Unit 13 Personal & Professional Development Assignment – Travelodge

Introduction

This Unit 13 Personal & Professional Development Assignment Travelodge provides effective insight on the aspects of Personal and Professional Development. The Hotel taken into consideration for the application of this concept is ‘The Travelodge’ Hotel located in London. The first segment consists of the evaluation of various approaches of self managed learning and the most suitable ones for the Hotel has been discussed. The various ways in which lifelong learning can be encouraged at The Travelodge has also been discussed. The benefits of self managed learning have also been documented. The second segment comprises of the evaluation of personal competencies in comparison to the standards of a successful Hotel Manager. A personal and professional development plan has been prepared focusing on the deficiencies. Finally the various processes and activities required in order to implement the development plan prepared successfully has also been analysed and discussed.

Task 1

1.1 Evaluate approaches to self-managed learning. Which approach can be more suitable for you or your staff at Travelodge Hotel?

The Travelodge Hotel in the UK already has a well strategized development programmes in place. The JuMP (Junior Management programme) for 18+ students and the GEM programme will definitely validate the statement. Apart from this, there is also chance for effective self managed learning in this organisation as Travelodge focuses on hiring and giving employment opportunities to the youth. (Travelodge, 2016). The various approaches to self managed learning involve Metalearning, Strategic Learning, Collaborative Learning, Motivational Learning, Consensual Learning and Autonomous learning. The Two approaches that are suitable for the staff at Travelodge Hotel are motivational learning and Consensual Learning.

• Motivational Learning: Motivation is one the key aspects that lead to an efficient work force in any organisation. In the case of Travelodge, motivational learning will allow the staff and the employees to choose their personal objectives and resources on which they would want to associate learning with. This gives a stronger perspective to the employees as they now have the liberty to satisfy their customised development and as a result, the will and the drive to succeed are always higher. This can only help Travelodge as it will mean that employees are striving hard to meet organisational behaviour and goals and objectives as a result of self managed learning through motivation.
• Consensual Learning: Since Travelodge focuses on students out of school, they should understand the importance of consent in their life. School is the last place where consent can be received for students. On that basis consensual learning will aim at the learning or development of students after their prior consent. A particular development might be beneficial for an employee but it is not necessary that he would want to acquire knowledge on that. Consensual learning does not make learning obligatory and also provides enough comfort level to the employees. (Boles, 2014)

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.

Lifelong Learning is a concept that seeks consistent development in an individual all throughout the individual in both the personal and the professional context. Here, emphasis will be laid on how I as a manager can encourage lifelong learning at the Travelodge Hotel. As a manager I will have several roles in encouraging lifelong learning for personal development. One of the primary roles would include recognizing the various interests or hobbies of each employee and always encouraging him or her to acquire a little bit extra skills or competencies on that aspect. This will help the employee be updated on his topic of interest. Discipline is an aspect that is absolutely mandatory for success in any field. Professional discipline can never be achieved if personal discipline is not in place. Thus my role will be to foster the conditions for development in self discipline.  Apart from the regular course of interests for the employees, I will constantly motivate them to acquire a completely new skill set like a course on designing, motor mechanic, etc. This will provide wider options to the employees as it will only make their ability list more diverse. (Skillsyouneed, 2016)

In the professional context, the current trend of development programmes that is prevalent at the Travelodge Hotel, namely the JuMP and the GEM programme should be followed by the injection of similar programmes. But only one thing has to be kept in mind while designing the training and development programmes for the staff. They should be in compliance with what the staffs wants to learn. The programmes designed should be consensual and also should motivate the employees to participate. No training programmes should be designed which would oblige or in a way force an individual to acquire learning. They should be motivated at all times by inculcating in them the significance of lifelong learning and this can be achieved by recognizing and appreciating their line of interest, motivating them to adopt skills in that sector and by focusing on their growth.

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.

The various benefits of self managed learning to me as an assistant manager and the Travel Lodge are:

• Identify the ‘A’ Players: Self managed Learning will help in identifying the most efficient members of the workforce present at the Travelodge. The members who sign up for self managed learning in respective fields will show extra initiative and will to attain skills and competencies. They can be identified as motivated and self confident starters. One can expect synonymous characteristic while performing their job duties. (Skiff, 2009)
• Compatibility: Self managed learning is not just easily compatible with the employees as they choose their own course of learning; it is also easily accommodative in the existing training programmes of Travelodge like JuMP and GEM. Prevalence of self managed learning does not rule out the significance of training programmes in any which way. In actuality, a perfect blend of both would be ideal for the employees at the Travelodge. (Travelodge, 2016)
• Transfer of Learning: One drawback that the existing training programmes of Travelodge might have is the direct transferability of the learning acquired to the job roles. It is not the case for self managed learning. Because the individuals choose their own area of interest, it can be expected that the learning acquired by the individuals can be easily transferred when they end up discharging their job roles and duties.
• Cost Effective: Not only does self managed learning ensure that the individuals are learning at their own pace, it also means the prevalence of fewer trainers and reduction in cost. The reduced cost can be associated with fewer travels and meeting rooms, incorporation of fewer training programmes which can be expensive at times, and also ensures that the multiple sites training prevalent at Travelodge as a result of the self managed learning initiatives looks more effective and realistic. (Noe, 2010)
• Example: Travelodge can take the example of Four Seasons Hotel in Bali, Indonesia where they needed to teach English to 580 employees. They created a self directed learning centre where the employees could teach English to themselves. The centre featured training modules, magazines, books, etc.

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.

The International Standards of a hotel manager entails the following job roles. A hotel manager should be able to plan and organise accommodation, promote the business, manage finance plans, analyse the sales figures, recruit and train staff, meet and greet customers, offer brilliant customer service, address troubleshooting, ensure effective security and also ensure that the current mode of operations is in compliance with the licensing laws and other statutory regulations. (Prospects.ac.uk, 2016). The primary objective of the Travelodge Hotel is to be the best value oriented hotel globally with emphasis being laid on leisure and business travel. Their main objective is to offer maximum employment to students just stepping out of school as they want themselves to be the primary option of employment for people in the Hospitality Industry. Youths are targeted so that they can be trained and developed through their internal training programmes like the JuMP and the GEM.  (Travelodge, 2016)

My current skills and competencies are well in line with the required attributes required in a hotel manager except on the avenues of managing finance plans and staff training. With an inherent weakness in the line of accounts and mathematics, I would require considerable development on the area in order to manage finance plans. The second shortcoming is in the avenue of training. This is because Travelodge focuses on the employment of young right out of school candidates. It can be a tough time getting accustomed to their immaturity with regards to the professional world, patience level required, making ways with levels of infancy, etc. I personally feel i would need to learn the aspect of training youths before being able to discharge my responsibilities as a Hotel Manager completely.

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?

My personal deficiencies and drawbacks include an efficient understanding of finance plans and the inability to tackle the youth contingent of Travelodge especially during the training sessions. There are a number of ways by which i can aim to improve my skills in the mentioned avenues.

• Management & Supervisors Development: This offers management and leadership training by the virtue of a variety of ways like seminars, e-modules, conferences, etc. It aims to enhance the interpersonal research skills and focuses on the aspect of collaboration with employees.
• Business Coaching: this will include a one on one session of coaching with a fully professional Business Coach. This coaching session may be face to face or telephonic in nature. All issues that are holding a manager back at workplace are addressed in this coaching session. In my case, inability to manage finance plans and budgets will be addressed. (MTD, 2016)
• Personality and Behavioural Profiling: Since it is the Hospitality Industry, I have to learn to be cordial and sensitive to customers and the employers at all times. This will help me change my attitude towards the young employees of the organisation as several assessments and exercises will be carried out with me by the expert in order to change my mental perceptions towards people at workplace. These are the needs that I will undertake in order to improve my skills and develop my needs.

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?

There are considerable development opportunities for me in my quest of being a successful manager in the future. As mentioned earlier, the biggest avenues of drawbacks and shortcomings is in the field of managing finance plans and budgeting and also the need for harmonious co-existence with the youth contingent of Travelodge. The future objective of course is to become a successful hotel manager. It is imperative that i develop my competency in the field of financing and my attitude towards the young subordinates. This is because without substantial knowledge in finance and without coming in terms with the subordinates, it will not be possible to earn the post of a Hotel Manager as it would require considerable knowledge in finance and budgeting and the overall objective of Travelodge is to hire young professionals so that they can be trained and developed.

Opportunities inside Travelodge include asking assistance from senior managers, extra interaction with the youth contingent to facilitate better understanding of their psyche, be present at the development programmes designed for the youth like JuMP and GEM as that will help me get an idea as to how the young individuals should be dealt with. (Travelodge, 2016). Opportunities outside Travelodge include management development programmes by the virtue of seminars and e-modules, Business Coaching, Life Coaching; module based leaning sessions, Personality and behavioural profiling and Team Building modules, etc. Subjecting myself to case studies and success stories of successful managers and entrepreneurs will also help me develop my managerial and interpersonal skills. (MTD, 2016)

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?

My personal and professional development plan will concentrate on the following aspects:

Stage 1: Analysis. (“What are my needed skills?”)

This stage deals with the personal analysis of the required skills and competencies. In this case, the most significant factors that i need development on include the avenues of managing finance plans and understanding budget allocations. This is generated by an inherent weakness for figures and numerical from an early age. The other aspect of improvement would involve efficient inter-personal skills in order to have a better attitude and outlook on the youth contingent of Travelodge. (Managers.org.uk, 2016)

Stage 2: Setting Goals (“How am I going to develop these skills?”)  

This stage deals with the identification of methods and by setting goals as to how to go about developing these skills. In the case of finding the correct wavelength with the young employees, consistent development through module based learning sessions, Personality and behavioural profiling and Team Building modules will help me make ways with the employees much more efficiently and will also drive a better endurance power within me. The Finance and Budgeting competency can be acquired through seminars and e-modules, Business Coaching, Life Coaching and by interaction with the senior employees on relevant matters.

Stage 3: Personal Objectives (“when are you going to develop intended skills?”)

The aim will be to learn all the fundamentals of budgeting and financial resources allocations before the next financial and budgetary plans are discussed and allocated so as to be in contention for the post of Hotel Manager in the next promotion criteria. The more i delay to come into all the term required to be a hotel manager, the later will the opportunity come. Similarly, the attitude and perceptions on the youth need to be changed as soon as possible in order to stand a chance of working here as company objectives clearly signify the importance of recruiting youths.

Task 3

3.1. Discuss the processes and activities required to implement the development plan that you prepared for yourself in task 2.4.

The various processes or activities involved in order to implement the development plan would be the following.

• Management Development Programmes: I would subject myself under various management development programmes that are conducted in various ways like through seminars, e-modules, conferences etc. UI would ensure that emphasis is laid on learning how to go about collaborating with young people and mainly focus on enhancing the interpersonal skills personally
• Business Coaching: Business Coaching refers to detailed training on different aspects of management by a professional Business Coach. This might be telephonic or face to face in nature. I will look to improve my financing and budget allocation skills with due assistance from the much trained coach. Consistent and regular interaction or sessions with the business coach on the fundamentals of how to successfully manage a finance plan will definitely go a long way in making me an efficient force in the management prevalent at the Travelodge Hotel.
• Personality Profiling: My deficiencies and shortcomings in the field of tackling and co existing with the young out of school individuals can be addressed by undertaking the activity of Personality Profiling. This will help me get attuned to the psyche and work ethics of the young contingent and will help me manage and administer them better. Omission of pre conceived notions and pre determined perceptions ill help me in being more productive while working with the young contingent at the work place of the Travelodge Hotel. (MTD, 2016)

Undertaking these various processes and activities will help me implement the development plan that I prepared earlier.

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.

The development plan prepared can be efficiently implemented by successfully carrying out the activities discussed previously. The various processes include that of management development programmes, Business Coaching and Personality Profiling. Other additional activities involve module based learning sessions, team Building modules, etc. Here emphasis will be laid on how the development plan was implemented. The various steps involved with the implementation include the following.

• Conducting Skill Assessment: The drawbacks on the avenues of finance and budgeting could be quantified by conducting this assessment. This was done by constantly giving input to various situations provided by the Business Coach on the aspects of finance and budgeting. The feedback from the coach was analysed and that helped in quantifying the amount of backwardness on that particular topic. (Educause.edu, 2016)
• Establishing Developmental Objectives: Establishing and analysing the reasons for the purpose of development helped in motivating me to efficiently acquire the missing skill sets and attributes required for the proper functioning within the management of Travelodge Hotel. It helped me understand the why I am undertaking the various development programmes and what will be the resultant outcome of subjecting myself to these programmes.
• Monitoring and Revision: I subjected myself under consistent monitoring from the coach or other teachers while developing the requisite attributes. Constant revision of the amount learned and the skill set developed helped in assessing how well or bad I actually was and how much I had to do in order to meet the high standards of management prevalent inside the Travelodge Hotel.

All these three stages were incorporated in all the training programmes that i subjected myself under which includes business coaching, management development programmes, e- modules and tutorials, module based learning, etc. By adhering to all of these, I successfully implemented my development plan.

3.3. Reflect critically on your own learning against original aims and objectives set in the development plan. Did you really learn new skills at the level you aim for them?

The original aims and objectives set in the development plan were to attain enough interpersonal and behavioural attributes so that I can co-exist with the young employees and become efficient in training them and developing them. Apart from this one of the primary aims was to understand the fundamentals of financing and budget allocation so that i could be in contention for the Hotel Manager’s post. Apart from this I did manage to equip myself with a few aspects through the concept of self managed learning. I completely focused on learning by collaboration. Although the idea behind it was to be able to develop skills in order to work and manage with the youth contingent at Travelodge Hotel, it helped me develop my overall collaborative work ethics. It brought change in my perspective and perception in how I approached people belonging to various age groups and backgrounds.  Hence it will not only help me cope with the youth contingent at the Travelodge Hotel but it is a competency that I have earned now for life and can apply in other aspects and walks of life as well. (Byram & Hu, 2013)

Another self managed learning that I acquired was in the form of autonomous learning. I concentrated on this aspect by laying emphasis on a fact that is contradictory to the previous learning of collaborative learning. According to me, it is also important to develop and learn on an individual basis and independent way. This will only make me more efficient and independent. Thus I managed to learn the various dynamics of both collaborative and individual learning.

3.4. Update the development plan that you prepared for yourself in task 2.4 based on the feedback and evaluation.

The following should be updated in the development plan based on feedback and evaluation.

The Personal Profiling development programme undertaken along with self managed learning through aspects like collaborative and autonomous learning helped me improve my behavioural aspects towards the youth contingent in the company. Not only this, I feel that I am now ready to work with not just the young people but with anybody hailing from any background or age group. This has been initiated as a result of the development and learning I received as a result of the development programmes that I subjected myself to. But with regards to budgeting and financing allocation, on evaluation of performance by the business coach, he stated that my concept is still not completely clear on the aspect of finance. The reason he associated was an unclear base from the very beginning and hence he gave the advice of attending one development session every two weeks to completely come into terms with the concept. Budget Allocation is an integral part of any business environment and hence the existing development plan of mine would include subjection to at least one business coaching class every two weeks on the fundamentals of budget and finance allocation.

Conclusion

Through this Unit 13 Personal & Professional Development Assignment Travelodge we come to know the various ways in which self managed learning can be encouraged. The various ways include motivational learning, strategic learning, Metalearning, autonomous learning, collaborative learning and consensual learning. The Travelodge Hotel in relevance to the motivational and consensual learning has been discussed and analysed in brief. The personal and professional development focused on the issue of inability to manage a finance plan and budget allocation and also the behavioural attitude towards the youth contingent of Hotel Travelodge. The evaluation and feedback by the business coach has been updated in the development plan for future fulfilment.

References

Boles, B. (2014). the Art of Self-Directed Learning: 23 Tips for Giving Yourself an Unconventional Education. Tells Peak Press
Byram, M & Hu, A. (2013). Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning. Routledge.
Educause.edu. (2016). Individual Development Planning Procedures. [Online], Available at: https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EDU06169C.pdf, Accessed on: 23^rd June, 2016.
Managers.org.uk. (2016). GUIDE to the COMPLETION of A PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN. [Online], Available at: https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/ET/checklist/Personal-Development-Plan-Example-Guide.pdf, Accessed on: 23^rd June, 2016.
MTD. (2016). Management Development Programmes. [Online], Available at: http://www.mtdtraining.com/management-development-programme, Accessed on: 23^rd June, 2016.
Noe, R. (2010). Employee Training & Development 4E (Sie). Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Prospects.ac.uk. (2016). Hotel Manager. [Online], Available at: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/hotel-manager, Accessed on: 23^rd June, 2016.
Skillsyouneed. (2016). Lifelong learning. [Online], Available at: http://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/lifelong-learning.html, Accessed on: 23^rd June, 2016.
Skiff, D. (2009). Benefits of Self-Directed Learning: Organization. [Online], Available at: http://www.selfdirectedlearning.org/benefits-of-self-directed-learning-organization, Accessed on: 23^rd June, 2016.
Travelodge. (2016). Our Company. [Online], Available at: https://www.travelodge.co.uk/our-company, Accessed on: 23^rd June, 2016.

This Unit 13 Personal & Professional Development Assignment Travelodge provides effective insight on the aspects of Personal and Professional Development, Locus Assignment Help in UK posting units solutions so scholars can explore assignment help and get review the quality of our work.