Professional Identity and Practice Report: Thomas Cook Analysis

This report delves into the realm of professional identity and practice, focusing on the key benefits of ongoing professional development for various stakeholders. It examines employer expectations of skills and competencies within a company like Thomas Cook, and describes the author's own skills, abilities, and competencies as an aspiring HR Manager. The report reviews a range of learning theories and approaches used for personal and professional development, including behaviorist and cognitive approaches, as well as learning cycles by Honey and Mumford, and Kolb. It also outlines a development plan to enhance skills and includes a review of a job interview process, analyzing strengths and weaknesses. The report highlights the importance of professional standards, ethical conduct, and continuous learning in the workplace, with a focus on the HR role and its impact on organizational success.

Professional Identity and
Practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1 Examining the key benefit of ongoing professional development for different stakeholders
.....................................................................................................................................................1
P2 Describe some professional employer expectation of skills and competencies.....................2
P3 Describing own skills, abilities and competences for HR Manager......................................3
P4 Review a range of learning theory and approaches used for personal and professional
development process...................................................................................................................5
P5 Describe a development plan to enhance skills.....................................................................7
P6 Undertake a job interview for General Manager...................................................................8
P7 Review the key strength and weaknesses for an applied interview process..........................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Professional identity refers to those individuals who used to describe how they
comprehend themselves in the context of professional, while professional development is the
learning that helps to maintain the professional credential such as academic degree. In the same
way, chosen firm for this report is Thomas Cook, which is global travel company that provides
accommodation service to their customers and it also operates at international level such that it
provides best travel services to their customers at least rates.
The report will describe key benefits of ongoing professional development for different
stakeholders and describe some professional employer expectation of skills. Further, study will
describe professional development process by suing some theory and approaches and to enhance
those skills, report will describe professional development plan. Further, sit describe some
strength and weaknesses of interview process as well.
P1 Examining the key benefit of ongoing professional development for different stakeholders
Professional development is that learning which an individual learned through continued
training and education with regard to their career (Zepeda, 2019). Therefore, its main aim is to
keep up to date regarding current trends and which further help to develop new skills for the
purpose of advancement in their own field. The key benefits of professional development for
different stakeholders are as mention below:
For Employer:
 Through professional development plan, employer can easily recruit the skilled
workforce that helps to maintain the positive comfortable zone. Such that through skilled
workforce, the company's aims and objectives are easily attained.
 If Thomas Cook provide continuous professional development session to their employer
then it will help to gain high competitive edge which will help to sustain the company's
brand image at international level (Benefits of Professional skills, 2019).
 Professional development programs also help to break monotony of everyday work and
also reenergize the employer's creativity. Such that through, it, employer can gain new
skills and perspectives which further, assist to attain the defined aims and objectives in
prescribe time.
For Employee:
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 The main benefit of Professional development is to improve the efficiency and also allow
employee of Thomas Cook to learn new staff opportunities and also leads to greater
productivity and efficiency for the firm.
 Further, professional development plan also helps to build confidence and credibility
among employees, as they continue to gain new skills set which can be added in their
CVs.
 Professional development also encourages collaboration and helps to feed into positive
culture so that they can feel comfortable in the working area (Corrall, Delaney and
Cleary, 2019). In addition to this, Thomas Cook may also use e- learning courses that
nurture in learning environment and helps to build strong relationship as well.
 Through professional development, the company increases the innovation strategies
among employees and also reduces the employee turnover rate and as a result, it directly
affects the brand image of a firm in positive way.
 The key benefit of using professional development programs assist to increase job
satisfaction and also increases the morale of the employees. It is so because through
effective training sessions, the employees of the firm are self-motivated and also
increases the efficiency in process as well. As a result, it helps in increases financial gain
and leads to sustain its brand image at international level.
P2 Describe some professional employer expectation of skills and competencies
Employer expectation: In Thomas Cook, the employer expect from their employees that
they present themselves in professional way such that they used to wear prescribe dress code so
that it will look professional. In addition to this, the also expect that the employee should
perform outstanding so that it will help to meet the define aim of the firm. Even, they all should
maintain professional standards and work in responsible and ethical way so that it will not cause
any harm to the brand image of the firm (Metcalf, 2019).
In addition to this, employer also expect that all the employee who are working in their
company should feel comfortable so that they feel responsible and also perform their task by
following ethical code of conduct. Therefore, employers also motivated them in order to perform
well at the working area as well.
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Common skills expected in workplace: On the other side, employer also expect some
skills which should be posses by employee of Thomas Cook and these include hard and soft
skills.
 Hard skills: This skill is an important part of a job such that it includes the expertise
necessary for an individual in order to successfully do a job. This skill are also gained
through formal education and training programs. Therefore, employer also want that
these skills must be posses by employees which includes, accounting knowledge.
Programming, statistics, use of advance technology, customer service skills that helps to
meet the demand of consumers (Choy and Chua, 2019).
 Soft skills: Soft skills majorly combination of people skills, social skills their personality
traits which enable a person to navigate in a working environment. Therefore, these skills
should also be posses by the employee which includes, self- confidence, communication,
delegation, networking, creative thinking, interpersonal skills etc.
 Apart from this, employer of Thomas Cook also expect that the employee must
understand the cultural awareness so that they all work together in order to attain he
defined aim of a firm. The employees should also have a team leading and development
skills that help to understand them about team working. Further, they can also use
Tuckman's model of group development in which different team are formed, and they can
work together for accomplishing the defined aim in better way.
P3 Describing own skills, abilities and competences for HR Manager
In order to determine the personal skills and abilities, its is important to first uses skill
audit tool i.e. Brunel Skills audit that helps to determine the strength and weaknesses of HR
Manager of Thomas Cook and this is as mention below:
I am quite confident I need to work on this skill. I could still improve
Skill Audit:
Skills Strength/ Weaknesses
Communication skills
Time Management skills
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Leadership Skill
IT/ technical skill
Presentation skill
Motivational skill
Organizational skill
Financing skills
Training and development skills
Decision making skills
In order to doing self assessment, SWOT Analysis, Is that strategic tool that helps to
identify the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threat. The tool is mainly used to determine
my competencies and this is as mention below:
Strength:
 I have strong time management skills that helps me to perform my work in defined time
because I make priority list of work that assist me to work on time.
 I am quite confident and dynamic with a pleasing personality and also posses good
interpersonal skills.
 I can also work under pressure and can meet with deadlines as well .
 Though I posses good training and development skills that help me to make comfortable
every employee at workplace.
 I also have good decision-making skills and organizing skills that helps me to take better
decision for the welfare of a company.
 Apart from this I also posses motivational Zepeda, S. J., 2019and leadership skills
through which I keep motivating other employees as it is a part of my job role.
Weaknesses:
 Being a HR Manager, I lack communication skills and there is a need to improve this.
 Though I have a good time management skills but I did not feel comfortable in long
meetings because I lack presentation skills and that is why I feel hesitate for presenting
myself in meetings.
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 I also lack some IT skills and as a result, I am not able to use some advance technology in
recruitment and selection methods.
 I also lack some financial skills and being a HR manager I should have basic of finance
so that I can track the financial performance of the company.
Opportunities:
 As I have some strength regarding interpersonal skills which provides an opportunity to
learn from new job and responsibility. Further, it also provides better career option.
 I can also learn corporate and business ethics as well and also show the skills and
knowledge which I gained at my college.
Threat:
 I face competition from other having same qualifications and experience such that it may
leads to lose my position. Job uncertainty is another threat which I face.
Comparison against job specification and requires personal & professional skills
Skills Essential Desired
Communication skills ✓
Time Management skills ✓
Leadership Skill ✓
IT/ technical skill ✓
Presentation skill ✓
Motivational skill ✓
Organizational skill ✓
Financing skills ✓
Training and development skills ✓
Decision making skills ✓
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P4 Review a range of learning theory and approaches used for personal and professional
development process.
Learning Approach:
Behaviourist Approach: The theory mainly states that changes in behaviour which is
caused by person's direct experience of an environment and it is also known as Stimulus
Response, because it mainly observes these two factors only (Du and et.al., 2019). Such that its
main assumption is, behaviour is earned from experience and only observable behaviour is
measurable scientifically. Apart from this, the theory also states that there are four types of
behaviour such that aggressive, assertive, passive and passive- aggressive.
Cognitive approach: This theory mainly work on conscious though, decision-making and
emotional process which are essential for a cognitive development. Further, the approach also
stats that how a human mind works while people learn and it also focus on how the information
is processes by the brain. Thus, it also emphasizes the free will and positive aspects of a human
behaviour such that cognitive also refers to individual's thought, feelings and ideas about their
own and related to an environment (Metcalf, 2019). Therefore, it is also analysed that an
individual uses this theory which results in not merely the response to a stimulus and the usage
of an internal image of the external environment so that goals are accomplished.
Learning Theory:
Honey and Mumford Learning cycle: It is the learning theory that identify four different
styles of learning in order to achieve the optimum learning, this are :
 Activists: In this, they need to take action and also get involved in a learning situation.
Such that they are open-minded, and they are also willing to try new things without any
judgement. This is suited for teamwork, role-play and participating.
 Theorist: This style help to think carefully and logically about situation and also prefer
to work within proper system. In this, people are not allow to use any emotions that may
affect the conclusion. This type of people mainly work in logical and practical term rather
than creativity work (Blaik Hourani and Litz, 2019).
 Reflectors: This style states that people like to take a step back from a situation and then
learn by an observation rather than jumping into action. Such that they prefer to take part
in activities which help them to think before acting.
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 Pragmatist: This states that people prefer to apply the theory and knowledge in order to
solve the problems such that they welcome the opportunities and also apply what they
have learned.
Kolb's Learning cycle: The theory reflect as an integral part of a learning and it is the
process of learning that follow a pattern which consist some stages such that:
Experience: This state that the learner learn through their own experience and thus, they
also creates a countless opportunities as well.
Reflect: It involves thinking about what a person is experienced. It is also analysed that
some are naturally good and by providing effective training, they can easily deliberate about
reviewing own experience (Mazzotti and et.al., 2018).
Conceptualize: It is deals to generating a hypothesis about the meaning of own
experience.
Plan: In this, new experience and challenges are learned by the learner, and they also
interpret the exact need through own experience.
P5 Describe a development plan to enhance skills
Through professional development plan, the weaknesses are easily overcome and it is a
document that establish career development goals and also describe the strategy for meeting
them as well.
Skills needs to
improved
Goals personal/
professional
development plan
Indicate how you
monitored
Evaluate the
effectiveness of
personal
development plan
IT/ technical skill Short term goal
(around three month)
This can by improved
by start attending
some training session
regarding IT skills and
by using Kolb cycle
theory as well.
Through Training this
skills can be converted
into strength. But if
regular training is not
done then it affects the
overall plan.
Communication skills Medium term goal (6
month)
This can be improved
by be empathetic, be
Through effective
reading, I can easily
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focused and start
reading books that
helps me to improve
my communication
skill (Perry, 2017).
enhance the skill.
Presentation skill Short term goal
(around three month)
By start attending
training session and
using cognitive
learning theory.
Through training
session and then start
attending meeting in
order to present myself
so that it will help me
to analyse the
effectiveness.
Financing skills Long term goal (1
year)
By attending regular
financing training
sessions to learn this
skills and start
operating accounting
in Thomas Cook.
By checking the
efficiency by feeding
the entry system in
accounts.
P6 Undertake a job interview for General Manager.
Interview is the method in which an individual can easily asses their strength and
weaknesses. Therefore, a job interview for a general manager is conducting in Thomas Cook in
which the planning should be made for an interview. Such that the process is bifurcated into
three steps such as:
Personal information: In this stage, an interviewer asked personal question regarding
vacant position that helps to identify person's main motive and interest area. Such that the
answers help an interviewer whether an individual is posses the interpersonal skills or soft skills
which is required for a vacant position, then they are eligible for next round (Bates, Phalen, and
Moran, 2016).
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Group task: It is the second process of interview in which a group discussion is done.
During the process, an interviewer analyse whether the candidate posses hard skills and how a
person manage the conflict. This directly reflect their communication skills, knowledge which
they posses etc. If a person qualify in this round then they are eligible to go further (Hamilton,
2018).
Behaviour during interview: It Is the third stage in which an interviewer identify the
behaviour of the candidate while facing an interview. This process help to determine whether a
person is fit for a vacant position or not.
Different question which may be asked for the vacant position of General Manager:
Question: What is your personal management style?
Answer: I uses situational management style such that it states that style should be opted as per
the situation.
Question: How do you handle situation where the staff are not fully agree with the
strategies and procedure?
Answer: through an effective skill, negotiating skills, I can easily handle the situation and even
by taking employee feedback, I also manage the work or handle the situation.
Question: what factors do you consider while evaluating the organizational performance?
Answer: I consider economic climate, business strategy and employee productivity.
P7 Review the key strength and weaknesses for an applied interview process
From the above interview, it has been analysed that body language and behaviour during
an interview plays an effective role such that from the interview I analysed that I also need
proper rehearsal so that I can easily qualify all the three rounds. I realised that though I posses
good time management skills such that I respond every question in very effectively but I lack
communication so that it creates negative impact upon interviewer. Even I also posses strong
interpersonal skills and my qualifications are also met the criteria of vacant position but due to
not having enough communication skills I did not perform high during an interview process.
I also realized that my presentation skills are also needs to be improved so that I can
easily express my views in an interview. As I already knew all the answers but I feel hesitate as I
lack the presentation skills so that I cannot easily express by point of view in proper way. Apart
from this, I also analysed my strengths such that I can manage my work easily such that I am
quite punctual and manage the time. Further, I also posses leadership skills so that I can easily
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motivate other peoples. Beside this, it is also recommended that by using effective training
session, the weaknesses can be overcome and by reading articles and books, can also manage my
communication skills so that it will help in my future skills. In addition to this, I also analysed
that I should start presenting my views in small meeting so that it will help me to enhance my
presentation as well as communication skills. Moreover, by using effective methods, I can
minimize the weaknesses and enhance my strengths so that it will assist me to face the interview
process in better way.
CONCLUSION
By summing up above report it has been concluded that career progression become
increasingly competitive and it is quite necessary to manage those skills in an effective way.
Further, the report also concluded that professional development plan will help to increase the
retention and maintain positive working culture. Report concluded that it provides different key
benefits to their stakeholders and this will help to sustain the brand image of the company. On
the other side, report also concluded that by using SWOT analysis, HR Manager of Thomas
Cook can determine its strength and weaknesses and describe the professional employer
expectations in the context of organization. In addition to this, it is also concluded that by suing
learning theory and approaches, company will easily analyse the skills which are used for
personal and professional development process. Lastly, it concluded that in order to overcome
the weaknesses, study will chooses professional development plan and by effective interview
methods, the interviewer can identify whether a candidate is suitable for vacant position of
general manager.
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References
Books and Journals
Bates, M.S., Phalen, L. and Moran, C., 2016. Online professional development: A primer. Phi
Delta Kappan.97(5). pp.70-73.
Blaik Hourani, R. and Litz, D. R., 2019. Aligning professional development, school self-
evaluation and principals’ performance standards: a UAE case study. School Leadership
& Management. 39(2). pp.222-249.
Choy, W. K. and Chua, P. M., 2019. Professional Development. In School Leadership and
Educational Change in Singapore(pp. 69-86). Springer, Cham.
Corrall, S., Delaney, M. and Cleary, A., 2019. Librarians as Teachers: Reframing our
Professional Development.
Du, W. and et.al., 2019. The impact of integrated STEM professional development on teacher
quality. School Science and Mathematics.119(2).pp.105-114.
Hamilton, N. W., 2018. Leadership of Self: Each Student Taking Ownership Over Continuous
Professional Development/Self-Directed Learning.
Mazzotti, V. L. and et.al., 2018. Steps for implementing a state-level professional development
plan for secondary transition. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional
Individuals.41(1). pp.56-62.
Metcalf, B., 2019. A Program Evaluation Of Job-Embedded Professional Development In An
Urban School District.
Metcalf, B., 2019. Advocating for Cycles of Inquiry as Alabama's Professional Development
Model for Teachers.
Perry, M., 2017. Personal Professional Development Plans. Canadian Journal of Medical
Laboratory Science. 79(1). p.8.
Zepeda, S. J., 2019. Professional development: What works. Routledge.
Online
Benefits of Professional skills. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.kaplanfinancial.com/resources/pdc/5-benefits-of-professional-development/
>.
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