Skill Assessment and Development Plan: Securing a Tourism Officer Role

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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT PLAN
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
LO1: Importance of On-Going Professional Development and Self-Directed Learning................4
P1: The Key Benefits of On-Going Professional Development for Different Stakeholders.......4
P2: Professional Employer Expectations of Skills and Competencies........................................6
M1: Importance of On-Going Professional Development and the Associated Professional
Skills............................................................................................................................................7
LO2: Assessment of Own Skills, Competencies, and Different Learning & Development
Approaches......................................................................................................................................9
P3: Assessment of Own Abilities, Skills, and Competencies......................................................9
P4: Learning Theories and Approaches Used for Personal and Professional Development
Processes....................................................................................................................................10
M2: Evaluation of Own Skills and Competencies along with Development Approach...........12
LO3: Designing Professional Development Plan..........................................................................13
P5: Construction of a Development Plan...................................................................................13
M3: Detailed Development Plan...............................................................................................15
LO4: Service Industry and Transferable Skills for Job Application.............................................17
P6: Job Interview Process..........................................................................................................17
P7: Key Strengths and Weaknesses of an Applied Interview Process......................................17
M4: Evaluation of Job Interview Process for Obstacles and Challenges to Overcome............19
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................20
References......................................................................................................................................21
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Introduction
In the modern globalised world, organisations have been able to develop themselves to the point
where they are able to gain growth and success through their operations and activities. However,
as a result of their development, their operations and activities have become more complex and
complicated. In order to work under such conditions, employees are required to possess
professional and personal skills that would be helpful for them. For the travel and tourism
industry, the importance of personal and professional skills are immense due to the fact that these
skills help in the sustainability and growth of the industry through their usage in daily operations
and activities (Silvia, Delaney, and Marcovitch, 2017). VisitBritain is the largest tourism
organisation in England which helps to sustain the travel and tourism industry in the country as
well as generate revenue to benefit the economy of the country (VisitBritain., 2019). The
following study critically analyses and evaluates the professional and personal development
skills that an individual must possess and develop in the context of the travel and tourism
industry. The study evaluates the importance of on-going professional development and self-
directed learning as well as the assessment of own skills, competencies, and different learning &
development approaches. Furthermore, the study designs a professional development plan and
evaluates a range of service industry and transferable skills for a job application in the context of
VisitBritain.
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
LO1: Importance of On-Going Professional Development and Self-Directed Learning
P1: The Key Benefits of On-Going Professional Development for Different Stakeholders
Professional Development is one of the key integral processes that every individual working or
wanting to work in the modern era of globalisation should follow. For any organisation, the key
benefits of on-going professional development for different stakeholders are immense due to the
fact that on-going professional development is one of the best methods to help benefit both the
individual as well as the organisation (Wesley, Jackson, and Lee, 2017). In the context of
VisitBritain, the benefits of on-going professional development for different stakeholders,
namely the employer and the employee is immense. The first major benefit for the employee is
the fact that on-going professional development allows the individual to improve their
performance. Due to the continuous assessment as well as updating of the different skills of the
individual, the employee is able to consistently improve themselves that leads to an enhanced
level of productivity as well as efficiency.
Figure 1: Professional Development Cycle
(Source: Wesley, Jackson, and Lee, 2017)
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Another major benefit that befalls on the employers of VisitBritain due to the on-going
professional development of the employee is the fact that the employers are able to successfully
guide, shape, mold, and train the employee to fit in the organisation. This is because on-going
professional development helps to ensure that the employee is guided by the employer. This
results in the creation of a highly developed individual fit to work in the context of the Travel
and Tourism industry and requires less work for the employee (Ye and Song, 2018). However,
one of the key mutual benefits of on-going professional development for both the employee and
the employer is the fact that it helps to develop the communication between them. This results in
a better understanding between the employee and the employer which leads to a strong
relationship for the benefit of VisitBritain.
P2: Professional Employer Expectations of Skills and Competencies
In the Tourism and Travel industry, there is a multitude of skills and competencies that an
employee is expected to have by an employer. This not only makes the individual more capable
of the job role, but it also helps them in their future career. In the context of VisitBritain, the
employers have various expectations for skills and competencies that an individual is required to
have. These include:
 Effective Communication Skills: In the tourism and travel industry, one of the key skills
that are expected by the employers for the employees to have is the communications skill
(Kamara et al., 2017). Verbal and non-verbal interpersonal communication skills are very
much required in the tourism and travel industry to convey the thoughts and ideas of the
employees to everyone in the organisation as well as to the customers too.
 Comprehension and Cognitive Skills: Another important skill is the comprehension and
cognitive skill that is expected by the employers for the employees to have. Having such
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
skills allow the employee to effectively understand the situation as well as memorize the
different aspects of their work. This results in the employee having an enhanced capacity
to undertake more workload and put more effort into their daily tasks.
 Flexibility: Flexibility is another key skill that is necessary for the employees to have
when working in the tourism and travel industry. Being flexible allows the employees to
be able to effectively assess the situation and take steps, decisions, and approaches that
would be helpful to make the situation flow in the direction that the employee wants.
Being flexible would help an individual to become more responsible, efficient, and
productive within the organisation (Zaitseva et al., 2015).
 Behavior: One of the quintessential qualities that an employee working in tourism and
travel industry should possess, the behavior is an intrinsic property through which the
employee is able to interact with others in a very suitable manner. Having a polite and
charming behavior for an employee working in tourism and travel industry allows them
to gain the trust and faith of others and leads the employee to success for both themselves
as well as the organisation (Fedulin, Sakharchuk, and Lebedeva, 2015).
M1: Importance of On-Going Professional Development and the Associated Professional
Skills
While there are various benefits of on-going professional development in the context of an
organisation, however, the importance of on-going professional development is immense. In
VisitBritain, the on-going professional development is helpful to drive both the employees and
the employers to not only success but also to evaluate themselves and rectify any flaws and
issues. Furthermore, on-going professional development is important to not only ensure that the
employees are developing, but it also enables the employers to improve their leadership and
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
guidance skills. For VisitBritain, the associated professional skills required by an employee to
work are effective communication skills, comprehension, and cognitive skills, being flexible, and
having a charming and polite behavior (Khuong, Nguyen, and Turner, 2017).
Figure 2: Professional Development and the Associated Professional Skill
(Source: Khuong, Nguyen, and Turner, 2017)
It is my ambition to become a tourism officer in VisitBritain and as such, it is the selected job
role which I am preparing myself for so that I would be able to become a tourism officer in the
organisation one day. However, there is a variety of professional skills required in order to meet
the criteria for becoming a tourism officer in VisitBritain. These include leadership skills,
effective communication skills, being flexible, having a strong personality and charisma, being
calm and cool minded as well as having strong cognitive skills. I have found that I have strong
leadership skills from my past experiences as well as from my learnings (Lyons et al., 2016). I
have been able to deduce that it is an innate quality due to which I was able to successfully fulfill
leadership roles in my childhood. Furthermore, due to this intrinsic and innate quality, I was able
to acquire a charming and charismatic personality which allows me to attract people through my
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
behavior as well as guide and lead them in situations which they follow obediently. I am also
proficient in both verbal and non-verbal interpersonal communication which allows me to
successfully and efficiently convey my thoughts and ideas to others. While I am flexible as I am
capable of adapting to different situations easily and I have strong cognitive skills, I have found
that lack the calm and coolness. As a result, I am prone to be stressed and lose my cool and
calmness in difficult situations and under heavy pressure. Therefore, I should rectify this
necessary quality so that I would be eligible for becoming a tourism officer in VisitBritain.
LO2: Assessment of Own Skills, Competencies, and Different Learning & Development
Approaches
P3: Assessment of Own Abilities, Skills, and Competencies
For the role of tourism officer in the travel and tourism industry, there are varieties of hard and
soft skills which are required by an individual in order to get the job role. Soft skills are the skills
which are intangible qualities of an individual and is difficult to quantify. These skills include
basic etiquette, interacting with others, and many more. On the contrary, Hard skills are those
skills which tangible and can be quantified easily (King and Zhang, 2017). These skills include
reading, writing, doing something, and many similar things.
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Figure 3: Soft Skills and Hard Skills
(Source: King and Zhang, 2017)
In order to become a tourism officer in the travel and tourism industry, I have to evaluate my
skills and competency using the soft and hard skills assessment test:
 Soft Skills: The soft skills required to become a tourism officer in the travel and tourism
industry include having a strong leadership style, having effective communication skills,
being flexible, having a strong personality and charisma, being calm and cool minded as
well as having strong cognitive skills (Lisitzina et al., 2015). I have found through my
previous experiences as well as general assessment and learnings that I have a strong
leadership style, I am good at both verbal and non-verbal communication, I am flexible
and I have a strong personality and charisma. However, I have found that I lack the calm
and coolness that is essential to become a tourism officer in the travel and tourism
industry.
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
 Hard Skills: The hard skills required to become a tourism officer in the travel and
tourism industry include having high energy, having sufficient knowledge of the current
general affairs of the world as well as knowing the policies and rules of tourism and
travel (Ramakrishnan and Macaveiu, 2019). I have been able to assess that I possess the
hard skills that are needed to become a tourism officer in the travel and tourism industry.
P4: Learning Theories and Approaches Used for Personal and Professional Development
Processes
The processes of both personal and professional development are based upon three major
theories which are emotion theory, cognitive theory, and moral theory.
 Emotional Theory: From the research works of Winnicott (2018), it has been found that
emotional theory refers to the development and growth in the emotional spectrum of the
individual which results in the individual experiences rapid, significant, and permanent
changes in their emotions. Emotional Theory factors the influences such as behavior and
interaction of the individual to justify the shift of the emotional spectrum within that
individual. In both personal and professional development processes, emotional theory
helps to justify the development of the emotions within the individual in both personal
and professional contexts.
 Cognitive Theory: From the research works of Lind (2017), it has been found that
cognitive theory refers to the cognitive or mental development or growth within the
individual through the involvement of various influential factors. These factors include
the mental capacity of the individual, the processing speed of the individual, the mindset
of the individual, and many such other factors. Cognitive Theory helps to justify the
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
mental level of the individual and the shift that has occurred as a result of these factors in
both personal and professional contexts of development processes.
 Moral Theory: From the research works of Couldry (2019), it has been found that moral
theory refers to the morals and ethics development or growth within the individual
through the involvement of various influential factors. Morals and ethics of an individual
are impacted or influenced by their beliefs, values, mindset, and various such concepts.
As such these factors help to shape the morals of the individual through gradual learning
and experiences as well as through the own consciousness development of the individual.
Moral theory is used to justify the development of the morals and ethics within the
individual in both personal and professional contexts.
M2: Evaluation of Own Skills and Competencies along with Development Approach
For the role of tourism officer in the travel and tourism industry, there are a multitude of skills
and competencies that are needed for an individual in order to become a tourism officer. From
the assessment done above, it has been found that the soft skills required for the role of a tourism
officer are vast. These are having a strong leadership style, having effective communication
skills, being flexible, having a strong personality and charisma, being calm and cool minded as
well as having strong cognitive skills. The hard skills required by a tourism officer includes
having high energy, having sufficient knowledge of the current general affairs of the world as
well as knowing every aspect of the policies and rules of tourism and travel (Kim, Park, and
Choi, 2017). However, from the assessment done, I have found that while I possess everything
necessary to become a tourism officer, I lack the calm and coolness that a tourism officer
possesses. As a result, I am prone to be stressed and lose my cool and calmness in difficult
situations and under heavy pressure. Therefore, I would require to rectify this lack of cool and
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PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
calmness mindset within myself and for that, I will need to use the emotional theory to use it and
justify my emotional state of being. After the assessment, I would be able to use the emotional
approach of development, which is derived from the emotional theory, in order to develop my
emotional state and become more cool and calm minded (Cappelli, 2016). This would help me to
get the job role of a tourism officer in the travel and tourism industry, especially in the
VisitBritain organisation.
LO3: Designing Professional Development Plan
P5: Construction of a Development Plan
In order to become a tourism officer, there are specific skills and competencies that I need to
develop effectively so that I would be able to easily develop and improve myself in order to get
the job role of a tourism officer. In order to mitigate the issues that I have as well as gain
additional skills for the role of a tourism officer, a professional development plan is devised,
Aim/Objective Details Processes Estimated
Time Frame
1) Developing
Cool and
Calmness
It has been found that I lack
the calm and coolness that a
tourism officer possesses. As a
result, I become very much
stressed and lose my cool and
calmness in difficult situations
as well as under heavy
In order to develop the cool
and calmness, I will be using
help from various learning
sources as well as practice to
sustain myself in difficult
situations. This would
eventually condition me and I
The estimated
time frame for
the
development of
this skill would
take at least 3
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