Let’s face it. The only person truly interested in your career is you. You’re the person that’s got to pay for that next foreign holiday, your bigger car, the detached house, and maybe the financial demands of a growing family.
Working in hospitality is a great industry of opportunity. Developing your own program of continued professional development (either within work with your boss or as an extracurricular activity) can be a great way to position yourself for a promotion and a higher salary. Here are some clear objective steps that you can take to create a program that will help you achieve your goals:
1. Identify your goals: Identify the skills and knowledge you need to develop in order to qualify for the next level of your career. This can include technical skills, leadership skills, and industry-specific knowledge. Be realistic around how long these goals will take to achieve. If you don’t start you’ll never finish.
2. Determine your learning style: Determine your learning style and preferences. This can help you to select the most effective learning methods and activities. Different age groups learn in different ways. What’s your best method of learning?
3. Research available resources: Research available resources for professional development, such as training programs, online courses, mentorship programs, and professional associations.
4. Create a development plan: Create a development plan that outlines your goals, learning objectives, and the resources you will use to achieve them. Set specific timelines and milestones to measure your progress. It’s worth taking time out to do this.
5. Implement your plan: Implement your development plan by attending training programs, participating in mentorship programs, and seeking out additional learning opportunities.
6. Evaluate your progress: Evaluate your progress regularly to ensure that you are meeting your goals and making progress towards your next promotion. Adjust your plan as needed to ensure that you stay on track.
7. Seek feedback: Seek feedback from your boss or other trusted colleagues to ensure that you are developing the skills that are most valued in your organisation and industry.
It’s important that your continued professional development has energy and pace so that when your time comes for that promotion you’re demonstrably ahead of the curve with your peers.
Overall, developing a program of continued professional development requires a proactive and strategic approach. By identifying your goals, determining your learning style, researching available resources, creating a development plan, implementing your plan, evaluating your progress, and seeking feedback, you can position yourself for the next promotion and achieve your career goals.
