Employability Skills, Performance, and Problem-Solving at Travelodge

This report delves into the realm of employability skills within the context of Travelodge, a prominent hotel and hospitality company. The report commences by outlining the essential employability skills, such as communication, self-management, and teamwork, which are critical for individual and organizational success. It then examines the roles and responsibilities of managers at Travelodge, emphasizing the importance of setting performance objectives and utilizing motivational techniques to enhance employee performance. The report explores various strategies for evaluating effectiveness, including fair salary systems, training, and performance appraisals. Furthermore, it addresses work-based problems, such as high employee turnover and excessive workloads, offering solutions like improved training, communication, and workload management. The report concludes with a discussion on effective communication styles and strategies for conflict resolution, highlighting the importance of adaptability and clear communication at all organizational levels. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive analysis of employability skills and management practices within Travelodge, offering valuable insights for improving organizational performance and employee satisfaction.

Employability Skills

INTRODUCTION
Employability skills refers to those skills which are needed by the individuals to make
them employable. These skills and attitudes enables the employee to enhance their performance
in business and makes them an effective employee which enables organisation to achieve their
personal goals (Andrews and Russell, 2012). Their are various types of employability skills such
as communication, self management and team work skill which are required in the individuals of
an organisation. In the present report, chosen organisation is Travelodge. It is a private company
operating in the hotels and hospitality industry throughout United Kingdom. This is a travel and
tourism industry which has around four hundred Travelodge hotels all around the world. This
hotel is considered to be the second largest in terms of its cost and budget. This file analyses
managers set of roles and responsibilities, along with he help of motivational techniques through
which their effectiveness can be measured. It also determines the need to develop interpersonal
and transferable skills by understanding the dynamics of working with others. At last discusses
various tools and strategies in order to avoid the problems faced as well as analyses potential
impact on business while implementing strategies.
TASK 1
1.1 A set of own responsibilities and performance objectives as follow:
Performance objectives:
a.) For increase the number of tourist and increase their days to stay.
b.) To boost the employee's with self motivation so service for hospitality is increased.
Responsibilities are the duty or obligation of the employee to perform or complete a
particular task in the organisation. As been employed as an assistant manager of Travelodge,
with the help of SMART objectives, I can develop my responsibilities and work in an effective
and efficient manner. It is important to have own set of responsibility and performance
objectives as it help me to frame plans and policies which will assist in accomplishing task
effectively within the respective organisation. (Chalamwong and et. al., 2012.)
Managerial role at Travelodge to achieve above specific objectives:
 They are responsible for leading, coaching and motivating the employees associated with
the respective organisation.

 They are responsible for providing training to new and existing employees to enhance
their skills regarding their performance of work.
 Managers are responsible for framing appropriate policies and plan which enables
employees to work functionally and smoothly.
Personal responsibility- Personal responsibility of being a manager at Travelodge,
primary role is to ensure daily activities at the hotel are executed in a proper way. My
responsibilities include maintaining.
 Direct and indirect relationship with the employees or maintain effective relationship
among employees as well as boosting employees relations . Therefore, performance
objective to this responsibility is to improve communication which will be analysed by
rating. I saw this responsibility to become familiar with each and every individual in the
organisation, as well as indirect relationship helps me to carry a professional relation with
staff.
In addition to this my responsibility in Travel lodge -
 Quick and correct decisions regarding employees work, policies and regulations in
order to conduct business operations in a smooth way which results in increasing
customers for the respective firm.
 Learn while working in Travelodge which enhance my knowledge and skills. I need to
carry attitude of learning things from other employees. As a manager, I should be aware
about the rights and responsibilities of employees within Travelodge hotel (Cunningham
and Hillier, 2013.).
 Employment legislations and ethics to work according within the set rules. This helps
me to provide appropriate information and updates so that employees can be made aware
about the changes in laws, rules and regulations.
Performance Objectives:
a.) For understand the performance of employee.
b.) Measure employee's skill, strength and weakness.
In order to achieve effective objectives within definite time period, being a manager at
Travelodge I must analyse my strengths and weaknesses.
 Use of various systems in order to increase employee's performance- Appraisal
system in the organisation helps the employees to increase their performance. Key areas

such as higher salary and bonus for their effective work. Moreover personnel should also
be promotions according to their strengths in order to enhance performance and increase
productivity.
 Time management skills as it will enable me to complete task within specified time
and will enhance my other employability skills which results in effective completion of
tasks. Along with this properly completing the tasks time helps me to take effective
decisions for Travelodge.
All the above measures will be beneficial for me to set my objectives , responsibilities
and determine my strengths and weaknesses.
1.2 Evaluation of own effectiveness against defined objectives:
Performance objectives:
a.) Apply fair policy in work culture for maintain the performance card of employees.
b.) Check which training is provide to employee's on the job or off the job.
Being manager at Travelodge I can adopt and implement different strategies in order to
improve overall performance at Travelodge (de Guzman and Choi, 2013). This helps me to
completely monitor and evaluate the strategies that are helping towards achieving set targets or
not.
Techniques through which effectiveness can be evaluated
In order to encourage and enhance performance of workforce, I have used-
 Fair salary system for employees- This technique helped me to decrease turnover of
employees and made them highly responsible towards their work. By a way of
increasing salary and other compensation benefits it is beneficial for me to achieve
targets of Travelodge. Meanwhile effective training and communication to the
employees help me to maintain effective relationship among the employees and
enhance it goodwill in the market.
 Performance appraisal can be used by me in order to encourage employees
performance. In this method there are different criteria such as paired comparison
method, ranking method, checklist method and many more. Through this method, I can
develop employees as well as my skills. This helps me to delegate roles and
responsibilities as per the employees strengths and weaknesses (Deeley, 2014).

 Training needs and effective communications- This could be helpful in developing
effective relationship among the workforce at Travelodge and effectiveness
communication would involve employees at all levels become loyal towards their work
and helps in achieving set targets of Travelodge.
1.3 Recommendations for improvement:
Objective- Note down the feedback of the clients so we can change future results of our
company.
Under the respective organisation, it has been recommended by me to make certain
changes at Travelodge which are discussed below-
 In order to attract more customer towards Travelodge, rating method can be used by me
as to rate the performance of the staff members which would assist them to identify their
weaknesses and allow them to gain competitive advantage at market place of United
kingdom.
 Effective use of proper appraisal system will help in motivating the employees and will
also put a positive impact on the performance and helps organisation to achieve their set
targets.
 By analysing the deviations in the performance of employees at Travelodge, manager
can deliver training to heir staff members on their weak points and improve their
performance effectively.
1.4 Motivational techniques use to improve quality of performance
Motivation is an driving force which stimulates an individual and their behaviour to work
effectively in the organisation and achieves their personal and organisational goals.
Motivating the employees greatly helps in enhancing productivity of the business. These
forces are responsible for enhancing individual performance (Dhar, 2012). Motivational
technique that can be used by me to improve performance at Travelodge are; Maslow's Hierarchy
theory which consist of five factors is discussed below-
Physiological needs- In order to fulfil physiological needs , it is the responsibility of the
hotel manager to analyse basic needs of employees such as food, shelter, clothing and fulfils
them accordingly which leads to effective performance of employee.

Safety needs- Safety needs of employees of Travelodge includes health security, safety of
finance and properly. These requirements should be fulfilled by the manager of Travelodge will
enables them to increase employees productivity.
Love and Belongingness- Their are different methods which can be used to to create a
sense of love and belongingness atmosphere in Travelodge. Creating an effective culture at the
work place as well as equal treatment of employees encourages staff members to give out best
performance.
Esteem needs- This includes the need for respect in the organisation as well as sense of
confidence and achievement. Manager of Travelodge should fulfil these needs in turn which will
improve quality of performance of employees (Dhiman Andrew and Russell, 2012).
Self actualisation- It refers to the need for personal growth and development through
nones's life. Managers of Travelodge should allow high growth of employees in their career
which will motivate them to perform effectively and achieve organisational goals.
Rewards and incentives- It has been determined that if the employees are given
appropriate salary and rewards than performance of employees and company's productivity
increases.
Manager Role- Apart from the above discussed points, managers plays an important role
as for providing extra compensation, managers approval is required. Monitoring the performance
will also make the process easier (Durrani and Tariq, 2012).
TASK 2
2.1 Solutions to work-based problems
Performance objectives:
a) How to overcome from the employee turnover issue.
b) Reduce the workload of employee's so productivity can be increased in hospitality.
Every organisation faces different types of problems at their work place. This would lead
to conflict among the employees and would lead to growth of Travelodge Hotel. Problems at the
respective organisation is discussed below-
Problems- Travelodge hotel faces problem of high employee turnover due to the
inappropriate delegation of roles and responsibilities at the work place and also because of the
lack of communication between employees and management.

Solution- Above described problem will affect the growth of employees as well as the
organisation both. Being an HR manger, I analysed this problem as a common work place issue
for which effective decisions has to be taken in order to increase the productivity of the
employee. In order to avoid such problem effective training sessions should be provided to the
employee in order to enhance their skills and capabilities. This would help them to increase the
employees productivity at Travelodge (Gamble Patrick and Peach, 2010). Along with this use of
proper communication process will lead healthy and friendly atmosphere in the organisation and
decreases employees turnover at Travelodge.
Problem- Another problem addressed at Travelodge was excessive workloads on the
employees to meet customer demands.
Solution- Being an HR manager, this problem can be addressed by proper hiring and selecting
the suitable employees at the respective organisation. Moreover employees should be assigned
task according to their skills and capability as well as employees should be made allow to work
in different shifts such as day shifts, night shifts which will reduce he workload as well as
maintain work life balance in Travelodge.
When problem arises in the Travelodge manger should identify the problem considering
various steps-
Problem analysis- It is the considered as the first step in which manager analyse the
issues causing the problem at the work place. Problem could be related to high employee
turnover as well as inappropriate training and communication gaps in the respective organisation.
Analysing changes at work placements- Above mentioned points are creating problems
in the effective performance at Travelodge. This is causing problem to the organisation as
because of which sales and profitability is decreasing , In order to avoid such problems managers
should make recent changes at the work place or provide solutions in order to overcome such
problems (Gbadamosi and et. al., 2015).
Developing and Implementing solutions- Being a manger at respective organisation I
will conduct meeting of employees on regular basis and taking feedbacks from them in order
order to evaluate their performance. As manager I will provide best possible solutions in order to
overcome the problems.

2.2 Communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels
Effective communication in the organisation is crucial for smooth functioning of business
operations. Manager at Travelodge should concentrate on effectively communicating the roles
and responsibilities as well as decisions which are made by them. Their are different modes of
communication which is being used by Travelodge is discussed below-
Verbal- It is a type of oral communication in which message is transmitted through
spoken words. Effectiveness of this communication depends upon the speakers tone, clarity of
speech, body language and quality of words used in conversation. This type of communication is
generally required at the higher levels when the mangers and the employees interact at
Travelodge.
Non verbal- In this, communication between the employees are done through the use of
facial expressions, body languages and posters. This type of communication s without the words
either written or spoken. This type of mode is normally communicated among the employees in
the similar level at Travelodge (Gravells, 2010).
Formal and informal feedback- Feedbacks are usually taken by the existing employees
at Travelodge and customers . It can be formal as well as informal both. Formal feedback consist
of formal performance reviews or meetings as well as informal feedback is communicated in
every day transactions. Therefore formal feedbacks are properly scheduled during the working
hours.
Team meetings- In order to provide solutions to the employees problems at Travelodge ,
manager should conduct meeting in which employees can discuss their problems and find the
solution. This also provides employees a way of interacting with manager
Interpersonal skills- These are the communication skills required by the individuals to
interact in a effective way. It is necessary for the employees to posses such skills while working
in Travelodge-
Personal effectiveness- This skill is concerned with individual determining their
strengths, skills and proper utilisation of resources required for effective performance. This
shows the effectiveness of employees at Travelodge (Haasler, 2013).
Working with others- In hospitality sector it is essential that working in teams to
achieve common goals. For this, respective organisation should use proper techniques to achieve
best outcomes.

Use of initiative- Employee working in Travelodge should make necessary plans and
strategies in order to achieve desired outcomes. It will assist in effective performance of work
and able to achieve organisational goals and objectives.
Negotiation skills- It is the important skills that is essential in maintaining positive
relation and enables to solve issues related to employee turnover.
Letter
To,
Senior Manager
Travelodge Hotel, London
19 January, 2019
Respected Sir,
Being a manager, I have determined that Travelodge hotel is having two main issues which are
employee turnover, ineffective communication as well as the excessive workloads on the
employees. These issues are affecting the employees performance and profitability of the
business. So in order to improve, it has been analysed that proper training sessions can be
provided to the workforce. Along with this employees performance should also be measured
within regular time intervals. Moreover manager should develop effective communication
methods in order to improve effective relationships at the work place.
Yours sincerely
Mary
Memo
To- All Employees
From- Manager
Date- 18 Jan, 2018
Subject- Issues respective Hotel is addressing.
In order to identify and address solutions to the problems that the hotel is facing
because of which profitability and productivity level has been decreased. Therefore, this memo
is addressing the issues as there are some employees who need to effective training in order to
enhance their skills and capabilities in order to cope up with difficult situations. As per the
performance and feedback appropriate monetary benefits, bonus and other incentives will be

provided.
2.3 Identify effective time-management strategies
Time management is an important aspect at Travelodge. It is therefore important for
every company to create a proper balance of time to complete the task allocated. When the
employees at the respective organisation completes its task within specified time period, it
enables organisation to achieve organisational goals. Their are various time management
strategies which is being adopted by Travelodge is discussed below-
Prioritising workload of employees- An effective way for time management is to
prioritise workload of employees. Managers of Travelodge should ensure to all the employees
that they should review all the task assigned to them as well as organise them according to their
level of importance. This will help the employees to properly complete their work as well as
increase their efficiency (Jones Torezani and Luca, 2012).
Setting work objectives- Work objectives describe the results expected from the
employees during the year. Typically objectives are related to budgets, deadlines and accuracy as
well the quality of work. This helps the employees at Travelodge to understand what is expected
from them and provides a way for employees of self measuring their performance.
Making and keeping appointments- This enables the employees to maintain record of
activities and make list of appointments this properly regulates their activities and allows
employees to decide priority of activities.
Working steadily rather than erratically- Employees in the respective organisation
should work steadily according to the given roles and responsibilities, This helps them to focus
on their work as well as completes the allotted task on time.
Time or learning- Employees should also make time for learning while performing their
job. They should enhance their skills and capabilities while performing their job. This allows
them to perform their future task on time and achieve productivity in its performance ( Zhang
and Pacha, 2012).
Reliable estimate of task time- Employees at Travelodge should allocate time for each
activity. This enables them to perform task efficiently and within the specified time period.
By the adoption of such strategies it helps the workforce within the Travelodge to complete the
task within specified time period as well as achieve organisational goals.

TASK 3
3.1 Roles people play in a team and how they can work together to achieve shared goals
Teams are important for every business organization to attain set goals and objectives in
allotted time frame. In order to attaining the same, Travelodge Hotel focus on the developing
team by providing better guidance to their team members. With the help of this, team members
can easily perform their best and attain predetermined goals. In this, company use Belbin team
theory in which all the team members work together with the aim of attaining shared goals and
objectives. This can be understood by following points-
Action-oriented roles: Workers who comes in this role are the one who tends to accept
all the challenging task to attain their set goals and objectives. It also provide better guidance and
support to others so that they perform well and achieve shared goals. Along with this,
implementer is also play a important role in taking initiate to performed well with the aim of
executing all the task activities in systematic manner (Muhamad, 2012) . Furthermore, finisher is
consider as a vital role in eliminating errors within the team and its activities as well. By this all
the team members execute allotted task in appropriate way and attain favourable results in
respective organisation.
People oriented roles: This type of role is also important in Travelodge which includes
three factors such as coordinators who is responsible for keeping healthy and positive work
environment at workplace. It also may contribute in establishing better coordination among all
the team members in Travelodge. Team worker: who provide better support to the whole team
members. Mainly they are responsible for executing as well as performing all the task activities
in systematic manner. As team leader who has authority to assign and allot specific roles and
responsibilities to the team members. In this resource investigator is also a main function which
provide necessary needs that are more important for workers to perform the task activities. In
addition of this, they must have effective negotiation skills so that they can easily deal with all
the activities and at the same time also maintain better relation with external stakeholders.
Thought oriented roles: It is one of the important role in Travelodge who tends to retain
in market place for longer period of time (Panagiotakopoulos, 2012) . The main reason behind
this is that it develop new and innovative ideas to operate all the work and activities as well. In
addition of this, it includes various aspects such as Plant, who develop as well as generate new
and innovative ideas for performing the allotted task. In this Specialists are skills in a specific