Introduction
Competencies, as defined by Epley et al. (2017) are ‘individual knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics associated with high performance’. Competencies can be split into two categories known as ‘Hard skills’ and ‘soft skills’. Doyle (2017) explains that hard skills can include being fluent in a foreign language, having a certificate or official qualification; these skills are easily recognised by employers and are often stated on a CV. Likewise, Weber et a (2013), describe hard skills as being the ‘technical aspects’ when working, using previous knowledge in order to perform your job. In contrast, Ibrahim (2017) defines soft skills (also known as interpersonal skills) as a ‘sociological term relating to a personal emotional intelligence quotient (EQ… communication, language, personal habits’. These qualities are how people will interact with others and are especially important within the hospitality sector, and are not always as immediately obvious as hard skills.
The intent of this paper is to analyse three competencies from the four categories, Managing self, Managing others, Managing career and Managing knowledge using my previous experiences and a range of academic sources to support my analysis. The Venn diagram illustration by Maher (2014) in Appendix one, shows these four categories and what different competencies are needed.
MANAGING SELF – Planning and Prioritising
Planning and prioritising is all about time management, which Ghiasvand et al, (2017) define as ‘optimally using the time available and that includes aspects of planning, goal setting, prioritising goals and activities, communications and delegation. It is extremely important to be able to understand which tasks are more important than others, and to plan out when everything will be done in order of priority. Time management is key at university and within the hospitality industry as both need the ability to delegate tasks to yourself and others. Planning and prioritising also helps you stay on track with goals and achievements as you can plan out tasks in detail and complete them in order to meet a larger goal.
Planning and Prioritising also comes down to one’s time management, which is extremely important in the workplace to maximise productivity. By having good time management skills, you are able to not waste time on smaller insignificant tasks and instead focusing on the bigger picture and the idea of reaching a deadline (Andrews, 2014). Having good time management can also help with motivation as people will often feel a sense of gratification once they have finished a set goal- which will then push them to continue this trend and set more goals.
Time management is also extremely important for students success. Bad time management can be a source of stress within students as they will create a build up of anxiety and dread if they leave tasks until the last minute. Therefore students should always try to prioritise their work, plan how to succeed in the future and figure out what tasks they should do first in order to improve themselves. Ghiasvand et al, (2017) argues that ‘it is necessary to plan for improving time management skills in order to enhance academic motivation and reduce anxiety’ in his conclusion thus showing that there is a direct positive correlation between bad planning and prioritising and increased anxiety within students.
In appendix 1 I have attached my Peer Mentoring contract. This contract was given to us at the start of the year to get in contact with one of the fourth year students, by signing this I agreed to go to a selection of meetings and talks with my mentor throughout the year. This shows my ability to prioritise my education and take initiative to plan to go to these meetings with them. It also helped with planning and prioritising as my mentor gave me advise about my modules and that I should work on my time management in advance in order to do well in the academic year.
In appendix 2 I have also attached a selection of some assignment feedback from different modules that shows my ability to recognise where I need to improve. Finally, in appendix 3I have a completed action plan which we did for our Personal and Professional Development module which shows my ability to understand and begin to build on my mistakes in order to improve in the future.
MANAGING OTHERS – Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a type of social intelligence that revolves around the concept of understanding/recognising the emotions of yourself and of others in a social situation. The hospitality industry can be argued as very communication based industry, and as such emotional intelligence is a key competency for workers to have. It is important for employees within the hospitality industry to be able to pick up on their customers emotions and use this to adapt to their needs. Each customer will have a different need and having a higher level of EQ will help the employees with problem solving.
It is explained that EQ has 5 key dimensions, Self-awareness, Motivation, Self-regulation, Empathy and Social Skills (Goleman 1995, cited in Mahmood and Yadav 2017). These 5 skills are how we can measure EQ similarly to IQ and by understanding what level you stand at for each component will help you develop your EQ.
It is also said that workers who hold an EQ are more likely to work better in teams, as they are more understanding of others emotions and therefore willing to take their feelings on the subject into consideration and adapt to it. In contrast those who have a lower EQ might find it more difficult to adapt to change and find it harder to succeed within a team if they clash too much. (DeLeon, 2015). Emotional intelligence was ranked number 6 in The world Economic Forums ‘Top 10 skills you need to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution’ for 2020. In comparison ‘Negotiation’ was ranked 6 in 2015 and EQ wasn’t on the list at all (see figure 1).
Source: [Gray (2016)]
This chart shows how the industry is constantly changing and in order for the newer generations to secure employment they need to be able to constantly adapt to change, which will be much easier with a higher EQ. Emotional intelligence also helps in abilities such as managing our negative emotions, and as such manging others. This is especially important within the hospitality industry as sometime employees will have to diffuse a situation with a customer.
In order to show my ability in EQ I have attached two scores from two separate Emotional Intelligence tests (Appendix 4). One showing my score out of 200 to be above average and the other showing my ability out of 10 in four separate dimensions of EQ. I have also attached a personally annotated version of my CV key skills in appendix 5 which shows where I have shown EQ abilities and in appendix 6, an extract from an article I have recently read on how to ‘increase your emotional intelligence’.
MANAGING CAREER- Employability
Employability is a concept difficult to define, as it depends not only on the competencies that are looked for by employees but also time management and effective career planning. (Wang et al, 2014). Likewise, Graves (2011) describes the concept of employability as ‘complex and contested’ and goes on to say how the Government encourages universities and the likes to use the term ‘employable’, and to create graduates who will have the necessary skills to become ‘more employable’ when leaving university (Ibid).
The hospitality industry is constantly changing, and as such so are the employers demands for what they expect from graduates. Technology is constantly advancing and the new generations of graduates are expected to be proficient in understanding it when entering the work force. Technology is changing customers’ expectations and how the hospitality industry operated as a whole (Technology in the hospitality industry, 2017). This is why IT skills are valued in the hospitality industry as they are adaptable and can be used across multiple sections and as such, graduates who have taken courses in IT specifically for the hospitality industry have the required skills to become successful within the industry (Bilgihan, 2014).
In order for students to stay employable in the future, they need to learn to adapt to the constant change in the Hospitality industry. (Dr. Hawkins, 1999). As said by Dr. Hawkins (1999, p. 8) ‘to be employed is to be at risk, to be employable is to be secure’. This idea implies that whilst it is a relief to be employed, you must always be able to adapt and change for the industry in order to stay employed.
Dr Hawkins (1999) then goes on to use a ‘skills portfolio’ to demonstrate the four main skills needed in order to stay employable. These include people skills, self-reliance skills, generalist skills and specialist skills. The skills directly correlate to the idea of ‘soft skills’ (which, as previously mentioned are a set of sociological skills [Ibrahim (2017)]). To demonstrate the idea of ‘soft skills’ I have included a table showing the highest and lowest rated competencies by percentage (see figure 2).
Source: (Wilks and Hemsworth, 2011)
They then go on to explain how this table shows how people wishing to be employed within the hospitality should try to attain these competencies, as they are essential for the field. The majority of these have nothing to do with hard skills, which demonstrates how much more valued soft skills are in comparison.
In my Appendices 7, 8 and 9I have part of my CV annotated by my peer mentor, my Australian Working Holiday Visa and my acceptance letter into sea pines (in order) as proof of my employability. My CV clearly states which of these soft skills I have that are relevant to the industry. Likewise, the copy of my VISA shows my ability to take initiative over the past year to find work experience in a new area and develop my skill set internationally. Furthermore, the job offer from Sea Pines, which I have accepted, shows my ability to be employed.
MANAGING KNOWLEDGE – Communication
There are many different types of communication, ranging from face to face (FTF) communication and online communication. Technological communication is extremely different to FTF communication as whilst FTF communication is asynchronous, with technology, multiple conversation can be taking place with multiple people speaking concurrently (Berry, 2011).
Likewise, with communication comes the need to be able to understand someone else’s body language. Body language can differ depending on culture and is often key to understand the implication/secondary meaning of what someone might be saying. Communicating virtually also means you miss out on certain social cues (i.e. facial expresses or gestures) which can make it easier for misunderstanding to occur (ibid). Similarly to this, it can be difficult to communicate with someone over the phone instead of in person as you have to rely on the tone of voice they are speaking in to interpret what they are saying rather than being able to see body language.
Communication can be difficult within the hospitality industry due to time zones. Hospitality is an international business and meetings may be help globally through a video-chat platform. This can be difficult due to the obstacle of temporal distance. It is important to be able to ‘actively listen’ in order to build better communication and ask questions without hesitation when confusion arrives in order to make sure that everyone is able to understand the message and any underlying meaning (Zofi, 2012). The ability to understand body language and read between the lines are extremely important when it comes to communicating across cultures.
To demonstrate my communication skills, In appendix 10 I have attached a snippet from a previous assignment where we worked in cross cultural teams and had to communicate only using technology- where I talk about the difficulties it proved to have. In appendix 11 attached a feedback form from working in the restaurant where I am said to have good communication skills and a positive attitude, showing I am good at communicating with my team and the customers. Finally, In appendix 12 have included a combination of messages with my peer mentor where we set up meetings to see each other and keep up to date with each other’s academic lives and also attend talks together that would help our career.
Conclusion
For each of the four competencies I have explained what it is and its role within the hospitality industry, alongside this I have included 3 pieces of evidence for each competency which proves that I have this skill or am in the process of developing it. However, there is always room to improve and working with the idea of ‘planning and prioritising’ I will be using my current action plan to improve on these competencies in the future.