Travelodge Hotel: A Personal and Professional Development Report

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report details a personal and professional development plan for a Travelodge employee.

23-Personal and Professional Development
1

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
1.1. Evaluate approaches to self-managed learning. Which approach can be more suitable for
you or your staff at Travelodge Hotel?........................................................................................4
1.2. Propose ways in which lifelong learning in personal and professional contexts could be
encouraged at Travelodge. In this question, you should say how you as a manager can
encourage lifelong learning at Travelodge Hotel........................................................................5
1.3. Evaluate the benefits of self-managed learning to you as an assistant manager and the
Travel Lodge. Your judgement has to be supported by relevant evidence or examples.............5
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................7
2.1. Evaluate your own current skills and competencies against professional standards for a
hotel manager and against organisational objectives of Travelodge Hotel.................................7
2.2. Identify your own development needs and the activities required to meet them. Which of
your skills may need to be improved? How are you going to improve or gain these skills?......8
2.3. Identify development opportunities to meet your current and future defined needs. Which
opportunities are available for you inside or outside of the hotel to improve your skill
development needs?.....................................................................................................................8
2.4. Devise a personal and professional development plan based on identified needs. In this
task, you need to prepare a ‘plan’ for personal and professional development. In this plan, you
need to mention three issues: ‘what’ are your needed skills; ‘how’ are you going to develop
the skills; and ‘when’ are you going to develop intended skills?................................................9
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................12
3.1. Discuss the processes and activities required to implement the development plan that you
prepared for yourself in task 2.4................................................................................................12
2

3.2. Undertake and document development activities as planned. In this task, you should
implement the development plan you prepared for yourself and then write down how you
implemented your plan..............................................................................................................12
3.3. Reflect critically on your learning against original aims and objectives set in the
development plan. Did you learn new skills at the level you aim for them?.............................13
3.4. Update the development plan that you prepared for yourself (covered in 2.4) based on the
feedback and evaluation............................................................................................................13
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................15
4.1 Select solutions to work-based problems regarding employee turnover and customer care
at Travelodge Hotel...................................................................................................................15
4.2 Communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels. What
solutions do you recommend to retain current staff at the hotel and improve customer care?. 16
4.3 Use effective time-management strategies to reduce employee turnover and improve
customer care at Travelodge Hotel Travel Hotel.......................................................................16
Solutions to work-based problems regarding employee turnover and customer care at
Travelodge Hotel.......................................................................................................................18
M1. Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions....................................................19
M2. Select/ design and apply appropriate methods/ techniques....................................................19
M3. Present and communicate appropriate findings.....................................................................19
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................20
Reference List................................................................................................................................21
3

Introduction
Professional as well as personal development is crucial to become successful and plays an
important role in the overall development of an individual. Development of skills by self-
learning is important such that a person can evaluate him or her and take steps to improve or
work on the flaws and drawbacks he or she has. Travelodge is a branded organization in the
hospitality industry in the United Kingdom. It is a well-known name in the country and is very
popular among people. In this assignment, the role of Assistant Manager of Travelodge in Ilford
has been portrayed.
The procedures adopted for the professional as well as personal development by the Assistant
Manager has been portrayed. The approaches that can be used for self-managed learning has
been described along with its benefits. Time-management strategies that need to be developed
for the development of the organization along with the ways in which work-based problems can
be solved has been described.
4

Task 1
1.1. Evaluate approaches to self-managed learning. Which approach can be more suitable
for you or your staff at Travelodge Hotel?
Self-managed learning signifies that the employees of an organization manage their own
knowledge and learning. It is an outline of learning and development in which, an individual
takes the inventiveness of expanding his or her knowledge, learning new skills and attitude under
the guidance and support of the organization. There are varieties of approaches that are used by
organizations in order to encourage self-managed learning. The approaches that I can use for
self-managed learning have been described below:
Conferences and seminars: It is a very efficient way through which people can learn by
attending seminars as well as conferences in order to gain knowledge and learn new skills. It also
gives people a chance to improve their communication skills in case they participate or
contribute to the seminar (Pournaras et al., 2018).
Social Networks: Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc., which provides people
with the opportunity to interact with people, has made a huge impact on their lives since it allows
people from different backgrounds to interact with each other. This can encourage people to
learn attributes from each other and introduce a change in their personal as well as professional
life.
Internet: Internet is a very powerful source of information in today’s scenario. It can be used to
gain knowledge as well as to learn and develop new skills in order to improve the way a person
leads his or her life (Gordon et al., 2016).
In Travelodge, seminars and conferences can be organized in order to encourage its employees
to develop personal as well as professional skills. It will enable the employees to gain knowledge
and develop new skills and will inspire them to put in more efforts for self-improvement.
According to me, it is the most appropriate approach that can be applied in Travelodge for self-
managed learning.
5

1.2. Propose ways in which lifelong learning in personal and professional contexts could be
encouraged at Travelodge. In this question, you should say how you as a manager can
encourage lifelong learning at Travelodge Hotel.
Self-learning is important since it motivates the people to learn in a way that stays with them a
lifetime. The things that a person learns himself cannot be forgotten easily and generally stays
lifelong. Hence, it plays a very important role in the overall development of an individual and
proves to be very helpful for both personal as well as professional development of a person.
According to me, the ways in which lifelong learning can be encouraged in Travelodge are:
SWOT Analysis: Encouraging the employees to evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses as
well as identify their opportunities and threats, this will help them to learn their flaws and threats
and will enable them to put in sincere efforts to conquer them and strengthen their skills (Cowan,
2017). It will enable the employees to have self-motivation as well as self-modification.
Organize seminars and conferences frequently: Frequent organization of seminars and
conferences will enable the employees to learn more since it also demands their participation as
well as their feedback. It aids the employees to learn and develop communication skills, which is
lifelong learning for them (Tindall-Ford et al., 2015).
Set goals for the employees: Along with performance goals it is very necessary to set learning
goals for the employees in order to enhance their knowledge because it will not only help them
to improve their performance and productivity but also improve the productivity as well as the
performance of the organization. It aids the employees to manage themselves (self-management)
and monitor their skills (self-monitor) thereby aiding them to improve themselves.
1.3. Evaluate the benefits of self-managed learning to you as an assistant manager and the
Travel Lodge. Your judgement has to be supported by relevant evidence or examples.
Self-managed learning has proved to be very helpful for me since it has aided me to evaluate my
skills and knowledge. It has aided me to monitor my own performance and know my flaws that
have assisted me to improve my skills and my performance. The benefits that I had from self-
managed learning have been explained below:
Leadership Skills: It has aided me to monitor my own managerial as well as leadership skills and
my ability to manage a team of people. It has assisted me to improve my skills and increase my
6

enthusiasm. It has enabled me to become proactive and more adaptive. It has aided me to
improve my skill of building a team and coordinate the activities of the team members.
Engagement skills: It enabled me to improve my communication skills that aided me to improve
my interpersonal skills and improve my way of interaction with the customers. Thus, it aided me
to work on my engagement skills as well thus, increasing the customer base of the organization
(Lee and Paunova, 2017).
SWOT Analysis: It aided me to analyze my strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities.
Thus, it helped me to work on my threats and weaknesses such that I can overcome them. It also
aided me to identify my opportunities as well as strengths through which I can achieve my goals.
Track one’s mood: People are generally driven by mood swings since they are usually driven by
memories as well as emotions. Hence, self-managed learning aids to keep track of one’s moods
and behavior so that they do not demonstrate wrong moods and behavior in critical situations
(Dolmans et al., 2015).
7

Task 2
2.1. Evaluate your own current skills and competencies against professional standards for a
hotel manager and against organisational objectives of Travelodge Hotel.
An assessment of current competencies and skills against the certified standards of a manager of
a hotel and concerning the objectives of the organisation Travelodge Hotel has been discussed
below:
Interpersonal expertise: It is vital for the manager of a hotel to possess interpersonal skills, as it
will facilitate the development of an interpersonal relationship with customers, suppliers,
partners and clients. As a manager of Travelodge Hotel will enable in building a relationship
with customers and provide with better services. It will also facilitate improved functioning of
business operations due to better interpersonal relations resulting in the development of the
business.
Teamwork: Manager of an organisation should have the skills to work effectively with the
members of the team and manage the operations and tasks of different teams. The manager
should be able to lead the teams in the correct direction so that the workforce of the organisation
as a whole can attain the organisational objective (Suh et al., 2012). It will ensure better
management of the different business operations leading to better customer service.
Communication skills: Communication is an essential aspect that is required for transmitting
vital information regarding different business operations and ensures that they are performed
effectively. A manager communicates with the employees, customers, suppliers, clients, partners
etc. and ineffective communication skills will restrict the completion of the business operation or
transmit wrong information resulting in misunderstanding.
Management skills: A manager should be able to manage the different business operations to
ensure that they are performed on a timely basis and helps in attaining the business objectives of
the organisation. The manager should be able to make better decisions that will help the
company in improving their productivity and performance in the industry (Testa and Sipe, 2012).
8

2.2. Identify your own development needs and the activities required to meet them. Which
of your skills may need to be improved? How are you going to improve or gain these skills?
Every individual should adopt measures that will help in developing their potential and skills,
and it will consequently result in the development of the performance. It is essential to assess the
current skills and competencies of an individual to understand the changes or modifications that
are required to improve the performance and attain the personal objective and targets of the
individual (Sisson and Adams, 2013). As a manager of Travelodge Hotel, I need to improve my
current skills and competencies in order to attain my personal aims and improve my performance
in the organisation. For this purpose, I will have to engage in activities that will allow me to
enhance my skills. Listed below are the skills that need improvement and it further analyses the
manner in which those skills will be improved.
Communication skills: I need to improve my communication skills as it often results in
confusion among the employees. There have also been instances of miscommunication with the
suppliers that could have resulted in a loss for the business if the miscommunication was not
resolved promptly. In order to prevent such instances, I need to attend workshops and courses
that will enable me to improve my communication skills and improve my organisational
performance so that I can manage the responsibility and duties related to my job effectively.
Management skills: It is essential to manage the different aspects of the business operations of
an organisation for the smooth functioning of the business operations. A manager takes care of
the business operations of different teams and departments so management skill will enable them
to manage the different operations effectively (Ellinger and Ellinger, 2014). I will read books and
articles to enhance my knowledge about management skills and implement them in everyday
practices to acquire the skills.
2.3. Identify development opportunities to meet your current and future defined needs.
Which opportunities are available for you inside or outside of the hotel to improve your
skill development needs?
Development is essential for every employee of an organisation irrespective of the job position
they are working at as it will ensure the development of skills and lead to overall development of
the organisation and increase productivity. Functioning at the job position of a manager of
Travelodge Hotel, I need to seek opportunities inside and outside the organisation to enhance my
9

skills. Travelodge Hotel is an organisation that cares for their employees and encourages them to
improve their current skills. The company allows the employees to improve their knowledge by
studying and conduct different training sessions in order to help them acquire new skills and
enhance existing skills. “Aspire” is one such training programme related to the development of
management skills that will help me in improving my management skills resulting in
professional and personal development (Travelodge.co.uk, 2019). I have also collected
information about communication workshops that are being conducted near my house in order to
enhance my communication skills after attending it.
2.4. Devise a personal and professional development plan based on identified needs. In this
task, you need to prepare a ‘plan’ for personal and professional development. In this plan,
you need to mention three issues: ‘what’ are your needed skills; ‘how’ are you going to
develop the skills; and ‘when’ are you going to develop intended skills?
A PPD (personal and professional plan) is a plan developed by people in order to attain the
personal and professional targets and objective by determining ways in which those objectives
and targets will be attained within the stipulated period (Pedler et al., 2013). The table below
reflects a personal and professional development plan that will help me achieve my targets and
objectives.
Required
Skills
Priorit
y
Measures to
improve
Resources Starting
Date
Ending
Date
Criteria for
success
Communicati
on skills
Mediu
m
I will attend
workshops
and courses
related to
spoken
English that
will help me
in building
my
confidence
and allow me
Books,
articles,
videos,
materials
provided
during the
course or
workshop
1/05/18 31/09/201
9
Able to
communicate
fluently , no
miscommunicati
on or
misunderstandin
g
10

to enhance
my
communicati
on skills
Management
skills
High I will
enhance my
management
skills by
reading
books and
articles on
management
theories and
apply them to
everyday
business
operations. I
will enrol in
“Aspire”
programme
of
Travelodge
Hotel to
enhance my
skills.
Books,
articles,
videos,
practise
during the
Aspire
programme
15/05/201
8
15/11/201
8
Efficient
management of
the team,
improvement in
the functioning
of the business
operations
Teamwork Low My
teamwork
skills are
good, but it
can be
improved so
Books,
practise in
everyday life,
communicati
ng with
seniors about
ways to
07/05/201
8
07/10/201
8
Improved
performance of
the team
members, better
management of
team members,
enhanced
11

I will adopt
different
strategies and
models of
teamwork
that will
enable me to
improve my
skills
improve
teamwork
communication
with the
members
Table 1: PPD
(Source: created by the learner)
12