Sample INPB605 Industry Placement Assignment

INPB605 Industry Placement Assignment Sample

Learning Outcomes

The Subject Learning Outcomes demonstrated by successful completion of the task below include:

a. Engage with industry employability trends and processes to secure opportunities for industry placement.
b. Apply knowledge, skill and abilities developed at the School to the work environment.
c. Contribute to the organisational workplace through appropriate responses to projects and/or tasks as a constructive member of a team.
d. Critically reflect upon experiences within the specialisation sector.
e. Critically reflect upon and apply key performance competencies for building a career in an employment environment.
f. Evaluate the operations from a management perspective.

Instructions

Part A: Progressive Learning Portfolio

Students will negotiate with their Learning Facilitator how they wish to showcase the development and competency of at least three (3) employability skills during their placement activity. The employability skills you choose should be directly relevant and applicable to your chosen career.
Some options to choose from include:

1. Learning, self-development and reflection
2. Agility, adaptability and flexibility
3. Emotional resilience
4. Productivity
5. Coaching and mentoring
6. Working well with others
7. Organisational awareness
8. Social and cultural awareness, responsibility and inclusivity

Please refer to the, “TUA SmartSkills Framework” located on the Assessments section on Blackboard for further detail about the above skills. The evidence students choose to showcase can include video demonstrations, a presentation, a written submission, or other activities of the student’s choice. The showcase should be collated in a manner that could be shown to future employers demonstrating:

1. How they have applied their course learning to professional development practice.

2. How they have addressed skills development identified in the diagnostic in Assessment 1 for INPA605– Industry Placement INP605.

3. Evidence of their development and competency in a professional context.

Solution

Introduction

There have been several barriers for higher education graduates in acquiring jobs because of the gap existing between their job skills and the ones required in the modern workplace. In the 21st century, graduate students should not only possess high academic qualifications or technical knowledge about the subject, but they should also be equipped with other skills and attributes (Nisha & Rajasekaran, 2018). They need to have additional set of skills apart from occupation-specific skills and subject knowledge for meeting the needs of different jobs after graduation. It has become essential for graduates to develop these certain skills for improving their employability profile (Jackson, 2013). Employability skills that have become important include communication, decision making, problem solving, conflict resolution, team working, critical thinking, self-management, analysis and others. They help in work readiness of the students by reducing the skill gaps between the abilities they possess and the skills required in the job market (Jackson, 2013). The purpose of the report is to analyse the importance of developing three employability skills for the profession of a housekeeper or room attendant. These three selected skills are working well with others, emotional resilience and adaptability, agility and flexibility.

Skill 1: Working Well with Others

Working well with others have emerged as one of the crucial skills in graduates belonging to all disciplines entering the job market. The ability to interact and communicate effectively in a culturally diverse workforce has become essential with the rapid growth in globalization (Jackson et al., 2014). Teamwork is considered as one of the most important skills to be possessed by candidates working in the hospitality sector. This is because it helps in building and enhancing relationships with managers and peers and coping up with the increased demand of customers, thereby enhancing their satisfaction level (Robinson et al., 2016). In addition, teamwork helps in improving positive relationships with the job satisfaction of the employees in this sector.

Different course learning activities for assignment help have enabled in improving the ability of working well with others, thereby contributing towards professional development. The group projects and activities have been of immense help in enhancing the ability of working well with others (Rudawska, 2017). This is because each of the individual formed teams of four or five to complete those projects where they were required to work with each other. The team members worked together for accomplishing the common goals or objectives. It helped in improving collaboration and coordination between the members (Riebe et al., 2016). Conflicts were also addressed in a positive manner, which further improved the ability of working well with others. This helped in contributing towards the professional development, which later have been applied in the real-life scenario of working as a room attendant in the Melbourne hotel. Thus, the ability of working well with others could be acquired from the course learning, which has been useful for the professional job requirement.

Room attendants have various responsibilities that require them to work well with others. They maintain cleanliness, completeness and tidiness of the rooms in the hotels (Saragi et al., 2022). Alongside performing efficient work in the hotel rooms, these attendants should also possess good appearance and attitude. Room attendants have various duties and responsibilities for cleaning the guest rooms, maintaining cleanliness standards and handling guests’ complaints and requests for enhancing their satisfaction. For performing such duties or responsibilities, they also require the help from other members in the department (Saragi et al., 2022). In this regard, effective communication, collaboration and interaction with the departmental members is of utmost importance. Thus, this shows the importance of working well with others while performing the job as a room attendant.

Furthermore, hotel housekeeping personnel should possess high level of professionalism for effectively carrying out their duties and responsibilities. They must display passion, open-mindedness, interpersonal skills, competence and ability, team-oriented attitude, professional ethics, leadership abilities and working with others (Sulaiman & Limbing, 2019). Often hotels prioritize teamwork for developing best housekeepers in the workforce as they are able to work harmoniously in teams or groups working towards satisfying the hotel guests. This ability is essential as room attendants or housekeepers show solidarity in finishing the work of other personnel in the work in case of any unfinished work (Sulaiman & Limbing, 2019). Here, room attendants help each other in cleaning the other unfinished rooms. This also helps in effective communication not only with guests but also colleagues both within and outside the department. Thus, this team-oriented attitude helps in enhancing the spirit of cooperation and solidarity in the housekeeping department.

Recruiters of hospitality industry focus on teamworking capabilities of individuals while filling up the positions of housekeepers and room attendants. This has been experienced while working in the Melbourne hotel as a room attendant. Few colleagues were asked to help their peers after they finished their work as some rooms were still left to clean (Losekoot et al., 2018). Furthermore, the managers often asked to help other team members if they were stuck with some other work or enabling them to have their lunch. Each of the interns were also asked to share their experience of working as a room attendant in the hotel. Here, individuals gave speeches on how they received support from their colleagues and consequently, how they also provided their help to them, which helped in enhancing the ability of working well with others (Pai et al., 2020). Thus, this shows the importance of acquiring and improving this employability skill for enhancing professional development as a

Skill 2: Social and cultural awareness, responsibility and inclusivity

Social and cultural responsibilities are generally described as the duty of the organisation, for example, the people in any organisation, looking after the behaviours of the people and taking care of the sensitivity of the people in terms of social and cultural aspects (Khodi et al., 2020). The social and cultural awareness of a room attendant is a must-known skill as they have to take care of the situation of the guest. I am working as a room attendant in the Melbourne Hotel which is providing me with education on the culture of the different communities and their social needs. This factor is very advantageous for me as I am able to supply huge support to the hotel for the development of the economic and environmental factors of the hotel. The introduction to the different cultures helps me in understanding the needs of the different cultures and taking care of the guests with their cultural aspects. On the other hand, it is also very effective that I have made a huge impact in supporting the people with their social needs and providing the service properly to those guests.

As, I am currently working with Melbourne hotel, the guest comes to visit in great number. They mostly belong from various backgrounds which led to various cultures. The main job here that I have to conduct is to beware with all the culture and act accordingly. The work of the room attendant is to go from room to room and attend the guest as per the need. Thus, my main job role is to meet the demands of the guest as per their culture.

I am very much aware of the responsibilities of employees working in the housekeeping department of the room. I am very much effective in making a proper impact on the hotel as I have maintained my duties during my working time at the time of the different aspects of the hotel. The responsibilities generally depend on the behaviour of the housekeeping department and I have maintained the responsibilities properly. The responsibilities that are provided for the housekeeping are greeting the guest, replacing the beds and towels, and reporting room vacancy status for the different sectors. These responsibilities are very much known to me and I have maintained the duty properly throughout my time in the hotel. There are no complaints against me for the different times and I have to develop the idea for the improvement of the in this section for getting a better position in future.

The responsibility that I have to conduct often comes from differently cultured people. The guest needs to be well served so that they do not stand a chance to rise complain regarding the goods and services. It will be my responsibility as an attendant to check that the room is well maintained, the bathrooms are clean and hygienic, and the bed and closet are well organised. As I am well aware of my responsibilities and culture of the guest, this will act as a benefit for me to provide proper service to the guest even in the rush hours.

Inclusivity in a workplace
(Source: Bartman, 2021)

The inclusivity of the team is very much dependent on the system where the working environment is very much effective in various aspects. Valuing all the people and taking care of all the person is the most prominent factor that the housekeeping department has taken care of. In this scenario, I know the processes of valuing the guest properly and making an impact on the guests (Poitevien, 2021). The main factor of inclusivity is not making any discrimination against the guests and taking care of the each guest properly is an important factor for growing the sensible duties in the organizations. Guests of mixed cultures will come to stay in the hotel and also people of many cultures will work in the hotel. I have created a situation where I was able to make a huge impact on the growth of the system that is very effective in treating all the people properly and in the same way.

The management has divided us into teams to look after the various aspects of the hotel. Thus, we have to work together to provide the best result. It will be my responsibility to communicate with the team for my portions so that the things do not get overlapped. Through this the discrimination in the workplace can be controlled. And as a member of the team my other responsibility is to prevent my team members from disrespecting our guest on the basis of their appearance and culture.

Skill 3: Agility, adaptability, and flexibility

In the hotel industry cleanliness, communication skills, and flexibility are required for better handling of the guests or people who visit there. As I am a room attendant at the” Melbourne Hotel” therefore, in my opinion, the main skill that provides help to me is agility. As room attendants, we have to be quick enough to respond to our clients or guest. The ability to move quickly and easily effectively helps me in providing better services to our guests or clients. Therefore, with the help of agility, one can accelerate faster and their coordination and balance skills get developed (Rohaeni et al., 2022). Whereas, on the other hand, being flexible enough helps me in available for more jobs and shows my potential towards my work. The room attendant has to be flexible enough to quickly adapt to the various changes and apply new circumstances whenever they arrived. Flexibility increases my plans to navigate and overcome my unanticipated obstacles.

Agility, adaptability, and flexibility at workplace
(Source: Medium, 2022)

In more instances, skills like adaptability are essential skills required for the attendants to easily adjust to the changing circumstances (Fraser, 2020). There are various kinds of clients and guests who visit our hotels, and everyone has their nature and behaviour. Therefore, it becomes necessary for a room attendant to act smartly and adapt to the possible changes required to handle the clients or guests. Mainly, we have provided various kinds of training to handle our clients based on their behaviours. Therefore, having the adaptability to sense the overall atmosphere and behaviour of our clients makes our work easy and comfortable (Singh and Fan, 2021). Adaptability skills develop me to be more updated and make the room thoroughly spotless.

Mainly, we should be reliable and dedicated to our work, which later provides effective help in creating excellent jobs. Adaptability further increases our capacity to handle required changes, no matter how serious it might be to satisfy our guests or clients (Everett et al., 2020). I believe that the more adaptable we are, the better suited for a leadership role. Adaptability provides effective help to me in taking prior responsibilities and shifting my job role according to the behaviour of our clients and guests.

As an employee of the hotel I need to be fast adaptable with the circumstances so that I can deal with the situations in the peak time, when the rush is at the extreme. I have to be flexible in my work and with its timing so that I can provide better services from my side. The work of the hotel is not bound or limited thus, flexibility is very important to adapt with the situations accordingly. This will help me to be more efficient in my work and deal situations with ease.

Conclusion

The study has discussed the skills of the person who wants to work as a room attendant in the housekeeping department for the growth of the career. In an interview, the skills that are required for working in the housekeeping department are very much effective in the development of the service that is required. With the discussion, it can be concluded that the three skills that have been discussed in the study are very important to get any chance to work in the housekeeping department of any hotel. Another major skill that is the mandatory for better work environment is the ability to work together. This ensures that the team building efforts of workplace are enhanced and better productivity is ensured from the team.

References