Professional Identity and Practice

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1

Overview of the company................................................................................................................2

Analyse the necessity of on-going professional development and self-directed learning to

enhance professional identity and career opportunities...................................................................2

Assessing the key benefits of going professional development and its usefulness to enhance
the skills of a hospitality manager...............................................................................................2

Inquiry of the skills that are demanded by the employer to get the job of a hospitality manager
.....................................................................................................................................................4

Assess own skills, competences and the different learning and development approaches..............5

Evaluation of my current skills and competencies to do the hospitality management job in

Bourne Leisure Limited...............................................................................................................5

There are four learning theories to individual development which are illustrated below...........6

The most effective learning strategy for myself to enhance my professional and personal skills
for a specific role.........................................................................................................................7

Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8

Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

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 Introduction
This assignment is about professional development and the learning processes that will help a
person to get his desire job. The ongoing development process will be discussed in this
assignment. The ongoing development process is the way to develop professional knowledge and
skills through independent and participation-based learning. The tasks include critically
evaluating my skills and ability to get my desire job in the hospitality company name Bourne
Leisure Limited as a hospitality manager. The key roles and skills I need for getting this job will
be discussed. The four learning process of developing one’s skills will also be discussed here.

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 Overview of the company
Bourne Leisure Limited is chosen to complete this assignment. Bourne Leisure is a British
hospitality company that works with the leisure and holiday sectors of the UK. It was established
in 1964 at Whistable, Kent (Bourne, 2008). The headquarters of this company is situated in
Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK. In 1972 the company went to the London Stock
exchange. The company got ranked in the stock exchange as it owned £20m (Bourne, 2008).
Haven Holidays, Butlins, and Warner Leisure Hotels are the subsidiaries of Bourne leisure. This
company operates the hospitality business mainly with caravan holiday parks, resorts, and hotels.
Currently, this company has revenue of £951.4m.

Analyse the necessity of on-going professional development and self-

directed learning to enhance professional identity and career
opportunities

Assessing the key benefits of going professional development and its

usefulness to enhance the skills of a hospitality manager
Continuous professional development is an on-going professional development (Herbert and
Rainford, 2013). It is a way to develop professional knowledge and skills through independent
and participation-based learning. The professionals take initiative to develop and enhance their
ability to work more effectively with the assist of certified learning. The professional courses
help a professional to develop their career which also increases their skills and knowledge to do
any task perfectly. The benefits of continuous professional developments are illustrated below.

Creating sufficient earning sources

There is some specific strategy like gathering knowledge and enhancing skills that are so
beneficial to potential earning (Mashile, 2014). The fresh graduates do not know how to handle a
task professionally until they engage in the workforce. They can be aware of the knowledge and
be skillful to complete their task successfully with continuous learning. This learning criterion
provides online and flexible tasks for the professional. The toughness varies from person to

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person. Organisations provide from scratch to specialists to experts. So, this will help an
individual to enhance their job position and getting more income than the past

Keeping good health

The purpose of continuous learning is not just about creating monetary benefits for professionals.
Learning and being well is positively correlated. Learners get positive learning which contributes
them to get a better physical and mental health. Mental health is so necessary for everyone. A
study says lifespan extended up to 23% only when brain cell increases (Hardy, 2008). Reading
helps to increase brain cells. All these link up to reduce stress levels, maintain blood pressure,
heart disease, insomnia, and many more. A hospitality manager has to do a lot of work. So his
work is so stressful. Learning criterion would likely help him to reduce his stress. This will make
the professional stable to do his respective work which leads to efficiency and success.

Enhancing new skills and gaining a competitive edge

Nowadays skillful people are demanding in the corporate world. So, one who develops new
skills will be successful in getting a better position. With the CPD an individual is likely to
experience new learning and opportunities that will boost their skills.

Keeping up with the industrial trends

The trend is changeable. In the past, employers used to hire a typist. Now the people with
efficient computer knowledge are hiring and demandable. So, everyone has to be up to date with
the industry. In the CPD program, trainers train the learners to cope with the. Besides, after the
effective training and gathering knowledge, managers can forecast the trends and become
successful in marketing.

Participations

Networking with employees would help to open up new ideas. a hospitality manager should
always cope with his employees to know about the customer and their demands. The employees
work more closely with the customers. The main process of CPD is mainly participation based.
So, this is a vital example of networking.

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Inquiry of the skills that are demanded by the employer to get the job of a
hospitality manager
Communicating ability

Communication is vital for managers. Regularly he has to check up the area, building, and the
atmosphere. He should be up to date with the changing trends. Besides he should be cooperatives
with the guests so that they feel comfortable staying there. So he needs to be much more efficient
in communication skills (Harris, 2009). Only the communication skills help him to satisfy the
customers, coping up with the industry journals, and good relations with his employees. At the
interview, the employer checks it thoroughly.

Financial knowledge

Without money, no business runs. The operation of hospitality management is pretty tough. So,
the manager should be very careful about spending money (Alexis, 2009). First of all, he should
create an efficient budget line for the marketing of the organisation so that people should be
aware of them. Then he should be careful with the expenditure. Not every demand of the
customers should be necessarily important to fulfill.

In detail

To run the hospitality business, a manager should be concerned with every detail. The safety
measures, the luxurious equipment, and the anti-fire wiring should be checked.

Leadership

In this case, leadership is much important. There are lots of people working under the manager.
So, the proper guideline should be provided to them to get a better result.

Flexibility

There might be unexpected problems operating the hospitality business. Flexibility skills would
help the managers to make the proper decision in the adverse situation.

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Assess own skills, competences and the different learning and
development approaches
Evaluation of my current skills and competencies to do the hospitality
management job in Bourne Leisure Limited
It would be efficient if I check the strengths and weaknesses I have in my personal life to
evaluate my skills.

Strength Weakness
In 2015 I have graduated in hospitality I get hyper sometimes when my plan does not
management. I worked as an intern for many work. This is my main drawback. So,
hospitality companies in 2016. In the mid of sometimes I misbehave with my subordinates.
I think that might create a bad impression on
2016, I got a job in a resort as an area manager.
them. I work to do anything in my way. But I
Since then I have been working hard. I get guidelines from the headquarters to do my
successfully gained profit from my duties as they mentioned which bothers me a
organisation. I try to build team effort with the lot. These factors slow down my productivity.
subordinates that lead me to success and our
guests are also satisfied with our services. I
started to tackle the adverse situation. Besides I
can now forecast the industrial changes. My
creative skills and the knowledge about
hospitality management that I got from my
university are my strengths. I hope my
experience in working in a regional hospitality
organisation will likely get me the job I want in
Bourne Leisure Limited.

Critical evaluation of my current skills and competencies to do the hospitality management

job in Bourne Leisure Limited

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The opportunities and the threats that I have to face to get the job should be acknowledged first.

Opportunities
As I mentioned earlier that I have to work in a
resort and I have a vast knowledge of
hospitality management, I have such a great
opportunity to work in Bourne Leisure
Limited. I can convince the employer about my
experience. So when I will be able to work in
this company I will be able to explore more. I
can learn many more from the experienced
employees of the organisation.
Threats
The ever-changing industrial factor might be a
worse threat for me. Besides, working on a
little resort and for a short period might not be
enough to convince the employer as my
experience level is low.

There are four learning theories to individual development which are

illustrated below
Behaviourist Theories

A behaviourist theory refers to the action of an individual upon his learning behavior (Nagase,
2018). Both positive and negative reinforcement is the main factor of this learning. With a proper
understanding of the reinforcement led once to succeed. This is the process of learning. One’s
stimuli cause everything.

Cognitive Theories

It is an alternative to the behaviourist approach. It explains how the mind works at the time of
studying (Kuczaj, 2007). At the time of behavioural change, the cognitivist also change his
procedures of mental process. This process says one should engage in the learning process
instead of behavioural stimuli because this process helps one to overcome the abstract and
complex factors.

Constructivist Theories

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It makes a learner to a constructor of ideas (Pavlović and Maksić, 2019). It includes past
experiences, social context to make new learning opportunities for the learner. It creates a
learning environment that shows the learner’s ability to achieve new knowledge.

Motivation/Humanist Theories

It focuses on the whole of a person. In this process, a learner learns lessons over his lifetime. A
specific learning environment is created especially for a specific learner.

The most effective learning strategy for myself to enhance my professional

and personal skills for a specific role
I think the cognitive learning process is efficient for me. It is the process where the learner’s
attendance in the learning process is much important. This process helps a learner to know how
the mind works. So I can control my mind and all the stresses. This will help me to make certain
decisions even in an adverse situation. It is already mentioned above that anytime in the
hospitality management adverse situations can arise. So I can take advantage of that time.

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 Conclusion
So far it has been discussed that which ways and the skills I need to get the hospitality manager
in Bourne Leisure Limited. The continuous development process is much beneficial to enhance
my ability and skills to become a hospitality manager. The specific roles and skills mentioned
earlier are much beneficial for a person to get the job. An employer certainly needs those skills
from me so that I can do my job as efficiently as he expected. The cognitive learning process is
so efficient to develop my skills. If I can achieve the strategy I will be succeeded in my way.

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Reference
Alexis, T., 2009. Continuous professional development questionnaire. Journal of Human
Nutrition and Dietetics, 22(6), pp.501-503.

Bourne, C., 2008. A Limited Look at Lewis. Metascience, 15(2), pp.283-285.

Hardy, R., 2008. Continuous professional development questionnaire. Journal of Human

Nutrition and Dietetics, 21(6), pp.563-565.

Harris, R., 2009. Editorial: Communication about communication. Language & Communication,
1(1), pp.1-2.

Herbert, S., and Rainford, M., 2013. Developing a model for continuous professional
development by action research. Professional Development in Education, 40(2), pp.243-264.

Kuczaj, S., 2007. Constraining constraint theories. Cognitive Development, 5(3), pp.341-344.

Mashile, E., 2014. Continuous professional development of educators: the state, professional
councils, and higher education. South African Journal of Higher Education, 16(1).

Nagase, A., 2018. Review of Theories of early childhood education: Developmental, behaviorist,
and critical. Education Review // Reseñas Educativas, 25.

Pavlović, J., and Maksić, S., 2019. Implicit Theories of Creativity in Higher Education: A
Constructivist Study. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 32(3), pp.254-273.

Sesnan, M., 2015. Greenwich Leisure Limited — The ‘third way’: From cuts and closures to
expansion and success. Journal of Retail & Leisure Property, 1(3), pp.220-226.