Employability Skills

TASK 1

1.1 Developing a set of own responsibilities and performance objectives as well.

Skills and calibre of a person have been discussed under this heading. An individual develops and gains knowledge based on his qualifications as well as interaction with outside environment (Chalamwong and et. al., 2012).Within Travelodge Hotel, I am working as a manager, thus for my assessment, I have made use of SMART tool which will assist me in gaining knowledge about my roles and responsibilities within the organisation. Also, by conducting a self evaluation, I will be able to carry out my job role in an effective and efficient manner such that organisational goals and objectives cab be easily achieved. Furthermore, it has been ascertained that my duties and responsibilities comprise of management, ensuring a hygienic and clean workplace, empowering the staff so as to encourage them for working in a productive manner. In addition to this, there are certain additional roles and responsibilities that need to be carried out by me which are described as under:-

• Identifying and recognising all necessary skills and knowledge to perform any given task.
• Exploration of opportunities that are available in surrounding environment of a business.
• Developing effectiveness in decision making skills.
• Exploring my learning skills related to project assigned in approximately a week.
• Personal responsibility and direct and indirect relationships.
• Responsibility to make effective decisions and adapt learnings about employment legislation.

Self management is quite difficult at times as I also need to keep my focus on achieving goals and objectives of a business concern. Every business concern should follow SMART technique for achieving enhanced productivity and profit maximisation as well. Key responsibilities of a business infuses planning, organising, decision making, problem solving and so on. Appraisal system in this case greatly helps in paying compensation to employees, promotion, job rotation and so on. Further, it also helps in evaluating training period and development requirements of staff members. All these objectives come under SMART category and further help in maintaining relations with subordinates by adopting effectiveness in communication and soft skills and developing a co- operative attitude towards subordinates.

Performance objectives: I have to make sure that I develop and enforce such facilities which increase the standard of livingof customers and assists in meeting their needs and wants in an effective manner. Setting effective and achievable objectives within a set time frame is a quite complicated process. For setting objectives I will need to carefully evaluate and assess my own strengths and weaknesses. Objectives which I choose for myself are stated as under:

Application of different systems through which performances can be raised of employees: Individual appraisal systems for every employee act beneficial for me in enhancing performance of employees. Main techniques that can be used here are increasing level of salary, bonus payment etc. Also staff members should be promoted as per their strengths as weaknesses.

Time management:Time management forms an effective part of a manager's skill. As a manager I will have to focus on my time management skill so that in turn I can develop other employees' skill also. This will lead to timely completion of tasks assigned.

All these measures greatly help me in setting my own objectives and responsibilities and also analysing my strengths and weaknesses. A lot of other measures can be used such as maintaining direct relationships with employees, decision making and so on.

1.2 Evaluation of self-effectiveness based on predetermined objectives.

Evaluation of one's own self is quite a tricky process yet it is mandatory in nature. Decision making process is an entire cycle that has to completed by an individual. Decision making process is an effective process which helps in making judgements relating to effectiveness in responsibilities (Cunningham and Hillier,2013). For self evaluation and decision making, it is very important that I adopt and develop new tools and techniques that help me in overall growth and development of myself as well as hotel. The various tools which will help me in timely achievement of goals and objectives of Travelodge hotel are as follows:

Skill audit is a strategic tool used by individuals to identify one's strengths and weaknesses. In this regard, I have also done my skill audit and analysed its results to find out my strong and weak points. I have evaluated that being the manager in Travelodge I am good at management, have profound knowledge of taxation and employment laws. In the same way, I have found out that I lack in certain areas like communication and time management skills which lead to delay in completion of tasks. Thus, I will work upon my weaknesses to convert them into strengths in near future.

I had adopted individual appraisal system at Travelodge hotel for employees so that they can be easily motivated and trained. This method helped me a great deal in reducing labour turnover rate of employees and also they developed a sense of belongingness towards hotel. Enhancement of salary levels and providing bonus to staff members helps me in timely achieving targets of a hotel in a set time frame. Training and effective communication helped in developing effective relationships between employees working in hotel (Chalamwong and et. al., 2012). Hospitality sector is fastest growing sector of UK. It employs large number of people together and helps in growth and development of a nation at a very rapid rate.

One more technique that is used by me is performance appraisal with the help of production, personnel and judgemental data. In this technique various rating methods can be taken into consideration namely ranking, paired comparison and so on. With the help of these rating methods, I will be able develop myself as well as employees. Also, I will be able to assign roles and responsibilities to employees as per their strengths and weaknesses.

All these tools and techniques help me in attaining monetary as well as non monetary benefits which help me in keeping confident and motivated as well. These processes help in improving work culture of an organisation as well as develop my skills. These skills when effectively developed, became a part of my personality(Guzman and Choi, 2013). It greatly helped in boosting my confidence level as well as morale due to which I could accomplish each and every task on a timely basis.

1.3 Recommendations for improving effectiveness.

All these skills in a combination help to develop skills and overall personality of an individual. These skills further help in cost minimisation, goodwill improvisation and so on (Dhar, 2012). Main aim of Travelodge hotel in this aspect is offering excellent quality of services to its clients.

1.4 Motivational techniques for improving quality performance

Motivation techniques are assumed to be a key factor which aims towards better quality performance by individuals with greater amount of efficiency and skills. Motivation is a vast process which involves both internal as well as external forces that can enhance or hamper performance of employees. Therefore, to control this appropriate training and development sessions are being initiated for employees of Travelodge hotel. It helps greatly as it rises confidence level of employees which in turn leads to better growth opportunities and development (Dhiman, 2012). Techniques that are considered by owners of Travelodge hotel have been mentioned as under:

Theory X:This is a motivation theory in which team leaders or managers evaluate employees and check whether they are motivated or not. As per this theory, managers of Travelodge hotel believe that employees get demotivated very quickly and try to ignore or neglect their responsibilities whenever they get a chance. Due to this, entire operations of hotel get affected. So managers try and adopt methods by which employees can be motivated.

Theory Y:Managers of Travelodge Hotel implemented this theory when they found out that team members or employees demanded independence in operations in their work culture. As per assumptions of this theory, team members are found to be responsible enough to handle their tasks themselves (Durrani and Tariq, 2012).

One more important theory that has been studied or used by managers of Travelodge hotel is Maslow's need hierarchy theory.

Maslow's Need Hierarchy theory:This theory is implemented in Travelodge hotel to complement and support various ways in which leaders motivate their employees. This theory aims towards improving work performance of its employees. As per this theory, there are basic needs of people namely physiological, safety, love or belongings, self esteem needs or self actualisation needs. These five factors have been mentioned below:

Physiological needs: It includes basic needs such as food water shelter and so on (Gamble, Patrick and Peach, 2010).

Safety needs: It includes basic safety of employees such as health security, safety, morality of employees and so on.

Love or belonging: These needs are intangible in nature and include good supportive subordinate, a healthy working environment and so on.

Esteem needs: Esteem needs are considered as confidence, achievement, respect from other companions etc.

Self-actualisation: This is highest level of need theory. This needs infuses factors such as creativity, spontaneity, lack of prejudice and so on (Gbadamosi and et. al., 2015).

Furthermore, managers can also employ motivational techniques like timely payment of rewards, monetary and non-monetary benefits for developing morale level of employees.

The theories that have been discussed here have their own disadvantages which need to be considered by me before making use of any of these two theories. At first, it is not feasible for the enterprise to give motivation to employees by fulfilment of their hierarchical needs. Secondly, it is not feasible for the organisation to assess and evaluate the behavioural characteristics of employees to enforce Theory X and Theory Y. Thus, being the manager of Travelodge, it is suitable and appropriate for me to adopt and enforce Maslow's Theory of Hierarchy need as the basic personal needs of employees should be fulfilled so as to encourage them to work in a desirable manner.

TASK 2

P2.1 Solutions related to work based issues.

Usually there are numerous issues in each and every business entity. These problems and issues lead to high level of complexities and problems which occur in day to day operations of a business. This further leads to ineffective functioning of Travelodge hotel. Main issue in this concern is normally difference in thoughts process of employees and their way of working. Therefore, there are certain steps which can be followed for evaluating an appropriate solution to a work based issues and these are as follows:

Problem:

• Travelodge hotel is currently having issues of employee retention due to strict working environment.
• Lack of effective communication is another key factor which leads to affected growth.
• Employees are technically and technologically backward and deficient.

Problem analysis: This is first step where issues of employees are analysed. Problems such as lack of communication, employee retention and technological barriers fall under this category.

Finding solutions: As a manager, I will have to conduct a meeting on a timely basis (Gravells, 2010). This is usually done to evaluate performance of employees as well as problems faced by them.

Adopting effective communication strategies so that employees can easily convey their problems to managers. Providing proper and effective way of training sessions in technical and technological areas which helps managers in retaining experienced staff members for a longer time. It also helps in developing skills of employees and keeps them motivated for a longer time.

Therefore, all the above mentioned points will be very helpful in resolving issues and problem that are creating problem in operating business in an effective manner.

P2.2 Communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels.

Communication is a lifeblood of any business concern. Individuals who work in hospitality sector need to improve and develop their soft skills to a great extent. It is essential that employees of Travelodge hotel are kind and humble in their approach especially while dealing with guests. Communication has a vast scope and can be done in numerous ways. Travelodge hotel uses a combination of various methods for communicating with its employees. These methods are explained under as:

Verbal: Managers use this form of communication to communicate with employees and staff members and provide them all necessary instructions (Ju, Zhang and Pacha, 2012). It is a way of doing one on one interaction.

Non verbal:This mode of communication is expected to be more effective. It also involves bodily gestures as well as movements.

Formal and informal feedbacks:Managers of Travelodge hotel make it a point to receive feedback from their customers as well as past and present employees. This helps in resolving all issues between employees and also ones' affecting their performance (Kong and Yan, 2014).

Letter

P2.3 Effective time-management strategies.

Time management is a quite crucial aspect in terms of travel and tourism industry. It is essential to maintain a balance when a task is being performed. It helps business entities in involving and constructing an effective plan and strategy so that employees can timely complete assignment, essay writing tasks assigned to them (Kulkarni and Chachadi, 2014). Therefore, it is a prime responsibility of managers to effectively manage and assign time in various tasks.

Prioritising workload of employees: This happens to be first step of time management process. Under this step, tasks are mentioned on basis of their schedule and priority. This further helps Travelodge hotel in timely completion of tasks assigned.

Setting objectives: Setting up of timely objectives are very important in order to achieve desired results. This step will act as a guiding tool for managers so as to do the work in a systematic way. Basically, objectives are set after analysing and considering future growth.

Making and keeping appointments: This step involves maintaining a systematic record of day to day activities and processes. It further includes upcoming appointments that are important as it guides an individual about the activities that are to be done on prior basis.

Work steadily rather than erratically: While doing an activity chaos or confusion must be avoided and task should be done at a steady pace with clear and calm mind set for achieving better outcomes and objectives.

Time for learning: In order to learn a particular skill, it takes specific time period, so managers should provide employees sufficient time and training for developing their skills. For example: as employees of Travelodge Hotels are less efficient in technical skills so for developing this, it can take around 3 to 4 months.

Reliable estimate of task time: This stage usually ends time management process and helps a person in evaluating if the given duration for improving skills and knowledge was appropriate or not and also assesses his skills after training.

TASK 3

P3.1 Explain the roles people play in a team and how they can work together to achieve shared goals.

Travelodge Hotel emphasise on Belbin team theory to understand responsibilities and roles which will provide healthier guidance related with task employees have to perform. This theory is further divided into three stages they are: people oriented, action-oriented and thought oriented roles. They are provided below to understand them effectively:

People oriented roles: Three major factors are included in this, they are as:

Coordinator:One who maintains positive environment at workplace and helps in developing coordination.

Team worker:A team worker refers to someone on whom entire team is supported and they are accountable to perform task and team leaders are those who assigns responsibilities and roles to employees (Mishra, 2014).

Resource investigator:An individual who handles basic needs which are required to be fulfilled while doing task and negotiation skills are must so that deals can be cracked at best rates. For this relationship with shareholders must be strong.

Action-oriented role: Individual who is responsible for formulating goals and accept different challenging roles in order to become role model and prompt others for doing their responsibilities in effective way so that goal can be achieved.

Implementeris another role which is performed by them to take initiative for moving forward or one step ahead to achieve goals and objectives in systematic way.

Finisherplays an important role to eliminate mistakes and errors within specific activity to achieve shared goals.

Thought oriented roles: It is crucial to use new innovative ideas to stay within market for longer run. This is composed of:

Plant:One who is responsible for generating or developing innovative ideas for achieving particular task.

Specialists: They are skilled in specific field and have vast knowledge related with that. Example can be taken like technicians can do their role in effective way rather than one who is not specialised and do not have knowledge in that particular sector (Pârvu, Ipate and Mitran, 2014).

3.2 Analysis of team dynamics.

Team dynamics is a quite broader aspect and involves numerous steps in this process. Four major steps involved in Tuckman's theory are named as forming, norming, storming, performing and so on.

Forming:This is initial stage of group development process. In this stage employees of Travelodge hotel are highly dependent on leaders and managers for effective guidance and direction. In this stage, individual roles and responsibilities of employees are quite unclear.

Norming:By the time, employees enter this stage, they become well aware about each other. Also they start sharing their thoughts and ideas by which goals and objectives can be accomplished on a timely basis.

Storming:This is a crucial stage in team development process. In this stage, individuals focus on developing their personality and skills by pushing boundaries of their comfort zones. This stage is also referred as a conflict stage in many business concerns.

Performing: This is usually last stage in team development process in which individuals start performing effectively (Panagiotakopoulos, 2012). In this stage, employees are able to build their individual personalities.

Hence, these are steps that are involved in forming a team effectively in Travelodge hotel for effective growth and development of its employees while working in groups.

3.3 Alternative ways to achieve team goals and objectives.

There are numerous ways and means by which goals and objectives can be achieved by employees in Travelodge hotel. But in case, these ways are not able to generate alternative methods then there are other alternative ways also that can be considered by managers:

Setting standards: Developing or setting standards is a prime role of HR manager before beginning any task or activity. Standards help employees in understanding what they are to achieve in a given time frame. These standards act as guiding tools for employees for timely achieving goals and objectives.

Innovation: Innovation is another important way in which newly hired candidates can bring in their new thoughts and ideas. It provides a quite broader aspect for planning and developing innovative ideas that can be used for resolving issues (Wilton, 2012).

Effective communication: Communication happens to be best connecting channel between people. Managers of Travelodge hotel should always bring about such communication channels that can be easily understood by individuals.

TASK 4

4.1 Tools and techniques for developing solutions to problem.

A lot of confusions and complications have been happening in Travelodge hotel due to labour turnover. A quick solution to this issue can be timely training and motivating employees. Also, managers can work towards adopting suitable strategies and policies that can reduce employee turnover. This will further motivate employees and lead top employee retention. A suitable example of this, Travelodge hotel should timely appraise performance of employees. Senior managers can even conduct brain storming sessions that will help in knowing overview of employees for a certain problem and also provide various solutions to it (Rasul and Mansor, 2013). One more key approach that can be considered is as follows:

Trial and error method: This method exists when managers choose more than one solution of a problem and choose best possible way of solving the issue.

Hence, if all these policies and strategies are applied effectively, many issues of Travelodge hotel can be resolved. Moreover, if employees are provided appropriate training and knowledge related to logical and analytical issues than it will provide effective results and outcomes.

4.2 Developing appropriate and effective strategies for resolving issues related to labour turnover.

Labour turnover is an important problem of Travelodge hotel. Labour turnover refers to a percentage rate at which employees or individuals leave a business concern. Labour turnover is usually determined by relating number of employees leaving an organisation during a given time frame to average number of people employed in a given time period. Major reasons for labour turnover are usually lower wages, bad working conditions, unethical practices and so on. Every business entity some day or other faces issues that hampers its performance and business operations. Furthermore, numerous ways can be considered for resolving issues of employees that are explained as under:

Critical Path Analysis: This technique is a cost effective technique and used for timely completion of tasks. This can be done by identifying means and time by which a task can be completed in an effective manner (Critical Path Analysis, 2018). It helps managers of Travelodge hotel in analysing and identifying the project. Travelodge hotel today is facing various issues such as labour turnover, cultural differences and lack of technological skills. So, to resolve these issues, managers can bring out this approach for improving and developing skills of employees.

Time scale: Time scale refers to a specified measure that helps managers in achieving a particular task in a given time frame. Thus, this scale is assumed to be duration as well as quality of time that is provided by an individual in a given time frame. So to improve work culture managers of Travelodge hotel can adopt this strategy.

4.3 Financial as well as non financial impact of business strategies on a business concern.

Implementing effective business strategies will help Travelodge hotel in yielding better outcomes. It is very essential that these strategies and policies are applied in their best possible way. By applying above stated strategies, labour turnover and employee retention can be reduced to great extents (Verran, 2010). As a result of this, companies will be benefited to great extents and their sales and profitability will also increase. It will also further help in employee retention which will lead to cost effectiveness and cost reduction of hotel. Moreover, by employee retention cost of training will also be reduced as experienced employees will be trained and require less amount of training. Lastly, in context of Travelodge hotel, various advantages will be given to employees as well as customers who will receive better quality services and facilities.

Conclusion

From above mentioned report, it has been concluded that skills and knowledge are an inevitable part of a person's personality. Individuals should always keep enhancing their skills in order to achieve goals and objectives on a timely basis. Skilled and talented workforce is assumed to be an asset for every business concern as they help in attaining set goals and objectives in an appropriate and achievable time frame. Managers should inhibit training and development programmes in their organisation to develop personality of their employees. This process helps individuals in gaining confidence and motivation. This thereby leads to improved performance in a lesser time frame. Leaders and managers along with this play other important roles as well that lead to improved working culture and overall growth. Leaders also work towards solving conflicts between employees. All these factors when combined together lead to growth and development of work environment as well as organisation in competitive market.

References

• Andrews, G. and Russell, M., 2012. Employability skills development: strategy, evaluation and impact. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning.2(1). pp.33-44.
• Chalamwong, Y., and et. al., 2012. Skills for Employability: Southeast Asia. Report for Innovative Secondary Education for Skills Enhancement, Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).
• Cunningham, J. and Hillier, E., 2013. Informal learning in the workplace: key activities and processes. Education+ Training. 55(1). pp.37-51.
• de Guzman, A. B. and Choi, K. O., 2013. The relations of employability skills to career adaptability among technical school students. Journal of Vocational Behavior.82(3). pp.199-207.
• Deeley, S. J., 2014. Summative co-assessment: A deep learning approach to enhancing employability skills and attributes. Active Learning in Higher Education.15(1). pp.39-51.
• Dhar, S. K., 2012. Employability of Management Students in India: Some Concerns and Considerations.

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