Employability Skills Report: HR Manager Role in Travelodge

This report delves into the crucial domain of employability skills, examining their application within the context of a Travelodge HR manager's role. The report meticulously outlines the responsibilities and performance objectives of an HR manager, analyzing their effectiveness and suggesting areas for improvement. It explores various motivational techniques to enhance employee performance quality. Furthermore, the report addresses practical aspects such as communication styles, time management strategies, team dynamics, and problem-solving approaches, including methods to resolve employee turnover. The report emphasizes the importance of adaptability, effective communication, and strategic planning in fostering a positive and productive work environment, ultimately contributing to the overall success of Travelodge. It also includes recommendations for improvement, self-evaluation, and techniques to guide the workforce.

EMPLOYBILITY
SKILLS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Set of own responsibilities and performance objectives..................................................1
1.2 Own effectiveness against defined objectives..................................................................3
1.3 Some recommendations for further improvements..........................................................3
1.4 Motivational techniques to improve performance quality................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Solutions to work based problems....................................................................................7
2.2 Communication styles at various levels...........................................................................8
2.3 Efficient time management strategies............................................................................11
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................12
3.1 Role of people in a team and their working to achieve goals and objectives.................12
3.2 Team dynamics...............................................................................................................14
3.3 Alternative ways to achieve goal and accomplish tasks.................................................15
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................16
4.1 Methods and tools for developing solutions for problems.............................................16
4.2 Appropriate strategy to resolve labour turnover.............................................................17
4.3 Impact on business due to strategy implementation.......................................................19
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................20
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................21

INTRODUCTION
Employability skills are termed as capabilities required by a person to perform business
operations in an efficient manner. Along with knowledge and expertise in a particular field,
employers also outlines a skill set which they expect form employees. These working skills
benefits organisation in enhancing their customer base and sales due to which revenues &
profitability enhances (Brewer, 2013). This assignment is written in context of Travelodge hotel
which is a UK based private organisation operating in hotels. Hotel is headquartered in Thame,
England. This report involves set of responsibilities and performance objectives along with their
effectiveness. Beside this, motivation techniques are mentioned to improve performance of
workers. Also, various styles of communication and time management strategies are discussed.
Role of employees in a team and overall team dynamics to achieve goals and objectives is
mentioned. At last, methods and tools to solve problems like employee turnover along with
strategies are discussed to enhance productivity of organisation.
TASK 1
1.1 Set of own responsibilities and performance objectives
Travelodge is a renowned organisation which has managed to successfully represent
itself in hospitality industry. Responsibilities and performance objectives assists a person in
acknowledging their capabilities. Also, performance objectives helps an individual to accomplish
allotted tasks in an appropriate manner without any ambiguities. As a HR manager of
Travelodge, I have some responsibilities which results in achieving objectives and targets of
hotel.
Some of my responsibilities as HR manager are mentioned below:
 Personal responsibility: These responsibilities are concerned with aspects like
maintaining team work, creativity, commercial awareness within an organisation. In
some cases, better outcomes are achieved if work is carried out as a team rather than
individually. As a HR manager in Travelodge, it is my responsibility to initiate creativity,
team work and external awarenesses related to market within Travelodge. This will
enhance overall work productivity of Travelodge.
 Adaptability and Flexibility: Adaptability is defined as the ability of an individual to
alter its response in changing situations. It allows an individual to learn form changing
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situations and experiences. As a HR manager in Travelodge I must posses capability to
adapt new and changing situations in a challenging way. To maintain my flexibility and
adaptability, I need to manage multiple tasks at a single time.
 Legislation and Employee rights: All staff members have some rights within
organisation such as right to fair compensation, equality, privacy and no discrimination
on caste, race and nationality. It is my responsibility to monitor and checks if some
employee is facing issues related with basic rights. My capability of resolving these
issues will benefit Travelodge in sustaining a positive work environment.
As a manager in Travelodge I have some performance objectives which are specified below:
 Recruiting right talent: My Core objective as an HR manager of Travelodge is to recruit
efficient and capable staff. Before recruiting an individual, I need to consider the
requirement and expectation of hotel. This will helps me in choosing right candidate for
vacant positions.
 Effective communication: To avoid misunderstandings and maintain a healthy work
environment, it is important for an organisation to have effective communication. As a
manager my objective is to maintain an efficient communication and negotiation skills
between workforce and management. This will helps in resolving issues at a fast rate.
 Time management: It is the main responsibility of managers by which they can execute
their activities within allotted time. As a manager of Travelodge, I must manage my time
in an appropriate manner so that I can achieve desirable outcomes within time.
 Solving conflicts and problems: Another objective that I have as a HR manager of
Travelodge is to resolve problems and conflicts in a timely and appropriate manner. To
resolve problems impartially, I need to listen the opinions of all concerned parties before
taking a decision (Dhar, 2012G).
 Guiding workforce: It is the responsibility of manager to guide employees in right
direction. My another objective is to train and guide employees in an effective manner so
that they are capable to perform business operations in changing and complex situations
also. This will enhance the working potential of employees.
1.2 Own effectiveness against defined objectives
Earlier I have discussed my responsibilities and performance objectives as a HR manager
in Travelodge. I have analysed that my performance objectives and responsibilities have a
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considerable impact on the working of Travelodge. Hence, it is important for me to set those
objectives which will assists in increasing effectiveness of organisation.
 Main objective of HR department is to recruit, select and train individuals to transform
them into skilled & capable workforce. As a HR manager I need to hire and train
employees in accordance with the requirement of Travelodge. It is important for me to
choose knowledgable and desired candidates but sometimes I an unable to choose right
candidate for right position due to which tasks are not achieved in desired manner.
 Appropriate communication results in better coordination among workforce and between
employees & management. Therefore, as a manager in Travelodge I must have effective
interaction and communication skills. I am capable to convey accurate information form
one level to another in a desired manner (badamosi and et. al., 2015). Due to this, less
misunderstandings takes place between employees and hotel management.
 As a HR manager in Travelodge I need to be efficient in managing time desirably so that
tasks and projects can be accomplished within allotted time frame and appropriately.
 My another objective is to resolve conflicts and issues of employees in a timely manner
so that working atmosphere will not get impacted. Before taking any decision, I prefer to
listen opinion and views of all workers which are involved in issue. This helps me in
taking right decision but sometimes I am not capable to understand situations
appropriately due to which I fail to take appropriate decision. This leads to enhanced
employee grievances due to which their working potential reduces.
 As a manager in Travelodge, it is my duty to guide and direct employees towards right
direction. To achieve this, I provide them training and orientations but as demands and
requirements of customers changes everyday I feel I need to analyse outside market more
often and tries to incorporate required changes in training and orientations.
1.3 Some recommendations for further improvements
As a HR manager in Travelodge I have some responsibilities and to perform them
properly I have set some objectives. These objectives will helps Travelodge in achieving their
predetermined goals and targets in timely manner. But I feel that I need to improve in some
aspects. This improvement will results in maintaining more positive and healthy work
environment within workplace. Below are mentioned some recommendations through which
improvements can be made:
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Feedback: To acknowledge my performance level within Travelodge, I have conducted a
survey to collect opinions of employees regarding my roles and duties. Some employees believe
that I am capable and sufficient in performing my duties where as some employees feels that I
need to improve in some aspects like taking right decision, listening and understanding the
situation of employees efficiently etc. This feedback helps me a lot in improving my work
performance within Travelodge (Wall and Speake, 2012).
Professional skills Self-evaluation Ways to improve
Recruitment of employees Average After analysing I have observed that I
have average recruitment skills. To
improve them I need to properly
understand requirements and
expectations of company and according
to that I need to select candidates for
interview. Also, to improve my
recruitment skills I am going to read
different books and journals so that I can
learn new concepts which will helps me
in asking right questions to interested
candidates.
Effective communication Good For the position of HR manager, I have
efficient communication skills but for
further improvements I can arrange
discussion groups and communication
sessions where general discussions
related with hotel and marketplace will
be discussed. This will increase the
comfortableness among me and
employees and I will be able to share my
opinion more properly.
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Time management Below average I need to avoid wastage of time while
performing business activities. Also, I
can prepare a time schedule and
prioritise work according to that. This
will helps me in improving my time
managing skills.
Solving conflicts and
problems
Below average As a HR manager in Travelodge, I need
to resolve problems and issues faced by
hotel efficiently. But I feel that I am not
capable to take right decisions. To
improve this, I am going to take help of
Internet, other employees, magazines
and IT. This will helps me in
understanding issues and conflicts more
appropriately & I will be capable to take
right decisions.
Guiding workforce Poor To improve my guiding and directing
skills, I need to incorporate several
changes in myself. At first, I need to
analyse behaviour of consumers and
market in a more specific way. Also, I
need to consider the preferences of
customers more clearly so that I can help
employees in satisfying their needs
according to their expectations and
desires.
1.4 Motivational techniques to improve performance quality
To improve working performance of Travelodge, I have implemented some
recommendations in my skills so that desired outcomes can be achieved. Along with that, it is
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important for me to motivate employees in order to improve overall performance quality. HR
manager can implement Maslow hierarchy of needs to enhance motivational level of employees.
This theory states that if basic requirements of employees are not fulfilled, satisfying higher
needs will not be effective.
Maslow hierarchy of needs:
 Physiological needs: It involves basic necessities like food, cloth, water and home
aesthetics. It is important for HR manager of Travelodge to consider and maintain their
physiological needs. This will motivate employees to deliver their best performance
which results in enhanced employee engagement and overall productivity.
 Safety needs: It is the duty of HR manager to ensure safety and security of workforce
during office hours. If employees will feel secure regarding their job, salary and health
they will be able to perform business operations more efficiently.
 Social needs: To improve performance quality in Travelodge, HR manager needs to
formulate strategies which will results in enhanced coordination (Zaharim and et. al.,
2012). If employees will feel isolated, it is not possible for them to perform business
operations efficiently. Hence, social needs of employees must be given considerations in
order to improve overall performance of Travelodge.
 Esteem needs: These are concerned with achievement, confidence and respect of
employees. HR manager needs to respect and understand the desires and expectations of
employees. By this, employees will fell more motivated and engaged towards work. This
will lead towards improved work performance of Travelodge employees.
 Self-actualisation: If HR manager in Travelodge will give challenging and complex
tasks to employees, they will pursue more hard work due to which their motivation level
will enhance. Increased motivation level will results in improved working capabilities of
employees.
Another techniques which can be used by HR manager are mentioned below:
 Creation of positive work environment: Proving employees a healthy and appropriate
working environment is best way to motivate them. Considering needs and opinions of
employees will benefit Travelodge in completing their tasks in desired and timely
manner.
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 Providing incentives: These financial and non-financial incentives will encourage
employees to deliver their best performance. Financial incentives can be bonus, cash
prizes and gifts where as non-financial incentives are extra holidays, reduced working
hours etc.
Sharing of profits: It is another suitable method to encourage and motivate workers to perform
efficiently. In hope of receiving money from achieved profits, every employee of Travelodge
will perform business activities in desired manner (Silva, Lourtie and Aires, L., 2013).
Positive impact: This theory contains simple aspects which are very easy to understand.
It takes into account those factors which are related to human nature due to which satisfying
employees will be easy.
Negative impact: Due to differences in opinion, implementing this motivational theory
can results in task failure. Measuring the satisfaction of different people is not possible as
different people have different mindset.
TASK 2
2.1 Solutions to work based problems
Manager while working in company faces several issues. Two of them are lack of
appropriate communication and Conflicts among working members.
Lack of communication: HR manager in Travelodge has observed that there is a lack of
communication between employees and staff members at different levels. Due to this,
coordination level of staff members have disrupted and business activities of hotel management
has suffered. HR manager needs to identify and analyse the barriers due to which inefficient
communication and interaction is taking place within organisation. To resolve this problem HR
manager in Travelogue can opt following solutions:
 Schedule meeting and seminars: If Travelodge is facing issues due to poor
communication, HR manager can write a brief description of problem, related
consequences and analysed solutions. After that HR manager can arrange some meetings
to eliminate barriers which impacts communication and interaction within Travelodge.
 Proper sharing of information: This is another method to solve communication
problem within organisation. HR manager can analyse effective and ineffective
behaviours within organisation and tries to transform ineffectiveness into effectiveness.
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For this, HR manager needs to convey information form one level to another in a desired
manner so that no misunderstanding will takes place.
Conflicts and issues: Several conflicts arises among workers due to different in opinion,
preference and way to perform business operations. HR manager of Travelodge have observed
this as a big work based problem. Manager in Travelodge needs to allot different responsibilities
and roles to workers so that no misunderstandings will take place because of ideological
differences. To solve issues and conflicts among employees HR manager can adopt following
solutions:
 Encourage open conversations: HR manager needs to listen each party without any
partiality. This will help manager in understanding opinions and feelings of both sides
due to which taking right decision will be easy. This will results in resolving of problems
which generates due to issues among workers.
 Acknowledge the problem: This is the best way by which HR manager in Travelodge
can resolve issues and conflict among employees. Acknowledging and understanding
grievances among workers will help manager in taking right decision. Due to this,
problem will be solved appropriately and satisfaction level of employees will increase
(Gbadamosi and et. al., 2015).
2.2 Communication styles at various levels
Communication is defined as a two-way process of attaining mutual understanding. It is
not only concerned with exchange of ideas, feeling and informations but also with emotions and
understandings among individuals. No organisation can perform efficiently without
communicating between different levels.
Need for communication within organisation:
 It promotes encouragement and motivation in workers by clarifying them about tasks and
work.
 Communication strengthens decision making process as it helps in analysing alternative
actions and suggestions for a single problem.
 It helps in socializing due to which coordination and unity among staff members is
maintained.
Different communication styles at various levels:
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Communication is a key aspect in success of an organisation. Management, managers and
employees can communicate with each other through personal interactions, conversation, text
messages, phone calls, e-mails and SMS. There are different communication style within a
Travelodge that are mentioned below:
 Internal, upward communication: In this kind of communication, subordinates
formally interact with managers and other senior employees which holds a higher
position in organisational hierarchy. In case of Travelodge, Upward communication can
be in the forms of templates, surveys, systematic forms and reports. These all are formal
ways to communicate within a company.
 Internal, downward communication: In this type of communication superiors interact
with subordinates. Superiors and seniors needs to communicate in clear and professional
manner so that no misunderstandings can take place between management and
employees. Leaders and managers can communicate with subordinates through a memo,
verbal directive or letter.
 Lateral communication: It takes place among co-workers. This can be departmental
interaction or cross-departmental interaction. For ex, if sales manager of Travelodge
wants to interact with finance manager, they can communicate via lateral communication.
This type of communication involves emailing, talking and messaging.
 External communication: It is concerned with interacting with customers, partners,
vendors and suppliers. It can also include city office and regulatory agencies (Holmes,
2013). This communication is carried out in the form of marketing letters and sales
presentations.
A memo is prepared by HR manager of Travelodge to congratulate employees for
increased revenue and profitability of Travelodge hotel.
Letter
To,
Senior Manager
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