Unit 13 Self Managed Learning in PPD Assignment

Introduction

Personal and professional development is an important process for individual that helps to encourage learning to meet the challenges and achieve the goals and objectives more convincing manners. Personal and professional development gives the proper understanding about the skills that required for managing, utilizing resource and completing the tasks in allotted time. By using the personal and professional development style an individual can develop new opportunities and meet the objectives that will help to gain reorganization. The unit 13 self managed learning in Personal and professional development assignment will evaluate the approaches to self-managed learning and propose the methods that would be used for lifelong learning in both personal and professional context. In the next part, report will evaluate the own skills and competencies against professional standard and identified the areas of improvement. Moreover, it will develop personal and professional development plan and undertake the document for activities that planned. At the end, report will provide the solution for work based problem for given case study about  Hilton hotel  and proposed the style of communication at different level of organization as well as evaluate the uses of effective time-management strategies to maintain the growth and flow of operations.

 

Task 1

1.1- Evaluating approaches to self-managed learning

Self- managed learning is a process by which an individual takes initiative to learn something.  According to this process an individual list out the resource which are required for learning. This process also include development of learning approaches and evaluate outcomes will gain from activities. The basic aim at Catering and Hospitality industry is to manage housekeeping staff and their work also. ‘Evolve Hospitality and Catering’ organization that provide complete training package but it is required to learn how to access the package. There are number of resources but it is required prioritizing them. The learner must be specific about his/her goals and it is required to break down the complete goals into short term goals. It is necessary to decide what an individual wants to learn first (Bunderson and Boumgarden, 2010). All the short term goals are must be prioritize about what will be executed first. It is required achieving each goal within predefined time. For self-managed learning following approaches can be used:

• Seminar and Conferences: This is the first approach where an individual may get ideas and experience of other people. This would be very helpful to improve confidence by communicate different people. Seminar and conferences are providing development of personnel skills and knowledge.
• Internet:Internet is an approach from where an individual get touch with various source of self learning. A person get knowledge by web surfing where number of websites are providing management training like- how to manage staff and management of risk occurrence (Fink, 2013).
• Social networks: Social networking sites are also playing vital role in self manage learning. A person can contact with number of experienced people to gain knowledge from them. There are popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter where people can analyze the gap in communication, understating of topics and new trends.
• Use of bulletin boards: Bulletin boards are another approach for self managed learning where an individual use it make notes, defines goals and schedule in very colourful and attractive manner. Every new thing which learns by learner must be added on such bulletin boards (McNair.et.al.2011).

1.2- Ways by which lifelong learning in personal and professional contexts could be encouraged

Lifelong learning includes learning of both personnel and professional factors. It is beneficial for whole life time. The lifelong learning is very flexible to learn and its availability is differed according to various levels and time. Its value is considered from school time to adult life. I would encourage employees to learn personnel and professional contexts by following ways of lifelong learning:

• Kolb model: The model is considered beneficial to encourage learning to individuals and meet both personnel and professional objects. According to this model, individuals gain knowledge by transformation of experiences. The model includes learning by experience, practical approaches, and observations and conceptualizes the underlying scenario (Lopes and Pereira, 2012). This model initiates learning at ‘Evolve Hospitality and Catering’ in following ways:
• Observation: Being a manager, I should observe working style of employees and achieve target by divide them sub targets so that it is effectively distributed between workers. The entire tasks are completed by senior manager which I use as key of learning (McNiff, 2010).
• Internet: internet is the best source of learning. By using internet I can learn different ways to manage task at professional level and methods to gain best output from employees. In ‘Evolve Hospitality and Catering’, I can apply such fundamentals that motivate the employees to work with me.
• Planning: The personnel learning context include planning phase. I can plan a policy for ‘Evolve Hospitality and Catering’ and implement it on work environment. This would be a key of learning because it includes different processes which are required in implementation phase.
• Self-Evaluation: I can improve myself through evaluating my work properly. The evaluation includes all tasks which are performed by me at ‘Evolve Hospitality and Catering’ (Nicholls, 2014).  I also plan motivation strategy for employees and now I can place a tag boards that define performance of employees to evaluate my management and communication skills.  This would helps me to find out whether I successfully able to deliver my expectation to employees

1.3 evaluate the benefits of self-managed learning to the individual and organization

Benefits for the individual:

• Promotion: After self managed learning, I can achieve a senior position in the company. The self managed learning will develop new skills which is helpful for new designation. I will get confident about my policies and motivation strategy which I apply during Kolb model. I can identify my mistakes and weakness so that it enables me to improve them. I can enhance my work quality to present better to organization (Ho, 2011). So that I can eligible for hire post and being able to manage higher opportunities. 
• Improvement in skills: Self managed learning would definitely enhance my skills. Therefore, I can implement various innovative strategies for ‘Evolve Hospitality and Catering’ so that it raises profits of company. I will able to find mistakes of my subordinates and I can motivate them by providing correct solutions in order to overcome mistakes. Therefore, it improves my management skills.

Benefits for the organization:

• Customer satisfaction: Self managed employee of the company is very beneficial because he/she is able to fulfil demands of organization. A skilled manager is able to find out demands and able to resolve query of customers. Therefore, it would improve customer satisfaction also and encourage customers to use their services.
• Achievement of goals: The self managed skills also used for fulfil targets of organization before deadlines. I will able to do productive work so that it would improve target achievement as well as quality also. Achievement of the goals is most important expectation of the company from employees. Therefore, a self managed manager is able to fulfill such expectations. This would be very effective for organization in order to gain profits. Timely services would increase customer satisfaction so more customer will start to connect with organization (Cummings and Worley, 2014). 

Task 2

2.1 Evaluation of own skills and competencies against professional standard

For any kind of job profile, individual have to be knowledgeable and skilled enough to manage the operations and activities according to proposed standard of organization. I am working as a assistant HR manager at hotel Hilton and my role is to develop plan and policy for selection, recruitment, training and monitoring of individual and departments to maintain the standard in the services and products. For that purpose, it is important for me to have skills and competencies that meet the benchmarking standard of hotel. By using self-evaluation and feedback method for analyzing the own effectiveness, I have identified that there are certain areas that required improvement such as communication, leadership, time management and planning of resources according to requirement (Busse.et.al. 2014). Hilton is big brand in UK’s hospitality industry and following the international standard for dealing and interacting with customers. Now to meet the expectations of top management and sustain the position in organizing I have to make improvement in the identified areas.

According to feedback that is been collected from the senior staff members, I have come to know that controlling, monitoring, interaction and planning are my strength that could be more effective as I follow the global standard for performing the HRM activities. In spite of that, I need to make more efforts for increasing the command over the different languages, understanding of international standard for HRM and managing the time. In addition to this, leadership and team working are also key areas that require more professional understanding that will help me to motivate the staff and maintain strong relations (Stenfors-Hayes.et.al. 2010).  Decision making  is also an important skills that have significant contribution in my role as I have to decide the allocation of resources, assign role and responsibility to staff, make changes in the development and delivery process of hotel to according to needs and requirements of customers and visitors.

Table 1: SWOT analysis

Strength	Weakness
Communication Planning Analysis Managing resources Knowledge about professional standard	Time management Lack of knowledge about global standard Decision making Command over different language
Opportunities	Threats
Gain the higher position in organization Meet own and organizational goals Improve performance and personality Boost the confidence Encourage learning	Changes in the organizational process High competition Changes in the hospitality functions Involvement of technology

2.2 Own development needs and activities required to meet them     

By using the self-analysis tools like SWOT, I have identified the areas of improvement along with the other skills that required for managing the operational in both personal and professional context. According to analysis, my own development needs are time management, understating of global standard, leadership, anticipation of hospitality functions and use of technical tools to increase efficiency. However, I have these skills but improvement according to current standard of organization and objective to gain higher position at hotel Hilton is required. For that purpose, I will undertake different activities like use of internet sources, observation, training and review of past activities which will help to gain knowledge and understand the new tactics to accomplish the tasks (Moon, 2013).

There are various methods and activities would be used to meet the own development needs. I will prefer reading, observation and use of internet sources to craft improvement in the process of managing resource, planning of operations and functions, gain knowledge about the global trends in hospitality functions to maintain the effectiveness at workplace. By undertaking these activities, I will try to improve the skills and standard of performing the tasks that will aid to meet the future goals and objectives.

2.3 Development opportunities to meet the current and future define needs

In order to meet the current and future define needs, I have to work on the skills in both personal and professional context. By undertaking the SWOT and other tools for analyzing the own skills and competencies, I have acknowledged the areas to improve for short and long terms periods. For that purpose, I will follow the plan that helps to meet the current and future define needs considering the factors that plays significant role to develop qualities.

Table 2: Development opportunities and needs

Development opportunities	Current rating	Desired rating	Action for improvement to meet future needs
Leadership	3	4	For the improvement in leadership to meet the future needs, I will read about the great leaders and observe the activities of seiner managers.
Time management	2.5	4	For improvement in this skill, I will use prior planning and scheduling methods. By using these tools I will able to meet the opportunity.
Planning	3.5	5	Review of past activities and follow the guidelines of top management, I will meet the future needs in both personal and professional context.
Team working	3	4.5	By encouraging interaction with the staff of Travelodge, improvement in team working skills would craft (Lussier, 2011). Additionally, taking active participation in meeting and conferences will support to meet the future needs
Decision making	3	5	Using the past experience and having effective communication with the all departments of Travelodge, decision making would be encouraged according to desired standard.

2.4 Personal and professional development plan according to needs

For development and craft improvement in the skills and knowledge to achieve the objectives and growth in the areas of working, I will follow the activities and process according to following plan. In order to develop this personal and professional development plan, I have used the feedback and self-analysis outcomes. By using the facts and current approach of encouraging the learning and improvement in skills personal and professional development plan has been framed which is as follows:

Table 3: Personal and professional development plan

Skills	Improvement areas	Action for development	Timescale	Evidence
Communication	Lack of command over other languages	By joining the classes and encouraging the interaction with international visitors and customers	4 months	Having good relationship with and overseas staff members of Hilton hotel
Leadership	Motivation and anticipation of needs of team members	Observing senior staff members and reading the books of quality leaders	3 months	Encouraging staff my recognizing efforts and offering proper support
Professional knowledge	Global HRM policy and hospitality trends	Use of online sources to gain the knowledge and attending the seminar (Verwey, 2010.).	2 months	Offering training about the key trends and HR functions
Time management	Lacking in review of tasks	By prior planning, identifying and allocating the resources.	3 months	Organizing the major events and business meetings of clients with timely delivery of products and services.
Planning	Proper allocation of resources and monitoring	By having prior knowledge about the needs of clients and follow-up of procedure.	2 months	Organized the international business-meet with required efficiency and effectiveness
Decision making	Lacking in understanding of situations and needs	Observing the leading people and analyzing the past decisions (Neck and Manz, 2010).	3 months	Contributing in management and staffing decisions of Hilton hotel.

Task 3

3.1 Process and activities required for implementing the development plan

For improvement in the personal and professional qualities and knowledge, it is important for me to implement the development plan as soon as possible. In addition to this, I will undertake different process and activities according to plan with the consideration of the daily operations that I have to perform at workplace. Following are the activities and process that will help me to implement the plan:

• Meditation: In order to make balance with work and development plan that is very important for me as level of stress is high in the current working environment and to perform other activities will be hard for me. Now to undertake the development plan to craft improvement in personal and professional both the context, I will use medication process that helps me to improve mental strength, concentration level and control the emotions (Calderhead.et.al. 2012).  This kind of process will be beneficial for me to become multitasking and manage the work and personal activities according to benchmarking standard.
• Mentoring: This is an effective process of implementing plan and activities according to proposed manners as the mentor will guide and instruct me to perform the tasks. In order to use this process, I will approach the senior HR manager to help me to implement plan and support to maintain the flow of learning that helps to meet the future define objectives. For example, mentoring will help to give importance to task and utilization of resources. The major advantage of this process would be analysis of improvement in skills using the development activities.
• Training: For implementing the plan in effective manners, I would join the training process. This will help me to identify the efforts in particular area and support me to undertake the activities according to proposed plan. In training I will work on the professional skills like leadership, command over different language and tem working (Hopkinson, 2014). Moreover, it will help me to analyze the changes in the personal and professional context as well assist me to make changes in the course of activities according to working culture of hotel Hilton.   

3.2 Document for planned activities for personal and professional context

In order to synchronizing the objectives of personal and professional development, I would undertake the following document that will help to maintain proper balance in activities to achieve the higher standard. 

Table 4: Document for personal and professional development

Development needs	To do document
Organizational context	Utilization of resources Real time feedback collecting Monitoring Anticipation of needs of staff Planning team working
Interpersonal	Life-long learning Improve interaction with staff Decision making Communication
Professional context	Gain knowledge about professional standard of hospitality and HRM functions Time management Planning and distribution of resources Team working Leadership

3.3 Critical evaluation of own development according to plan

For the improvement in skills and gain the higher position within organization, I have followed the activities of developed plan. By following the processes and activities as per the timescale, I have worked on skill set and interpersonal capabilities to meet the desired objectives. However by following the plan, I have improved in the certain areas like communication in different languages, planning and decision making according to expected rating standard but still there are some qualities that need to be enhanced. In order to gain higher position at work place, I have to make more efforts according to plan (Jarvis, 2009). For further analysis of development, I will collect feedback from the staff members and mentor that will help to evaluate the improvement and make changes in the plan.

In addition to this, from the analysis of feedback I have identified that time management; team working and leadership are the areas that are not up-to the expected standard. For that I will make changes in the development plan and include different activities to encourage the skills. Apart from that, there are some positive feedbacks I have gained through following the development plan. According to feedback, I have improved the skills of distributing the work, allocation of resources and implementing the changes in the existing process of hotel organization as per the needs. These kinds of improvements have helped me to get the attention of top management but to meet the original objective (Kop and Fournier, 2011). I have to make more efforts by implementing changes in the existing development plan.

3.4 Updated plan based on the feedback and evaluation

From the critical evaluation and feedbacks, I have identified the areas that are not according to standard as well the activities that are not beneficial for me to craft improvement. For that reason, I have to make changes in the existing plan of personal and professional development. These changes have been done according to advice and evolution of mentor and senior staff members. The updated plan for personal and professional development is as follows:

Table 5: Updated plan for improvement

Skills	Lacking	Updated Action	Timescale
Time management	Meeting the deadlines	Scheduling of tasks	3 months
Team working	Support and distribution of work	Improve interaction	1 month
Knowledge of global standard	Analysis of new trends in HRM functions	Use of online sources to gain knowledge	2 months
Leadership	Motivating and guiding the team members	Reading and observation of senior people	1 month

Task 4

4.1 Solutions for work based problem

According to give scenario, Hilton hotel located at Heathrow airport is facing the high employee turnover issue which is affecting the operations and quality of services. By considering the facts and current situations, the top management of organization could use the following methods to overcome the problem and retain the staff members:

• Reward and incentives: In order to hold the employee, organization would use the reward and incentive methods that will encourage the staff to perform well and work for longer periods. This kind of approach will keep the staff members motivated and loyal to the organization as every individual wants to gain the reorganization and appreciation from the top  business management  (Loucks-Horsley.et.al. 2009). If organization will start to offer incentive will also influence the performance of staff and increase the efficiency of Hilton hotel.
• Proper allocation of work: According to analysis, it is being considered that stress and workload is major issues for high turnover of employees at Hilton hotel. In order to manage the situation and retain the staff, top management has to make changes in the distribution of work as per the skills and capability of individual. For example, if a staff member performs the operations and functions according to their strength will help to maintain the interest and support to retain them (McLoughlin and Lee, 2010). This kind of approach will be effective as people get frustrated with workload and high level of stress lead to leave the organization. Hence, proper distribution of work will aid Hilton management to retain the staff members. 

4.2 Variety of communication style at different level

For a organization like hotel, communication and flow of information plays critical role in the growth and gain the support of staff members as clarity in decision making with the consideration of staff create the positive environment. For communication of information, Hilton management could use the following styles:

• For managerial level this type of communication style is effective as it helps to collect the real time feedback from the managers about new process or change in the existing process (Murdoch?Eaton and Whittle, 2012). For example, organization is looking to implement reward and incentive policy to retain the staff and to communicate this change to manger meeting will be good method. It will helps to analyze pro and cons at same time and support to correct the issues and loopholes.
• In order to communicate the plan and policy to various departments, Hilton hotel management could use email method. This will cost and time effective as well help to offer detail information about the changes in the working plan. Moreover, it will provide the facility to track the further communication. This style of communication will be appropriate for middle level that involves department head and supervisors.  
• The leading organizations are using this method to communicate the changes and policy. By using this method of offering information, hotel management will able to inform all working staff (Nicholls, 2014). This is a one way communication method but effective for establishing communication with the lower level working staff.

4.3 Time-management strategies

For hospitality organization and their staff proper management of time is very important that influence the decision of customers. Time management plays important part of managing functions and delivery of services and products. However Hilton hotel is having good process to manage the resources and meet the deadline but still organization is facing issues like delay in services. In order to manage the time effectively organization could use the following strategies:

• Scheduling: This is an effective time management strategy that could be used for managing time and adds contingency time for unexpected conditions or risk factors that could influence the whole process. According to this strategy, organization will assign the specific role and responsibility to staff as per the skills and offer guideline to meet the objectives (Pedler, 2011). Moreover, using this time management strategy, Hilton management will able to monitor the process as well improve the quality of services.
• Prior Planning: In order to overcome the problem of time management, Hilton organization could use the strategy to have prior planning about the events, operations and daily functions. This kind of approach will influence the arrangement of resources as well the distribution (Pedler, 2011). Moreover, prior planning will help to meet the deadline as prior arrangement of resources will support to perform the operations and consume less time.

Conclusion

From the study it is been considered self-managed and lifelong learning is important for individual and groups to maintain the growth and effectiveness in the personal and professional both the context. Report has provided the information about the ways to encourage lifelong learning and its benefits for organization and individual. Moreover, report has analyzed own skills using the SWOT analysis tools and developed the plan to craft improvement in areas of lacking. In the next task, report has discussed about the activities to implement the plan and provided the critical evaluation of gained skills according to personal and professional development plan. At the end, report has provided the solution for work based problem for Hilton hotel.

 References

Books and journals 

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Ababa University’s Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (Ethiopia). Globalization and health, 10(1), p.1.
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Cummings, T. and Worley, C., 2014. Organization development and change. Cengage learning.
Fink, L.D., 2013. Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. John Wiley & Sons.
Ho, L.A., 2011. Meditation, learning, organizational innovation and performance. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 111(1), pp.113-131.
Hopkinson, C. 2014. Personal and professional development: A Textbook for Professional Practice. 383.
Jarvis, P.  2009. The Routledge international handbook of lifelong learning. Routledge.
Kop, R. and Fournier, H. 2011. New dimensions to self-directed learning in an open networked learning environment. International Journal of Self-Directed Learning. 7(2). Pp. 2-20.
Larson, E.W. and Gray, C.F., 2011.  Project management : The managerial process