Introduction

Welcome to my Personal Professional Development Portfolio for year 2!

In the following blog posts, I will be reflecting on the progress that I hope to achieve throughout my second year on the International Spa Management degree.

To do this I will be creating an action plan to create a clear idea of what I want to achieve and when I would like to have done it by. I will also be reviewing my CV in order to compare my experiences from first year and look at how these will help me to progress in my career.

I will also be looking at how I compare to my graduate attributes and transferable skills from last year and which ones I can continue to work on. I can use my SWOT analysis to help with this by identifying my strengths and weaknesses.

In terms of practical and real world learning, I will be reflecting on my progress in the spa and in my practical sessions during and after the transition from Elemis to Comfort Zone and Caudalie products.

Graduate Attributes

Graduate attributes are skills and attitudes that a student develops in their time at an institution such as university. In this section, I will be discussing the attributes  feel that I have improved, and which I feel I could develop further.

Assertiveness: When studying a management degree, it is important to know importance of managing people effectively in order to get the highest levels of productivity. I believe I am a fairly assertive person, however, I sometimes need to learn to manage this and know how and when to use it. To do this, I applied for a supervisor position in the Devonshire Spa so that I could improve this as well as an array of other skills, such as problem solving and leadership. After being successful in my application, I found myself using tips that I had picked up from colleagues, as well as using my own knowledge on how to work with and lead a team.

Networking: Networking has always been a struggle for me. This year I made a conscious effort to involve myself more in the Buxton Spa and Wellness Conference, in order to build my confidence. To do this I made sure that I spoke to some of the visiting professionals, such as employees from Caudalie.

Industry networking day was not as successful as I had hoped. This was due to the fact that there were not many companies there that I was too interested in as I was looking for more international opportunities. When reflecting on this, I feel as though I could have gone to speak to more of the representatives in practice for the future. However, I did speak to the representative from Nielson holidays, who I had also spoken to at the conference. I found this to be very helpful in learning how to approach people in a professional manner.

Commercial Awareness: This is a skill that I feel I have improved a lot in the past few years. I am always curious as to how a business works and how it can be improved in order to get the most out of its product or service. This year I have been working in the Devonshire spa, and I have also been working as a bartender in a local bar. Having the two jobs has allowed me to see how two completely different businesses work and what steps each need to do in order to continue improving.
By being in a supervisor role, I have given myself the opportunity to work more closely with guests and hear their suggestions after their visits, as well as be in a position to act on them.

Professional Development: This year I feel much more confident in my professional development. For example, as talked about previously, I made sure to get more involved in the Spa and Wellness Conference. I also put myself forward to be a university representative at Professional Beauty in London. Unfortunately I was not successful in my application, but the initial application was a confidence booster for me, as last year I would not have thought I had enough experience or knowledge to be involved.

Problem Solving: My problem solving skills have improved this year due to my new role in the spa. I have had to deal with situations such as staff sickness, lateness and guests arriving when they were not on the booking system. All of these events require quick thinking and initiative so that other problems do not arise in the process. This includes calling in therapists to cover, moving around columns as best I can so that treatments do not have to be cancelled or moved and finding space for guests not previously booked in and offering discount or goody bags for the inconvenience.

Team Working: All previous jobs I have been in have involved working in a team, whether its a restaurant team or a retail team. When working in a team, it is important to not just stick to your own jobs, but to make people aware that you are there to help them too if they need it. However, this is not to say that people should delegate their own jobs to other people. It is extremely important to pull your own weight in order to get all jobs done efficiently. As a supervisor I have been able to delegate tasks effectively to my team as well as get involved myself with jobs around the spa, and then focussing on other tasks such as cashing up and making sure the administration jobs are completed by the end of the shift. Team working is essential in every level of a business in order for it to run smoothly throughout, this includes communication through every level.

Leadership: Leadership is a skill that i find comes quite naturally to me. However, along with assertiveness, I am constantly learning how to hone it and use it to my advantage at all times. I am constantly using my leadership skills when down in spa, either as a therapist or a supervisor, this could be either through helping first years or new weekend team to get to grips with certain products or treatments, or helping to expand their knowledge on ow reception works e.g. making bookings, taking payments etc.

Confidence Building: My confidence is something that I have always had to work on. I have never been someone who believes in themselves, therefore missing out on certain opportunities, such as not applying for a supervisory position earlier in the year when I know now that I probably would have thrived in the position. This year however, I have definitely found that I have been able to build my confidence in different ways, including getting more involved in lectures, and pushing myself in both of my work environments.

Transferrable Skills

Transferrable skills are those which can be used in all jobs because they make you a well rounded employee that can work in a number of different situations. Since last year, I feel as though I have come a long way in developing my transferrable skills in order to make myself a sought after employee. Here is a list of transferrable skills that employers tend to look for (Skillsyouneed.com, 2017):

• Problem Solving
• Organising
• Working to deadlines
• Management and Leadership
• Negotiating
• Motivating People
• Making Decisions
• Research Skills
• Numeracy
• Good Communication Skills

Problem Solving: Last year I did not feel that I had been in many spa related situations where I had to solve a problem. However, since then I have been working as a therapist and a supervisor in spa, therefore I have been in situations where I have had to solve problems which involve both therapists and guests, which require different forms of professionalism. By developing my problem solving skills, I will be more confident in a number of different scenarios such as complaints,therapist issues etc.

Organising: Organisation this year in terms of my time has been fairly difficult as I have had 2 jobs, university work and social time to balance. I feel as though I could have done better with this, especially when dedicating time to university assignments, but once I put a plan in place and stuck to it I was able to get on top of my work as well as keep working in both spa and my other job. Developing organisational skills and being able to demonstrate them to employers shows them that you will be on top of things and be able to meet deadlines.

Working to Deadlines: Working to deadlines applies to me with both uni, and working in the spa. At university I have assignment deadlines to meet which means I have to plan my time effectively in order to give them all the attention needed. I have found this quite difficult because of the jump in the quality of work from level 4 to level 5 in order to get the best grades, which means that I have attempted to put things off, which is the worst thing to do. However, I have now set out dates and plans of when and what work to do in order to complete it in time for submission to a high standard. In spa, I am on deadlines in terms of meeting targets, making sure treatments start and finish at the right time, and also making sure that spa is opened and closed on time in the morning and evening.

Management and Leadership: This year has been key in me improving my management and leadership skills. Since the beginning of this academic year I have been watching the commercial team and student supervisors when dealing with all different types of situations including guest complaints, missing bookings and staff absence. Because of this, in second semester I felt comfortable enough to put myself forward for the role because I knew I had enough basic knowledge to then build upon through my own experiences. As i have got to know the weekend team more over the last few months, I am also able to delegate tasks efficiently so that they get done to the best standards.

Negotiating: Negotiation is a skill that can be used in many parts of a business. When working in the spa, my main use of negotiation is when dealing with customer complaints or issues in order to find a solution for them and be able to offer the most reasonable level of compensation for any troubles they may have had. general employee-to-company negotiation may also include holiday, pay or hours to name a few. Having developed negotiation skills allows a person to feel like they have more control in a situation and will be able to speak for themselves and obtain their goal effectively.

Motivating People: Many jobs involve motivating other people, whether it be personal motivation, motivating everyone as part of a team or keeping your team motivated as a manager. This year I have found myself trying different methods of motivation as a supervisor, this could be anything from bringing in treats for staff to enjoy on breaks, or creating incentives on shift such as meeting a retail target or getting repeat bookings and being rewarded with spa use or other discounts. This method seems to work well in the spa as people are more likely to respond to reward when asked to complete a task (smallbusiness, 2017).
Other forms of motivation include conveying a positive attitude which will reflect on other colleagues. This also means that the team will be more productive if there is a constant positive attitude through everyone. When being supervisor on my shifts, I try my best to keep everyone motivated with a positive attitude and leadership mentality.

Making Decisions: Decision making is a skill that I have been able to greatly improve this year due to the new experiences I have had in spa as well as in my other job. There are often situations where quick decisions need to me made without a member of authority present. This is something that I would have been very uncomfortable doing last year. However, because I have been in more of these situations as well as having the opportunity to see how my colleagues make similar decisions.

Research Skills: My research skills have been drastically improved this year as we had a research skills module which allowed us to explore the basis of research, why you would use certain types of research over others and how combining different types of research can benefit certain topics. this module also helped me to look more carefully into my sources and think about why I am using them and how I can apply them logically to my research. moving onto level 5 has allowed me to see the standard of referencing and depth of research that is required in order to achieve grades in the top band.

Numeracy: “It is simply inexcusable for anyone to say ‘I can’t do maths.’ (Humphries, 2011)
My basic numeracy skills are to a fairy high standard, I am also confident on my mental arithmetic which means I am able to work things out quickly to solve a problem for example. Now that I have started to cash up in spa, I am able to use these skills to do the job more efficiently. Being able to work with numbers has also helped me in my business module when creating my cashflow forecast. Having a high level of numeracy skills often sets candidates apart in recruitment because it shows a certain level of efficiency in how someone works.

Good Communication Skills: Good communication skills are required for almost every industry in order to successfully progress. Different parts of my jobs involve talking to a variety of different people which means that I have had to develop the skill of knowing how to effectively communicate in a way that is professional with different types of people. In spa, I have learned that my manners when I am on reception and in a supervisory role have to show a more authoritative stance so that the guests feel like they would be able to come to me with any issues they may have and feel confident in the fact that I will be able to deal with them professionally.
When communicating with my team, I need to ensure that I am able to be authoritative but understanding also, to gain the most productivity from them. By knowing how to communicate with your team, it opens many more opportunities for you to gain feedback and respect from them and identify any issues that need to be dealt with for their employee satisfaction.
Because I have worked in a number of industries, eg. Retail, Spa and bars, I have developed my communication skills with a wide range of people including customers, colleagues and suppliers. I believe that I am able to adapt the way I communicate with a variety of different people, both professionally and in every day life, which gives me the edge on a lot of jobs because I can prove that I am able to communicate effectively in different situations.