Human Development
Human development is a continuous predictable process that starts from infancy and move through the stages of childhood, adolescence to adulthood. Physical, social, cognitive and emotional changes take place during human development. Normally, there is a general fixed sequence that human development takes. However, the rate at which human development takes place may differ due to sever factors (Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development. 2018). During development, there are important needs that must be met and when not met at the right time, there are consequences at later stages in life. Erik Erikson Psychosocial theory suggests that ego plays a great role in development where ideas, attitudes and skills are mastered at each stage of life. Mastery helps children grow into successful members who contribute to the growth of the society.
Stages of Development and Task Resolution
At each stage of development according Erick, there is a task that needs to be resolved. Upon completion of the task, an individual develops a sense of competence and healthy personality. When the task is not fulfilled, an individual develops a sense of inadequacy. Mr. Ramesh at the age of 40 years is the general manager of a 5 star hotel in Middle East and the paper shall analyze his stages of development based on a research done among the members of staff and a personal interview. The paper shall compare every stage of development to establish if there are any gaps and eventually design a plan that will help achieve different task in the remaining part of development.
Trust and Mistrust
Being a general manager, one is required to be a team leader, as different head of departments answer to you. It is of paramount importance that all the members of the team have autonomy to carry out their duties with minimum or no supervision. Trusting the team members to deliver on their mandate is key without micro managing their departments which from the interview with the employees they confirmed he trust his team to deliver on their mandates. Based on Erick Erickson theory, trust or mistrust is learnt from birth to 12 months where if the child is dependent on their caregivers. Where the care giver is sensitive and responsive to the needs of the child, the baby views the world as a predictable and a safe place to be. From the interview, we can comfortably deduce that the trust and mistrust human development stage task were adequately met.
Autonomy versus Doubt
Self esteem is very important given the role of a general manager. From the interview with the members of staff, it was established that the general manager has a high self esteem being the face of the hotel. Self esteem would be traced to the autonomy versus doubt in Eric theory of psychosocial development. This is developed from the age of 1-3 years where child should be given an opportunity to grow autonomy and establish independence. In a situation where the opportunity is denied, the child develops low self esteem and doubts their abilities. From the interview, autonomy versus doubt stage of development was achieved.
Initiative versus Inferiority
In the dynamic world of business, developing new ideas and plans of doing things is important for a hotel to remain at the top in the industry. From the interview, the general manager is very dynamic and can predict market trend and prepare adequately. Based on the theory, this is achieved between the ages of 3-6 years where a child develops initiative. When this is achieved a child develops the sense of purpose and confidence and can easily get along with other people. It is imperative to learn how other people are doing in the industry to understand the market niche to exploit. Keeping the competitors close to him enable the hotel to exploit opportunities in the market other people have to identify giving the business a competitive edge. This gives his team a sense of accomplishment and pride which according to Erickson's theory of human development is industry versus inferiority. We can comfortably deduce the tasks of this stage were fulfilled.
Maintaining the hotel brand identity is the sole duty of the general manager and from the interview, we established that this is one thing he holds dearly to himself. From the development theory, this can be traced to identity versus role confusion. Identifying and believing in the mission and vision of the brand you believe in determine your success.
Intimacy versus Isolation
The perception to work with the people willing to work with you is a believed the general manager subscribes to. Eric Erickson in the theory intimacy versus isolation is a critical stage during which young adult develop meaningful relationships. In the industry it is important to develop meaning relationship with different stakeholders. According to the theory, this is one area where the study identified uncompleted task in the development process. In the age of 20- 40 years young adult should develop and maintain meaningful relationships.
Generativity versus Stagnation
From the research done about the general manager, one thing that stands out is his passion about hospitality and mentoring young professional into making successful careers. According to the psychosocial theory, the general manager has achieved generatively where he works towards developing others and molding the next generation. The passion to leave a positive mark in a meaningful way shows that the tasks associated with generatively versus stagnation is fully achieved.
Remedying Unaccomplished Task
From the research about the general manager, one task that has not been accomplished is at the stage of intimacy versus isolation. According to the theory of psychosocial development, developing meaningful and successful relationship with others in the industry irrespective of their contribution to the company is of paramount importance. In the hospitality industry one cannot live in isolation as the industry is interdependent. It is therefore important to bring everyone on board. The ability to resolve conflicts associated with developing long term meaning relationships helps in forging strong relationships (Magnusson, 2016).
Counseling for Task Accomplishment
The unaccomplished task in the growth development stage for the general manager can be remedied. Counseling has been fronted as the best remedy for isolation and helps in accomplishing the task of the stage. The general manager can go through counseling sessions that will help him learn new ways and make new alliances with all stakeholders in the industry. This will enable him make and manage new relationships in his line of duty for his own good and the good of the hotel. Having successfully gone through counseling to accomplish the pending tasks, the general manager will have a smooth transition to his last psychosocial development stage according to Erick Erickson which is integrity versus despair (Newman, 2016). This will enable him leave a rich legacy at the end of his tenure in the hospitality industry.
References
Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development. (2018). Retrieved from https://simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
Magnusson, D. (2016). The lifespan development of individuals: Behavioral, neurobiological, and psychosocial perspectives : a synthesis. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press.
Newman, B. M., " Newman, P. R. (2016). Theories of human development.
Magnusson, D. (2016). The lifespan development of individuals: Behavioral, neurobiological, and psychosocial perspectives : a synthesis. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press.
