Engaging Culinary Managers in digital and innovative educational assessment to enhance professional practice

There is consensus among hospitality leaders regarding the importance of professional development in people management for culinary managers to enhance their team’s performance and gain competitive advantage. The focus of this paper is to assess the impact of professional development using technology (Digital GoPro Cameras) on Head Chefs in a six property Independent Hotel Chain in Northern Ireland. Following the completion of a level 4 professional development module on leading teams for higher performance, a focus group with the Head Chefs formed the basis of establishing the impact of this action research approach on their professional practice. Analysis on the perceived importance of professional development using ‘GoPros’ to video capture a ‘Performance Review Meeting’ in the workplace, followed by a reflective assessed ‘Professional Conversation’ with the Higher Education (HE) academic module delivery team, revealed significant enhancement of their professional practice in leading high performance teams.