Personal Skill Audit and Professional Development Plan 2 Assignment Solution

Personal Skill Audit and Professional Development Plan

Introduction

The skills audit is required in a firm or business entity in order to determine the skill set and knowledge level that are necessary for the organisation in order to achieve its goals. Employers seek employees who have an exceptional set of skills and who take responsibility for their learning and development. The following report will be outlining the "Personal Skill Audit and Professional Development Plan." It will talk about the importance of professional development and its benefits. In addition to this, employer’s expectations regarding skills will be investigated. A personal reflection of skills and competencies will also be provided. Various learning theories and approaches will be discussed here. A professional development plan will be created for the role of HR at Marriott International UK. It is one of the leading lodging organisation in the world. It has over 6500 properties in 130 nations. Its annual revenue is over $22 billion in 2017.The last part of the report will be a mock interview for the post of HR in the aforementioned organisation. The strengths and weaknesses of the interview process will be elaborated.

LO1 Explore the importance of on-going professional development and self-directed learning to enhance professional identity and career opportunities.

P1 Examine the key benefits of on-going professional development for different stakeholders within a specific organisation

The core value of Marriott is “Put People First”. The best part of working at Marriott International UK is that company provide the necessary information and takes measures to make its workforce skilful and laden with information. This will be useful for the organisation and workers. Marriott will reinforce its commitments of making an environment where the employee's unique inputs are valued. This would be very helpful for employees and other stakeholders to deliver standards of service excellence and motivates them to walk an extra mile for the company. As a result of this, the stakeholders have had helped Marriott International succeed which have also resulted in their personal success as well. The management of Marriott believes that if professional development is done properly, then it would result in multi-skilling, increased competencies, and more responsible people (Alfes, et.al, 2013). There are many benefits of on-going professional development that are elaborated below:-

• Empowering employees:These career development opportunities helped the workers to learn new and advanced skills that would be helpful in lifting up the employee’s morale while improving their capacity at work.
• Personal Development:These programmes aim at making workers armed with some useful skills or improving the existing skill set. These would be very much useful for their personal development. They can carry out their passion in order to fulfil the personal goals.
• Satisfaction and retention:Once the personal development takes place, employees would start feeling connected to the organisation and give importance to their job. This would lead to enhanced satisfaction and ultimately improve their retention period in Marriott.
• Career growth:With an improved knowledge and skills, they become the right candidate for the promotion. In other words, professional development helps in career growth.
• Increased Marketability to Recruiters: With enhanced skills set, the employees can even become eligible to grab jobs in other companies. In short, professional development improved their marketability.

P2: Investigate professional employer expectations of skills and competencies within a specific organisational context

For the role of HR, the Marriott International UK would be seeking a number of skills and competencies. These have been discussed below (Brattonand Gold, 2017):-

Communication skills: HRs serve as the linkage between the top managers and the employees. Therefore, they need to have top-quality communication skills.

Top-notch Hiring Abilities: HR's key function is to hire a right employee that stays for the longer period of time and whose goals match with that of the organisation.

Training and Developing Members: Since the scope of Marriott's functions is ever-changing, it is required by the HR manager to provide regular training in order to keep them updated.

Coaching for Great Performance: HR managers’ main task is to provide necessary coaching to the employee. This is necessary because employees need regular guidance as the tasks are complex and sometimes beyond their expertise (Brattonand Gold, 2017).

Building Top Performing Teams: Since the focus is on the quality and amount of work with minimum effort. The HR should emphasise on high performing culture. This would increase Marriott’s revenue with the same number of employee

Conducting Performance Appraisals: HR manager is responsible toestablish a performance management system. They should take care of the performance and analyse it regularly. This requires the experience and expertise of the HR.

Managing Conflict: There are many departments in Marriott and being an international organisation, there can be different people having different perceptions. Therefore, it is required from the HR manager that he should manage the conflict that may arise very frequently.

Goal Setting: HR should be able to define and set goals that aligned with the overall goals of theorganisation. In addition to this, the goals should also support individual goals of employees.

Stress Management: There are times, especially when its peak time the employees start feeling stressed and they suffer an emotional and mental breakdown. In such situations, the role of the HR is crucial as they are required to reduce the stress and motivate them.

M1: Evaluate the importance of on-going professional development and the associated professional skills requirements within a specific organisational context.

It is a very rare chance that the perfect employee for a post is hired who needs no training and who knows everything. However, the organisation builds that employee by providing professional training and honing their skills. There are many benefits that an organisation gain eventually. These are elaborated below.

Increase Retention:With the newly developed skills and competencies, the employees start feeling empowered and taking interest in the work. This helps the Marriott to retain its customer(Alfes, et.al, 2013).

Build confidence and credibility: It has been seen that employees after some time while working start feeling that something is missing in their job. They start losing interest in their job. Therefore, skill development helps in building their lost confidence.

Make succession planning easier: Professional development program armed the employee with some great tools that help them in planning their time and work. This way they can shape the future of the company.

Reenergize staff: These programmes are best in breaking the monotony of the work. In other words, they add extra spice to their professional life. This ultimately reenergise staff.

Improved efficiency: It not only helps in individual development but it also helps in learning teamwork. This way the organisation can improve efficiency (Banker, et.al, 2013).

Discover New Talents (and Weaknesses): Through professional development programmes, Marriott can be able to explore their employees and their hidden talent along with their weaknesses.

D1 Critically evaluate own skills and competencies to meet the employer expectation of professional skills required for employment within a specific job role.

As an HR manager, I understand my role and responsibilities. I am responsible for a number of task and operations, such as employee motivation, induction, appraisal, conflict management, and many more. Due to my good self-awareness, I have determined my strengths and weaknesses as an HR. I figured out that my weaknesses are supervisory skills, communication skills, planning skills, and time management skills. Based on this information, I would be developing my professional development plan.

LO2 Assess own skills, competencies and the different learning and development approaches

P3 Assess own abilities, skills, and competencies for a specific job role

I understand that being an HR is not a cakewalk or an easy job. The growth of the global organisation as big as Marriott depends on the performance of its Human Resource department. From hiring to the appraisal of an employee, all depends on the HR manager. For me, it's a very great opportunity to be a part of such a renowned brand (Breevaart, et.al 2014). This would not only help me in present, but it would also benefit my future career. Before going to the interview, it is important for me to assess my HR skills and other essential competencies for the post of HR at Marriott International.

Supervisory Skills:My supervisory skill is moderate. This is due to my short experience in the field of HR. But, I know that with time I will be able to improve it. Once I get the job, I will be supervising and managing the human resource. This will help me in growing.

Self-awareness:It is all about self-assessment and determining my own weaknesses. Not everybody is good at it. All I need to do is have a true assessment of myself and develop ways to turn my weaknesses into my strengths. I am very good at it.

Planning Skills:My planning skills are average. Being an HR, I am responsible for time scheduling and resource planning. I have enough experience in this field (Brewsterand Hegewisch,2017).

Time Management:I got nervous when an emergency comes and I have to deal with it. This freezes my senses and I am unable to get the task done at the right time. Therefore, out of 10, I would like to give 4 to my time management skills.

Leadership Skills:In order to guide, control, operate, and direct employees, it is required for me to have strong leadership skills. However, I know that I am good at leading the team from the front.

Communication Skills:Since Marriott is an international organisation, it employs people from different countries. In order to convey any information to them, top-notch communication skills are required. I have a phobia of public speaking. Therefore, I need to work it out.

P4 Review a range of learning theories and approaches used for personal and professional development processes

There are many ways to gain knowledge or learn. Many researchers in the past have given their learning theories which are actually a well-structured set of principles that explain how people gain, retain, and recall learning and knowledge. There are three types of learning theories, namely behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism. By gaining insight into the learning theories, one can understand what the process of learning is and how it takes place (Chang, 2016). These three theories have been elaborated below:-

Behaviourism:In this type of learning process, a person gains information just by objectively observing the change in the behaviour of others. For behaviourist, learning is all about acquiring new behaviour or change in the existing. The process of learning starts just when the stimulus or cue from the surrounding elements in the environment impact the learner and he/she respond to it. In the context of the organisation, the HR can provide incentives and bonus points in order to get more work done from employees. In addition to this, rules and regulation also control the behaviour of employees. However, the downside of this theory is that it does not prepare the employee for a complex situation or improve their problem-solving skills (Chang, 2016).

Cognitivism:This is all about the internalprocessing of the data and available information. Unlike the previous theory, the cognitive process is governed and controlled majorly by internal process instead of external circumstance. The theorist pays more attention and emphasises the mental processes instead of the observations. However, the changing behaviour is observed and are employed in the cognitive process in order to get an insight into what is going on inside a person's brain. In the organisational context, this theory can be used in problem-solving.

Constructivism:this theory is all focused on gaining and creating a base of knowledge in order to interpret and develop ideas. People develop their own knowledge model which are used to create a sense of experience. This theory promotes an understanding of ideas. Additionally, one cannot predict outcomes as they are being constructed by the learners as per their knowledge. Thus, one cannot use this theory when organisations seek consistent results every time. These are used in simulations and teamwork.

M2 Evaluate own skills and competencies and the most appropriate development approach to develop personal and professional skills for a specific job role.

The best way to evaluate own skills and competencies, a SWOT analysis tool is the best way (Breevaart, et.al 2014). This would help in gaining an insight of personal skills and competencies for the post of an HR at Marriott International UK.

The most appropriate learning approach is constructivism as it creates a sense of experience and promotes the teamwork. This way Marriott can improve its efficiency and employee’s effectiveness simultaneously.

LO3 Design a professional development plan, within a specific work context

P5 Construct a development plan to enhance chosen skills and competencies within a specific work context

M3 Provide a detailed development plan that applies underpinning learning and development theory, in a specific work context.

In the previous question, the detailed development plan has been provided along with the suggestion and time allotted to each weakness. The overall development plan will take 85 days. This would help me in transforming my weaknesses into my strengths. The four skills identified as weaknesses that are crucial for HR jobs in any organisation are supervisory skills, communication skills, planning skills, and time management skills. One can see that 3 out of 4 skills can be developed with experience in the field of HR but the communication skills require extra effort. For the rest three skills, one can apply the constructivism theory of learning in order to hone the three skills. For communication skills, special speaking classes can be taken in order to get over with the phobia of public speaking (Dipboye, 2017).

D2 Produce a comprehensive development plan that sets out clear and achievable targets, strategies and outcomes of learning and training within a specific work context.

LO4 Demonstrate a range of service industry and transferable skills for a job application

P6 Undertake a job interview for a suitable service industry role

For the post of Human Resource Management, the interview process at Marriott may take months to get completed between which a number of operations can take place. Marriott takes two or three interviews for the post of management. In the interview, the first round is general aptitude that tests problem-solving skills. The next round is the management level round, wherein situational questions are asked to the HR candidate and his approach to the situation is tested (Gibbs, et.al, 2016). Only the experienced managers are hired as they understand the role and have expertise in the field. The best among the good is chosen. The questions that are asked are:-

• What are the roles and responsibilities you were/are handling in the previous/current organisation?
• How do you manage and schedule the short- or long-deadline work?
• What software do you use for planning?
• What will be your take on a person who comes late in the interview?
• What will be your approach to handle an angry client?
• What are the confidentiality and other workplace-related legislation that are necessary for an organisation?

Overall interview was a formal structured interview that tests both skills and internal abilities of a person.

P7 Review key strengths and weaknesses of an applied interview process

The interview was a structured interview which well-organised and consists of several interviewers that are usually called panel. The overall duration of the interview was 2 hours. There are certain strengths and weaknesses of the interview process.

Strengths

• It has the highest response rate in comparison to the rest interviews types.
• Standardised questions with fix response.
• Interviewers will make clear the meaning of the questions asked in case the aspirant is finding difficulty in understanding.
• It increases validity.

Weaknesses

• People usually fake their responses in order to avoid sounding bad and get selected.
• It is time-consuming and takes a lot of money of the company
• It only tests the abilities that are associated with questions. Sometimes the best talent gets rejected due to poor communication skills.
• Harder to carry out in mass recruitment

M4 Evaluate a job interview process and the obstacle and challenges to overcome

Being an HR aspirant, I was prepared that complex questions will be asked and it would be very important for me to answer all of them. Starting from the very beginning, in the first round which was the aptitude round, I faced difficulty because I was not prepared for it. Although I have attempted more than 90%, it took me one hour to complete the test. It tested my problem-solving and mathematical knowledge. It was a learning experience. The result of my first round gave me an entry into the second round. In this round, 5 interviewers’ panel was present in the room. They asked me many questions and analysed my answers. Some questions were just directly based on my CV. For example, my duties in the current organisation and my software skills. I was tested based on my situational analysis. They asked me some questions based on a certain situation and I answered them well. Although, I took some time to think and analyse the situation. The interview was well-structured and I did well in it.

D3 Produce a detailed and coherent critical reflection of an interview process and own abilities during this proces

Being an HR, I have faced many interviews in my life. Some were semi-structured, a few were informal, and the majority of them were structured. Therefore, I had no problem in facing the second round of the interview at Marriott. My communication skills that are not good in public but they were good at the time of interview. However, the first round was different then what I had expected because I was not prepared for it. But, the result was good. This is due to my good problem-solving skills.

Conclusion

In this report, the “Personal Skill Audit and Professional Development Plan” was outlined. It talked about the importance of professional development and its benefits. In addition to this, the employer's expectations regarding skills were investigated. A personal reflection of skills and competencies was also provided. Various learning theories and approaches were discussed here. A professional development plan was created for the role of HR at Marriott International UK. The last part of the report was the mock interview for the post of HR in the aforementioned organisation. The strengths and weaknesses of the interview process were enlisted.

References

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