Unit 17 Work Based Experience Assignment - Thistle Hotel

Introduction

This Unit 17 Work Based Experience Assignment Thistle Hotel that enables the individual to learn the facts in the real word and also provides an opportunity to them to convert their theoretical knowledge into practical one so that they can understand the concept and put in their real life examples. Basically, the work based learning depends on the experience of the individuals that could be gained by them during their training programs (paid or unpaid), internships, shadowing etc. Work based learning could be seen as a strategy that gives individuals a real life work experience in which they can put their theoretical and technical skills to enhance their employability skills. For the better understanding of the work based learning and its experience, I am taking the example of Thistle Hotel. It is the organisation in which I have already worked as an assistant manager and I have also completed my internship program in the department of Human Resource from this organisation.

Task 1

P1.1 Research and evaluate suitable organisations that could provide industry experience

An organisation plays a very important role in the life of an individual as it is the place where the individual can covert his theoretical knowledge into the practical and can perform the activities in which he is interested whether related to business or technology. The perception of the individual has changes as earlier the individual consider the organisation as a working platform where they perform the activity to run their living but now a day it has changed a bit as today the individual choose the organisation where they can perform the activities in which they are interested (Nezhad, Benatallah & Casati, 2010). On the other hand, the organisation also seeks the individual that can perform the task very effectively and achieve the goal of the organisation. The organisation also provides different platform such as trainee, volunteering etc to individuals by which they can enter in the organisation of their choice. While choosing a career, my interest was in the tour and travel industry so I decided to upgrade my experience relating to the travel and tourism. When I was looking for job in the industry, following are the organisation that is researched by me:

Thistle Hotels

• Department of organisation – HR

Job Description

• Location: London
• Role: Assistant Human Resource Manager
• Responsibility: manage the operations, activities and process of the human resources department of the hotel.
• Working hour: 10 hours
• Salary: £ 1500 per month
• Type: Permanent

Dorset square Hotel

• Department – Human Resource

Job Description

• Location: London
• Role: Assistant Human Resource Manager
• Working hour: 12 hours
• Salary: £ 2000 per month
• Type: Permanent

Corinthia Hotel

• Department – Human resource

Job Description

• Location: London  
• Role: Assistant Human Resource Manager
• Working hour: 8 hours
• Salary:  £ 1900 per month
• Type: Permanent

P2.2 Negotiations with work and academic supervisors a proposal for the work experience

I started as a trainee in this organisation and now I am working as assistant manager of the human resource department where I have to direct report the head of the department and to the CEO of the hotel. As a trainee, I have experienced lots of thing in the organisation. For the negotiation with the management, I choose the cooperative negotiation style. The steps of this strategy are as follows:

1. Selection of the business strategy to solve the problem such as negotiation, facilitation etc.
2. This step is related to contact the management either by telephonic or by mail. The desire must be expressed while negotiating.
3. Collect the data and the information about the hotel and the vacant position.
4. Select the strategy for the negotiation from the point of view of both parties.
5. Build trust and cooperate on other part such as clearing perception etc.
6. Start the process by introducing all parties and facts and answer with the statement that showed my willingness to do the work in the organisation (Guo, Johansson & Dimarogonas, 2013).
7. The topic of concerned is identified by both parties and a small discussion is placed.
8. Find the different ways or area for the settlement, agreement.
9. Cost and benefits is analysed and the options of the settlement and agreement is analysed
10. A formal settlement is provided to each party either by mail or telephone.

Advertisement in newspaper was the method that the organisation chose at that time to attract the applicant toward the organisation. After looking the advertisement, I mailed my CV and cover letter to the given email id to apply for the required post. The main aim of the CV is to tell the organisation about the qualification and the experience we have and the cover letter is something that tells the organisation about the qualities that is unique. Generally, the cover letter contains the competencies, skills that can enhance the productivity of the organisation. The cover letter and CV of mine is given below:

COVER LETTER

Name>
Address>
Contact no>
Date>

CEO
Thistle Hotels
London, UK

Subject- Application for the post of Assistant HR Manager

Dear Sir,
As I have seen the advertisement about the opening of the assistant human resources manager at your Hotel and I also went through the website of your organisation. After looking at the role and the responsibility of the vacant position, I eagerly want to offer my services to the organisation.

As regards to my qualification, I have competed MBA in human resource and I am very strong in making the policies for the employees and the other aspects of human resource such as recruitment, training and development. The internship program that accomplished the management course is done from your organisation only in which I have learnt about recruitment and selection procedure and is expertise in undertaking training programs.

I am enthusiastic, energetic and believe in creating a good working environment and also have good command over English that can be beneficial for your group. 

I would be very thankful if you consider my CV for the vacant position and I assure you that I will provide the best of my services to your organisation. You can contact me on my email id abc@gmail.com.

Yours Truly
ABC

CV

Name:  Abc
Email id: abc@gmail.com      
Address:                                                                                              Contact No:

Objective:

I am looking for an organisation that can use my skills and knowledge for achieving the goal and growth of the organisation and provide me the experience so that I can enhance my strength and employability skills.

Key Skills and Interests:

• Ready to learn new things
• Motivator
• Quick learner
• Stress management
• Good communication skills
• Enthusiastic, energetic.

Qualification:

• MBA in Human Resource with grade A
• Internship for 6 months in Thistle Hotels

I hereby declare that above knowledge stands true for all aspects.

Date:
Place:

P1.3 Recognise the business constraints on the work experience

Work based learning is very important to everyone’s life as this helps in gaining the skills, knowledge and information about the performance of the task and also gives a life time experience. Following are the business constraints on the work experience are given below:

• The trainers that come to the organisation and provide the services to the organisation demands the medical claim from the employer against their duty and the performance toward the organisations (Watkins & Walter, 2007).
• Sometimes, the organisation has to provide a leeway in time to the employees or trainers in the form of special supervise time in the absence of the good supervisors in the organisation.
• The quality of the work based learning also examined by the trainer and on the other hand some trainer perceives the work based learning a second alternative which brings the negative perception of the trainer toward the work based learning.

Task 2

P2.1 Agree and prioritise the tasks and responsibilities involved in the work experience

When a trainee come to the organisation, not only the increasing the skills and knowledge of the trainee is not important but also the organisation also expect trainee to enhance the productivity of the organisation so that it could met the goal of the organisation. To increase the productivity of the organisation, the trainee must prioritise the given task according to their importance in the organisation. By doing this, the trainee will be able to deliver the right project at right time (Zhao et al 2009)). As I am working in Thistle hotel at the position of the assistant human resources manager and I have also confronted to the basic roles and the responsibilities of this designation. Before prioritise the task I would like to share the main roles and the responsibility of this designation which are given below:

• Work defined: divide the work in the organisation so that the individual in the organisation can perform the task effectively.
• Recruitment and selection: Encourage the candidate toward applying for the vacant position of the organisation by advertising the job and also follow the process of recruitment and selection effectively with its tools and the techniques such as screening test, skills test etc.
• Training and development: Arrange the training and the development program to enhance the skills of the employees and trainees who are working in the organisation.
• Performance appraisals: observe the performance of the employee toward the given task and rate the performance so that a fair increment should be given them at the end of financial year.
• Motivation: this also comes under the main function of the HR department in which a motivation program is given to the employees to boost their satisfaction level into the organisation (Kuh, 2008).

My priority in the functions that are given above is given below:

Functions	Priority
Recruitment and selection process	High
Use of the tools and techniques of selection procedure	High
Training and development programs	Moderate
Documentation	Low
Work defined for resources	High
Motivation	Moderate
Performance appraisal	Low

Task 3

P3.1 Fulfil specified requirements of placement conforming to all related codes of practice.

To gain the success into the market, the organisation need to perform the work plan at right time and it also should analyse the activities that need to concern in the implementation of the work plan. If the activities or the resources are available to the organisation then the organisation can put the plan at any time and if the resources are not available then it need to outsource from the other organisation or sources (Herzog, Scheuren & Winkler, 2007). All the activities and the resources should be performed in according to the law and the regulation defined by the government or the policies of the organisation. The organisation also must sure about that the activities that it is going to offer the learner should be legal otherwise a wrong impression of the organisation would be put on the mind of learner and the outside world.  As my work plan was discussed in the above section, the committee of the organisation must review the rules and the regulation of EU before implementing of these plans such as there should be no space for discrimination on the bases of race, colour, nation and gender in the recruitment and selection process of thistle hotel. The discipline and the code of conduct should be followed in the organisation by the learner and it is also my task to follow and keep the learner to follow the rules and the regulation of the company regarding to the disciple in dressing, working hours, code of conduct for the organisation and also must take care of the ethics of the organisation as no one should be harmed by the working policies etc.

P3.2 Produce systematic records of challenges work experience undertaken

To keep and maintain the record of the organisation such as the records of clients, employee is also the responsibility of the human resource department as it is very helpful in formulating the strategy by the top management. Following are the systematic records of challenges undertaken by the designation of assistant human resources manager are as follows:

• Logbook: all the important activities of the thistle hotel are recorded in the log book. This is the tool from where the top management can access the information of any department of hotel and can formulate the strategy accordingly.

Figure 1: log book of a Hotel

• Spreadsheets: the spreadsheet in the thistle organisation is used to maintain the attendance of the employee of the various departments. The management can access the information regarding to the presence of the employee in the organisation. This is useful while calculating salaries for the employees.
• Database: this is the most important record sheet of the hotel as it maintains the records of the customers, employees of the organisation such as their contacts, address etc. The database is used at the time of promotion of a newly product launch of hotel.

P3.3 Revise the initial plan if required

The plan of the organisation carries the different set of tasks that need to be executed in achieving the goal of the organisation. As mentioned earlier that a priority is given to each and every task so that organisation can maintain the time frame accordingly. Before the implementation of the work plan, a review on the plan is considered in which the organisation once again review all the factors that can increase or decrease the productivity of the organisation (Ellis & Watson, 2012). While reviewing the plan it is very important for the organisation to consider the objective of the plan and must sure about it is SMART objective or not. As my work plan is about to recruit the new employees for the organisation that can use their skills and knowledge in enhancing the performance of thistle hotel. While setting of the objective, I was very sure about that the objectives should follow the criteria off SMART objective. So according to me, there is no need to revise the plan in any term such as resource allocation, time etc.

P3.4 Make suggestions for improvement and review these with the supervisor

If the work plan is revised then it is very important to make the changes timely so that the work plan could be implemented. Following are the suggestions that need to be considered that improves the work plan:

• Review the technologies that are being used recently because it is very important to make the business environment of the organisation friendlier.
• Anticipate the exact level of the motivation of staff members that are going to be used in the implementation of work plan (Pohl, 2010).
• It is also very important to get the opinion and the view of the members or employees on the implementation of work plan and also encourage them for suggestions.
• Training and the development should be provided while implementing the plan.
• Reward system must be included in implementation of plan for inspiring of the employees or learners.

Task 4

P4.1 Monitor progress against original proposal

It is very important for the organization to regular check the progress against the original purpose so that the weak area of the process could come in front of the organisation. Sometimes the monitoring of the process brought new improvements in the process and also determines that the individual or learner is going on the path that is defined by the organisation (Kolb, 2014). As my responsibility is to recruit the right candidate in the organisation so I am always trying that the helps given by me to the committee brings lots of opportunities of thistle hotel to choose the best candidate in the organisation. As known once the recruitment is done then the next step is to provide the training program to the employees. During proving the training to the employees I must sure that the information provided by is accurate and I also share the infrastructure and the other policies of the thistle group so that the employees can feel that they are working in the best hospitality sector. At the end of the training the performance of the individuals is monitored by the supervisor. The process of monitoring done by supervisor is as follows:

PROFESSIONALISM/ Grades	1	2	3	4	5
Instructions followed
Time management
Problem solving skills
Communication skills
Information gathering
knowledge about organization
Strategy formation skills
Strategy implementation skills
Out of box thinking
BEHAVIOUR AND NATURE OF EMPLOYEE
Customers or complaint handling
Decision taking
Maintaining professional relationship
Punctuality

In the above table the criteria for the monitors the performance is as following:

1. Excellent
2. Very good
3. Good
4. Adequate
5. Inadequate

P4.2 Evaluate the quality of own performance

The overall success of the organisation depends on the fact that how the performance of the individual is going to evaluate to increase the productivity of the organisation. The process of the evaluation works as a fuel in executing the process of the organisation (Ward, 2011). With the evaluation of the performance the appraisal and the feedback is provided to the employees so that they can made amendments if any exists.

Most of the organisation like thistle hotel gives an opportunity to the employee to self evaluates their own performance in the organisation. In this case, the management provides a standard to the employee so that they can measure their own performance. I am also an employee in the organisation so I also evaluate my performance in recruitment and also in providing the training program to the employees. Generally I evaluate my task or performance by observation method. As I performed in the training program for the organisation in which I have shared my views on motivation. On next day, I observed a increased level of the satisfaction and motivation in the employees. I felt that they are more enthusiastic and motivated toward their work. I also enhanced their knowledge about the new technology and this is very much appreciated by the management of the organisation.

P4.3 Analyse the learning which has taken place during the work experience using suitable reflections

The work experience is a learning that provides a true knowledge about the task performed in the organisation. As I worked as an assistant manager in the thistle group of hotel and the learning that has been places during my work experience is as follows:

• Management reports: being as an assistant manager in human resources department of the organisation, my task was to perform the core management activities in the organisation such as recruitment and selection, training and development, performance appraisals etc (Fenwick & Bierema, 2008). earlier I was not good at all in these activities but as I observe the situation and put my theoretical skills in task given to me, I have gained the pool of knowledge and the information. And my senior, the manager and CEO was also very helpful that provided me information on the different topic.
• Time management: when you are working in the organisation then you have to perform the task in the given time frame by which my skills of the time management has been improved a lot. Now for the time management, I divide the task in different parts and assign the priority to them and perform accordingly.
• Communication skills: being in the human resources department of the hotel, I have to maintain good communication to the employees so that they behave friendly to the guests of the organisation. These activities improved my communication skills. Not only the communication skills but also the other skills such as problem solving skills, strategy formation and implementation, setting objective also has been improved since I have started working in the thistle hotel.

P4.4 Make recommendations on how the experience could have been enhanced

The work based learning is all about gaining the experience from the things or task that has been performed by the employee or the learners in the organisation. As I am assistant human resource manager then it is my duty to convey the methods and the recommendations to the learners so that they can enhance their knowledge toward the work and helps the organisation in gaining the productivity of the organisation. The recommendation that can enhance the experience is mentioned below:

• The real assignment should be provided to the learners under the supervision so that they can understand the complexity of the situation and also can analyse the problems that comes while handling the process in the organisation (Hovakimian, 2011).
• The process of the motivation should be executed under a specific time period for the interns or learners according to the feedback given supervision on the different activities performed by them.
• The opportunity to work in the hotel should be given to the best interns as this process will boost their confidence level and the productivity of the organisation would increase.
• The opportunities for looking the several location of the hotel that means the international marketing opportunities also should be given to the learners so that they can judge the difference between the culture of two countries and the problems aroused through these problems.

Conclusion

The work based learning is the best learning that boost the level of the knowledge and the information to the employees or learners. The desire and the wants of the employees could be fulfilled only by getting the experience of their interest job. The organisation belongs to the tour and tourism industry or the hospitality industry knows the value of the work based learning in the comparison to the other industries. The above Unit 17 Work Based Experience Assignment Thistle Hotel is about to formation of the work plan and execution of the plan and then executing the processes such as monitoring and evaluating on the plan. The recommendation on how the experience of the learners could be enhanced is also explained.

References

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