Professional Identity And Practice

Task 1

P1. Examination of key benefits of on-going professional development

Within an organisation, it is crucial that employees engage in an ongoing practice of ensuring professional development within their job roles which would provide immense benefits to them personally as well as professionally. Moreover, this would also ensure appropriate benefits to organisation as well. The Ritz London was established in 1906, and since then, it provides outstanding accommodation and dining services to its customers in the country as well as those who come from global ends (The Ritz London, 2019). With such a prestigious stature, it is crucial for customers to engage in ongoing development practices which would provide benefits to the as well as other stakeholders associated with the firm. The various benefits for ongoing professional development is mentioned below:

• Enhanced Efficiencies:

Ongoing professional development allows employees to witness their strengths and weaknesses while working within an organisation. Thus, employees would engage themselves in tasks which enhances their performance within the company. Such aspects would ultimately result in employees at Ritz providing quality services to its customers.

• Employee Engagement:

Employees are one of the most crucial stakeholders of Ritz and ongoing professional development of each member of its workforce would aid the hotel in engaging them for long-term and encourage a sense of commitment within them.

• Competitive Edge:

It is a crucial element of ongoing professional development to manage and provide services in ways which provides a competitive edge to the company within the market. Moreover, having such an edge would provide benefits to investors and shareholders as they would be getting effective returns on their investments (Tan, Van der Molen and Schmidt, 2017).

Thus, ongoing professional development would create ample benefits to stakeholders of Ritz and for the firm itself. Moreover, on a personal front, this would provide a sense of importance and belongingness within employees that is essential for them to develop and enhance their career prospects.

P2. Investigation of professional employer expectations of skills and competencies

Each professional employer has various expectations of different competencies and skills that are a must haves within the workforce consisting of diverse individuals. These expectations influences the kind of staff which the employer hires to support the company. Within Ritz, there are specific job roles for which there are varied expectation of employers regarding their skills and competencies. These factors are mentioned below:

Task 2

P3. Assessment of own abilities, skills and competencies

A vital activity within employment requires an individual to appropriately assess their own competence, skills and abilities to analyse aspects which are present to carry out duties effectively and those which requires insight to be more appropriate (Stierand and Zizka, 2015). As for manager within Ritz, assessment of own skills and capabilities would help analysing personal performance and unfavourable shortcomings. A Personal Skill Audit model is being used to identify the gap between required and actual competence regarding a particular skill:

As per this audit, it is determined that I am quite effective where teamwork is concerned, however, my communication and management skills still need some work to enhance the same as per the required standards of Ritz.

Another model that could serve as to determine the competence and skills is Rating Scale Model. Under this methods, skills would be rated on the basis of standard competence to determine the ones which are yet to be developed in a desired manner. This scale is mentioned below:

Rating scale model provides a wide scope of identifying areas more deeply and giving a more detailed outlook on the competencies possessed (Murphy, 2017). This model effectively helped me in analysing more hard and soft skills, which resulted in showing that there is an immense need to develop my problem-solving skills as it is most crucial for my role as a manager in The Ritz London.

P4. Range of learning theories and approaches used for personal and professional development processes

After self assessment, it is of vital importance that various learning theories as well as development approaches are highlighted to determine the best alternative which could lead to personal and professional development. It is a crucial practice to ensure sustainable and long-term growth of an individual in an organisation.

Various learning theories are effectively discussed below:

• Behaviourism:

This theory functions as per stimulus-response principle. According to this theory, a certain behaviour is the result of different conditions as well as external factors. Behaviour under this is is shaped through reinforcements which could be either positive or negative. Within Ritz, positive reinforcements could be appropriate reward systems, whereas, negative reinforcements could be either pay cuts or termination, depending on the result.

• Cognitivism:

Under this theory, the human mind is compared with a ”black box” which is explored through various mental processes like memory, thinking, problem-solving, etc. Various methods such as reading effective journals or hearing to specific instructions could be used as appropriate aspects under this theory which could help in learning.

• Constructivism:

This theory governs the principle that people are self responsible to develop their personal understanding of various different processes. In addition to this, there is a specified link between various experiences where each new experience brings in new information which is further constructed as a new meaning.

All these theories help employees as well as other individuals in The Ritz London to learn various aspects and skills which are crucial for their effective growth and professional development. Out of these three theories, the most appropriate theory to develop my skills would be constructivism as it would help me learn from my own experience and would create a wider scope for improvement.

However, there are different professional development approaches which could be utilised as to ensure sustainable and timely future growth. These approaches are discussed below:

• Workshops:

There are various aspects for which workshops or presentations are being held. The agenda behind these events is to help enhance a particular skill within an individual. This is quite an effective aspect where employees of Ritz could develop the skills they lack in through appropriate mock trials and sessions.

• Feedback:

Another appropriate approach for employees to enhance their skill is through collecting feedbacks. It could be gathered from seniors, customers or even colleagues who regularly witness the performance. They are very helpful as all the associated members guide employees related to their progress and what better alternative could they possibly attain to achieve the desired outcome (Oliver, 2013).

• Research:

It is considered quite internal and one of the best professional development approaches which requires an employee to reflect their daily practices and keep evaluating them overtime to properly develop the same. In this method, they also analyse and research ways through which improvement could be achieved.

Task 3

P5. Construction of Development Plan

A professional development plan provides a framework for individuals in systematically develop their skills and competencies as per the required standards of an organisation (Bradford and Cullen, 2014). The Ritz London needs employees that perform at par with these standards and effectively achieve their organisational goals by indulging themselves into professional development.

Various skills such as problem-solving, management and communication skills are essential for me to develop as it would enhance scope for improvement and appropriate professional growth. For these skills, an appropriate development plan is mentioned below:

Conclusion

Thus, it is concluded from the above report that professional identity and practice are crucial concepts related to professional development. Ongoing professional development provides immense benefits to organisations and its employees. It is essential to determine employer expectations which could help in hiring candidates that contribute effectively to organisational success. Personal Skill Audit allows to gain an insight on required and actual skills and competencies required for a job role. Lastly, development approaches helps in structuring a development plan which aids to appropriate professional growth.

References

Books and Journals

• Bradford, S. and Cullen, F., 2014. Positive for youth work? Contested terrains of professional youth work in austerity England. International journal of adolescence and youth. 19(sup1). pp.93-106.
• Murphy, B., 2017. Professional competence and continuing professional development in accounting: professional practice vs. non-practice. Accounting Education. 26(5-6). pp.482-500.
• Oliver, C., 2013. Social workers as boundary spanners: Reframing our professional identity for interprofessional practice. Social Work Education. 32(6). pp.773-784.
• Robinson, R.N., Solnet, D.J. and Breakey, N., 2014. A phenomenological approach to hospitality management research: Chefs’ occupational commitment. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 43.pp.65-75.
• Stierand, M. and Zizka, L., 2015. Reflecting on hospitality management education through a practice lens. Quality Assurance in Education. 23(4). pp.353-363.
• Tan, C.P., Van der Molen, H.T. and Schmidt, H.G., 2017. A measure of professional identity development for professional education. Studies in Higher Education. 42(8). pp.1504-1519.
• Wald, H.S., 2015. Professional identity (trans) formation in medical education: reflection, relationship, resilience. Academic Medicine. 90(6). pp.701-706.

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