hence, a good
observation power is required in social learning theory (Fergusson and et. al., 2020).
From the above information it is critically evaluated that there are many types of
learning theory which states different ways of learning within an individual. According to me, I
will adopt social learning in Merchant Hotel to perform the job of canteen manager because

according to my skills and abilities I can learn better by observing others. Secondly, in case I
have been selected as a canteen manager for Merchant Hotel then I will get training under a
senior canteen manager or that canteen manager which is going to be retired. Hence, I can learn
many things by observing that how they work and which task impacted most in the job of
canteen manager. Therefore, according to me social learning approach is best for canteen
manager to learn how they work well.
Professional development plan
My current abilities to perform the job role of canteen manager are explained below-
Strength-
 I am good at management skill because
I manage my co-workers properly and
also analyse resources for future
requirement.
 I communicate well with all kind and
behaviour of people. Hence, I can
convey message to anyone because of
my strong communication skill
Weakness-
 I am lacking behind to manage things
on time. I always delayed in preparing
foods and making other decisions for
my department.
 I am very sensitive in nature where I
express my emotions easily.
Opportunity-
 Applying for vacant job for popular
hotels such as The Merchant Hotel and
any other hotel as a canteen manager is
a good opportunity for me.
 Getting training under an experienced
Canteen manager will help me to
enhance my existing skills and also
help to learn new skills.
Threat-
 Tough competition with other
candidates is biggest threat (Gibbons,
2019). There are many candidates who
is waiting for vacant jobs for canteen
manager in hotels.
 Most of the hotels uses internal
recruitment source where they promote
their own employee in kitchen
department as a canteen manager and
they ignores to give chances for
outsiders.

Personal audit or skill audit is a way to analyse how much an individual is capable to
perform a skill in his life (Tagawa, 2019). It contain ratings of some skills which are necessary to
be performed in a given job role. It is helpful because it help to recognize the weaker skills so
that the individual will improve it in near future for their benefit. Self audit chart of my skills for
canteen manager are explained below-
Skills Personal audit questionnaire 1 2 3 4 5
HR and other essential
resources management
skill
Good in managing employees and other available
resources at workplace
*
Communication skill Good to convey proper messages to customers which
help them to gain their loyalty
*
Time management skill Good to manage time for preparing dishes and serve
it to customers on time
*
Coordination skill Good to coordinate other co-workers in same
department and help them to work together as a team.
*
Ethical behaviour Good to maintain a good morals and values at
working place and help the organisation to maintain a
good organisational culture
*
Decision making skill Good to make some essential decisions which results
for the benefit of whole organisation.
*
Maintain good relations. Good at maintaining positive relationship with
employees and customers to make them comfortable
*
From the above self audit plan it is critically analysis that I am leading in some skills
like communication skill where I communicate with my assistant helpers and customers
effectively. I also take some good decisions and maintain good relations with my employees and
customers. Whereas I need little improvement in my management skills and coordination skill
which can be improved by practice at workplace. I need to work harder on my time management
skills and maintaining good ethics at workplace because I am unable to manage time properly
and I am a short tempered person who shouts on little mistakes of employees which should not
be happen.
Personal development skills for the skills of canteen manager-
Cur G I ES ECu G I ES E

Current Skills
and
Competencies
used in personal
and professional
plan
Goals
Personal /
Professional
Development
Plan ACTIVITY
(Use SMART
targets)
Indicate how you have
monitored your progress,
underpinning. learning and
development theory
Evaluate the effectiveness
of your personal
development plan
Time management
skill
To learn time
management skill
within 3 months.
I can make a schedule once when I
get orders from customers and also
write time to prepare the dishes and
makes sure that the schedule will be
followed strictly. Here, I can use
cognitive learning theory where I
set my mind to complete the task on
time.
The main purpose to learn this
skill is to manage time and to
gain higher promotion. Benefits
of learning this skill are that I can
improve my skills and gain
positive image of myself in point
of view of others. Limitation is
that modifying schedule on daily
basis is tough task.
Coordination skill To coordinate
well with my
workers and gain
their trust on me
within 6 months.
Here, can observe those employees
who coordinate well with each
others in different situations.
Hence, I can use social learning
theory which involves observing
others and learn.
Benefit of learning this skill is
that I can make my work easy if I
corporate well and also help
others so that others will also
help whenever I need it.
Self control skill To control my
emotions and
anger and learn
how to control
stress within 1
year.
Here, I can measure my
performance by analysing how
many times I get punished for my
rude behaviour with my senior
authority and how many times I get
appreciated with them. Hence, I can
use operant conditioning theory
which consists to learn to gain
rewards.
Limitation of this plan is that it
might be possible that I get
demoralized in case I recognize
that I get fewer rewards than
punishment for my behaviour.
Benefit regarding this plan is that
I can gain more trust of my co-
workers which is essential in
canteen department.
Service industry and transferable skills for a job application
Characteristics and importance of Canteen manager-
Canteen manager is important for managing canteen activities within an organisation. In
context of Merchant hotel, their canteen manager plays various roles for the benefit of their hotel

to achieve their goals (Wang and et. al., 2020). They manage all cooks and assistants of cooks
within their department which is important. Secondly, they make sure that food which is
preparing and offering to customers must be hygienic. They are also responsible for handling all
complaints of customers and makes sure that the same complaint will not received again by the
hotel. Sometimes they manage to work in case of lack of resources. They are also important for
hotel because they convey the senior authority about shortage of raw material like vegetables and
fruits to prepare dishes so that senior authority will take measures to provide them required
materials. Hence, that’s why they are important for Merchant hotel to manage their kitchen
department well.
Job Description of canteen manager-
CV for canteen manager-

Interview script-
Few interview questions are mentioned below which is asked commonly from a canteen manager
and how I respond to such questions-
Interviewer- Share your experience in previous organisation.
Interviewee- Sir, I am a fresher in this field I have no job experience but I have done various
internships as an assistant canteen manager during my high school learning. In my internships I
basically observe canteen manager that how they work and I analyse that their main aim is to
make their customers happy who order the food from their canteen by serving them best services.
Interviewer- How you can manage your department in the situation of unhygienic food prepared
and served by employees?
Interviewee- In such situation first I will report to my senior authority and ask them to allow me
to handle the situation. In case they allow me then I will held a meeting of my department and
invite all my department employees make them understand that how their unethical activity will

impact badly on both organisation as well as on their jobs (Assen and et. al., 2018). They can
lose their jobs in such case. Hence, I will influence them to offer hygienic food to customers.
Interviewer- How could you manage the complaints regarding taste of food from customer side?
Interviewee- Fist of all I will thank them to for providing them the feedback and make my aware
about taste of food dishes so that I can make changes. Then I will check the taste of food dishes
by myself and also called other department managers to analyse their preference regarding the
taste. In case taste is really getting bad then I will assist them that how they can add more
flavours in their dishes to increases the taste.
Interviewer- Share some essential responsibilities according to yourself which is going to be
performed by you as a canteen manager of Merchant hotel.
Interviewee- If I have been chosen as a canteen manager in your hotel then I will make sure to
manage kitchen department properly by managing the activities of my department employees.
Secondly, I will make sure that customers will perceive good experience from our offered
services. It will be my responsibility to check the hygienic ways of preparing foods and
beverages because quality matters a lot.
The above mentioned interview process help me to analyse my strong skills as well as
my weak skills. It also helps me to check my confidence level of representing myself in front of
others. This interview taught me that what are essential skills required for canteen manager with
the help of questions asked by interviewer. Hence, I can focus more on such skills and
responsibilities which is focused more by interviewer side in their questions. The main thing
which I noticed as my weakness regarding this interview is that I answering in very short
paragraphs and interviewer is expecting more effective answers from my side but I am unable to
expand my answers. Hence, I need to improve the way I respond to interviewer which is short
answers. Hence, I can improve my skill of expressing myself in better ways.
Conclusion
From the above information it is concluded that personal and professional development
is essential in an individual’s life. Analysing skills and talents for performing a job is a good
activity. Self assessment help to analyse which skills are strengths and which one are weaknesses
in an individual. PDP plan further help to make some good decisions to improve weak skills
which help to find a good job. After analysing interview script an individual can easily find out

what are the negative points during the interview process so from next time they will well
prepared for another interview.
References
Books and Journals
Assen, J.H.E. and et. al., 2018. How can a dialogue support teachers’ professional identity
development? Harmonising multiple teacher I-positions. Teaching and Teacher
Education. 73. pp.130-140.
Baldry, S., Märtsin, M. and Eivers, A., 2018. Traveling without a destination? A dialogical
analysis of professional identity construction among Australian double degree
psychology students. Identity. 18(2). pp.94-108.
Cruess, S.R., Cruess, R.L. and Steinert, Y., 2019. Supporting the development of a professional
identity: general principles. Medical teacher. 41(6). pp.641-649.
Cruess, S.R., Cruess, R.L. and Steinert, Y., 2019. Supporting the development of a professional
identity: general principles. Medical teacher. 41(6). pp.641-649.
Fergusson, L.C. and et. al., 2020. Competency, Capability and Professional Identity: The Case
for Advanced Practice. Work Based Learning e-Journal International. 9(1). pp.95-131.
Gholami, K. and et. al., 2021. Construction and deconstruction of student teachers’ professional
identity: A narrative study. Teaching and Teacher Education. 97. p.103142.
Gibbons, J., 2019. How is reflection “framed” for legal professional identity? Using Bernstein
and Leering to understand the potential for reflection in our curriculum as written,
experienced and assessed. The Law Teacher. 53(4). pp.401-415.