Provide learning opportunities for colleagues

This standard is about helping colleagues/staff to develop their skills through a variety of learning opportunities. This standard is for hospitality team leaders, first line managers or supervisors.
It has been said that training is something done unto me by others but learning is something I do by myself to myself. Many of us are unaware of the huge variety of learning opportunities available at work. In some organisations, new situations arise almost on a day by day basis; fresh challenges come to us and we meet new people from all walks of life. All of these things give us the chance to experience and learn something new.

It's important to work with colleagues, helping them realise the opportunities to learn whether these are formal planned opportunities or more informal ad-hoc situations. Helping colleagues understand their own personal learning methods, supporting them through the process, celebrating achievements and dealing with underperformance are all key parts of creating a learning culture.

When you have completed this standard you will be able to demonstrate your understanding of and your ability to:

• Provide learning opportunities for colleagues

1. Promote the benefits of learning to staff members and make sure that their willingness and efforts to learn are recognised
2. Give staff members fair, regular and useful feedback on their work performance, discussing and agreeing how they can improve
3. Work with staff members to identify and prioritise learning needs based on any gaps between the requirements of their work-roles and their current knowledge, understanding and skills
4. Help staff members to identify the learning style(s) or combination of styles which works best for them and ensure that these are taken into account in identifying and undertaking learning activities
5. Work with colleagues to identify and obtain information on a range of possible learning activities to address identified learning needs
6. Recognise and seek to find out about differences in expectations and working methods of any staff members from a different country or culture and promote ways of working that take account of their expectations and maximise productivity
7. Discuss and agree with each staff member a plan for development which includes learning activities to be undertaken, the learning objectives to be achieved, the required resources and timescales
8. Work with staff members to recognise and make use of un-planned learning opportunities
9. Seek and make use of specialist expertise in relation to identifying and providing learning for staff members
10. Support staff members in undertaking learning activities, making sure any required resources are made available and making efforts to remove any obstacles to learning
11. Evaluate, in discussion with each staff member, whether the learning activities they have undertaken have achieved the desired outcomes and provide positive feedback on the learning experience
12. Work with staff members to update their development plan in the light of performance, any learning activities undertaken and any wider changes
13. Encourage staff members to take responsibility for their own learning, including practising and reflecting on what they have learned

1. The benefits of learning for individuals and organisations and how to promote these to colleagues
2. Ways in which you can develop an 'environment' in which learning is valued and willingness and efforts to learn are recognised
3. Why it is important to encourage colleagues to take responsibility for their own learning
4. How to provide fair, regular and useful feedback to colleagues on their work performance
5. How to identify learning needs based on identified gaps between the requirements of colleagues' work-roles and their current knowledge, understanding and skills
6. How the values, ethics, beliefs, faith, cultural conventions, perceptions and expectations of any people from other countries or cultures may impact on their personal development and learning
7. How to prioritise learning needs of colleagues, including taking account of organisational needs and priorities and the personal and career development needs of colleagues
8. The range of different learning styles and how to support colleagues in identifying the particular learning style(s) or combination of learning styles which works best for them
9. Different types of learning activities, their advantages and disadvantages and the required resources (time, fees and substitute staff) and what is available in / to your organisation
10. How/where to identify and obtain information on different learning activities
11. Why it is important for colleagues to have a written development plan and what it should contain (identified learning needs, learning activities to be undertaken and the learning objectives to be achieved, timescales and required resources)
12. How to set learning objectives which are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound)
13. Sources of specialist expertise in relation to identifying and providing learning for colleagues and what is available in / to your organisation in relation to identifying learning needs for your colleagues
14. What type of support colleagues might need to undertake learning activities, the resources needed, the types of obstacles they may face and how they can be resolved
15. How to evaluate whether a learning activity has achieved the desired learning objectives
16. The importance of regularly reviewing and updating written plans in the light of performance, any learning activities undertaken and any wider changes
17. How to take account of equality legislation, any relevant codes of practice and general diversity and inclusion issues in providing learning opportunities for colleagues
18. Industry/sector requirements for the development or maintenance of knowledge, skills and understanding and professional development
19. Learning issues and specific initiatives and arrangements that apply within the industry/sector
20. Working culture and practices of the industry or sector
21. Relevant information on the purpose, objectives and plans of your team or area of responsibility or the wider organisation
22. The work roles of colleagues, including the limits of their responsibilities and their personal work objectives
23. The current knowledge, understanding and skills of colleagues and identified gaps and learning needs in the knowledge, understanding and skills of colleagues
24. Your organisation's policies in relation to equality and diversity
25. Your organisation's policies and procedures in relation to learning
26. Your organisation's performance appraisal systems

The following behaviours are provided as guidance to underpin effective performance of a hospitality supervisor

1. You recognise the opportunities presented by the diversity of people
2. You find practical ways to overcome barriers
3. You make time available to support others
4. You seek to understand individuals' needs, feelings and motivations and take an active interest in their concerns
5. You encourage and support others to make the best use of their abilities
6. You recognise the achievements and the success of others
7. You inspire others with the excitement of learning
8. You confront performance issues and sort them out directly with the people involved
9. You say no to unreasonable requests
10. You show integrity, fairness and consistency in decision making

This standard is linked to all other standards in the Hospitality Supervision & Leadership suite of standards