ID Loop

SHL Expertise Model

The ID Loop programme at SHL Schweizerische Hotelfachschule Luzern supports our students in their journey to becoming self-directed, reflective, and socially responsible individuals - both in their professional and personal lives. The SHL competency model highlights the factors in the areas of self-, social-, leadership-, and future skills that can either foster or hinder this development.

Self-competences – about myself

  • Self-reflection

    Ability to critically question and analyse one's own thoughts, feelings, speech and actions in order to develop oneself further.  

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Regularly questions.
    • Is self-critical and can perceive themself 'objectively' and with distance.
    • Is able to question their own behaviour on the basis of their own reflection and adapt it independently.
    • Proactively seeks advice/support in order to develop further.
    • Is aware that self-reflection is a key competence for personal growth. 

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Does not recognise the need for self-reflection.
    • Inwardly persists with the opinion: This is the way I am.  
    • Needs pressure from outside to reflect.
    • Is resistant to learning in relation to one’s own person / personality.
       
  • Resilience / work-life integration

    Ability and willingness to manage and organise work and leisure activities, tension and relaxation satisfactorily and in a balanced relationship and to use experiences as an opportunity for growth.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Knows what is really important to themself; knows one’s own wishes and personal goals, values and visions well, remains true to themself and at the same time is prepared to develop.
    • Takes appropriate time for the activities at hand.
    • Has a conscious and appreciative approach to one’s own resources (e.g. time, attentiveness, energy, skills)
    • Can reconcile private and professional requirements and interests.
    • Ensures  compensatory activities.
    • Learns from setbacks, is not discouraged and continues to develop.  
    • Can maintain an overview even in stressful situations.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Ignores own physical warning signals .
    • Overestimates own limits.   
    • Has difficulty prioritising.
    • Constantly complains about lack of time and stress symptoms.
    • Difficult to switch off and change focus.
    • Maintains few / no extra-professional interests / contacts.
    • Sets no limits.
    • Is no longer able to perform after negative experiences over a longer period of time.
       
  • Intentional learning

    Willingness to proactively seek out and utilise formal and informal learning situations in order to further develop work-related and/or personal skills in a meaningful way.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Asks many and appropriate questions.
    • Is open to new things and situations.
    • Changes their behaviour when their ‘old’ behaviour is inefficient or leads to errors and undesirable effects.
    • Interested in topics outside the immediate working environment.
    • Analyses mistakes and uses them as a learning opportunity.
    • Recognises own areas of development independently and looks for ways to develop these effectively and efficiently.
    • Recognises that learning is an essential activity throughout a person's life.
    • Manages themself and their teams in the learning process in a target-oriented manner.
    • Makes sensible use of the available learning environment (lecturers, fellow students, etc.)

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Reacts with disinterest or rejection when changes are introduced.
    • Inwardly persists in the viewpoint: we've always done it this way.
    • Needs pressure from outside to change or learn.
    • Has been doing the same job for years without questioning it in terms of content and behaviour.
    • Shows no examples of a willingness to learn new things and/or to develop their own behaviour.
    • Seeks like-minded people to justify / support own inertia in learning.
       
  • Emotion management

    The ability to understand one's own emotions and to recognise and positively influence the emotions of others, as well as the ability to express emotions appropriately and comprehensibly.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Can calm themself down, e.g. by using relaxation techniques to reduce anger or rage.
    • Can overcome own negative feelings (e.g. dislike of boring work).
    • Can cope with negative feelings (e.g. pain, sadness) without having to numb them - e.g. with substances.
    • Can consciously evoke positive feelings (e.g. through thoughts of motivating goals, visions, past successes).
    • Can express anger in an appropriate and controlled manner.
    • Acts as a role model in managing their own emotions and can communicate these transparently.
    • Listens to others actively and without judgement, shows appropriate sympathy and offers support.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Avoids conversations / situations with emotional content out of fear or a desire for harmony.
    • Argues exclusively on the factual level in the hope of not encountering any feelings.
    • Reacts helplessly when confronted with the emotions of others.
    • Shows so-called "inadequate affect", e.g. laughs when something sad is said.
    • Is easily dissuaded from own plans by momentary feelings of listlessness.
    • Has repeatedly displayed uncontrolled outbursts of anger in the past.
    • Often says things that is regretted afterwards.
    • Tends to abuse substances (alcohol, nicotine, psychotropic drugs, overeating) when under emotional stress. 
    • Abuse their own influence to create unfavourable (working) conditions and to control / influence the environment.
       
  • Stamina

    Ability to pursue and achieve tasks and goals over a longer period of time or under difficult conditions.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Stays on the ball, even when difficulties and problems arise.
    • Avoid distracting, supposedly more pleasant activities when a goal needs to be achieved or a task completed.
    • Recognises the positive effects of achieved goals on pride, self-confidence, motivation and happiness.
    • Pursues own goals out of own drive and joy.
    • Searches for alternatives if resistance is encountered and achieves own goals.
    • Realises that achieving goals requires commitment, energy, will and time.
    • Get out of your comfort zone, even if it proves to be uncomfortable.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Has started many activities in the past without completing them (e.g. training, projects, hobbies...)
    • Easily distracted from the target by external influences.
    • Jumps from one task to another without completing anything.
    • Is unable to adequately differentiate themself from attention killers.
    • Does not have own time management under control and justifies delays with excuses.
    • Looking for like-minded people so as not to reflect on own lack of discipline.
    • Allows themselves to be controlled by any influences and uses them as a reason not to do something (e.g. too cold, too warm, etc.). 
       
  • Personal initiative

    Willingness to develop active suggestions and ideas, take on tasks independently and initiate projects.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Seeks out independent work tasks.
    • Suggests new tasks / projects or provides impetus for change.
    • Makes suggestions for the improvement / optimisation of work processes.
    • Obtains all the information required to process a project.
    • Shows pleasure in activities and people.  
    • Creates a positive atmosphere, is passionate and inspires others.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Does not play an active role, does not assume a directive function.
    • Needs external impetus to become active.
    • Shows unfavourable body language in connection with activities.
    • Is work-shy and likes to put off work.
       
  • Willingness to perform

    Willingness to identify to a high degree with the professional task and the associated commitment and to carry out self-selected or assigned tasks particularly well. 

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Seeks out challenging and difficult tasks.
    • Agrees on clear goals against which thier own success or failure can be measured.
    • Has a realistic self-image with regard to their own willingness to perform.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Does not set high performance standards.
    • Is careful not to work too many hours.
    • Avoids comparing their performance with set targets.
    • Overestimates their own capabilities.
       
  • Responsible behaviour

    A lifestyle or personal attitude that also considers the longer-term ecological and social consequences in a holistic manner while adhering to values.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Demonstrates a willingness to use their own resources (time, money, knowledge) to help others and/or critical environments without giving up on themselves.
    • Make conscious use of your own and other people's resources.
    • Has a strong environmental awareness and takes this into account when making decisions.
    • Show genuine compassion for other people in need and try to alleviate this.
    • Shows interest in socio-political topics and problems, has an understanding of global connections.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Is exclusively concerned with its own advantage / profit.
    • Arguments in a selfish and ruthless manner.  
    • Views social issues from an individualistic perspective ("I" instead of "we").
    • Economic arguments dominate all discussions and decisions.
    • Does not take on community and/or voluntary tasks, often "buys his way out".
    • Likes to delegate responsibility for social issues to politicians and managers.
    • Often looks for reasons not to do something. 
       

Social skills – Me in dealing with other people

  • Style and manners

    Knowledge of explicit and implicit rules that apply in a group, in an organisation and in different cultural environments and the willingness to implement them.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Moves confidently at social events.
    • Ensures a pleasant atmosphere for dialogue with all those present, e.g. by trying to integrate other people.
    • Can hold a conversation.
    • Adapts their appearance and clothing to the occasion.
    • Knows etiquette and respects social norms.
    • Recognises that their own person is part of a whole and is aware of their own role as a good role model at all times.
    • Thanks others for a constructive conversation or useful information.
    • Is able to use social media appropriately and is aware of the consequences of inappropriate dissemination of verbal and visual content. 

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Behaves awkwardly or insecurely at social events.
    • Dresses or speaks inappropriately and violates existing rules.
    • Is taciturn, short-winded or too personal in trivial conversations.
    • Violates foreign cultural behaviour and offends other people's values and norms.
    • Violates intimacy boundaries, talks about private or intimate topics in an inappropriately revealing manner or asks others about them.
    • Engages in 'one-way communication' and hardly lets others have their say.
    • Sees themselves as the centre of the world and takes little interest in others.
       
  • Language competence

    Ability for precise and differentiated linguistic expression, which manifests itself in word choice, verbal fluency and non-verbal expression. 

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Has an extensive vocabulary and is able to express themself eloquently and suitable to the situation.
    • Acts as a role model and credible with own language.
    • Uses foreign words, technical terms and synonyms correctly.
    • Has an appealing and correct writing style.
    • Emphasises own statements through appropriate non-verbal expression (body language, including voice).
    • Can adapt own language to the target audience.
    • Can distinguish between private and professional language and distinguishes themself from colloquial language in a professional context.
    • Does not allow themself to be influenced by provocations and remains well-groomed in own expressions.
    • Is aware of the importance of discretion and restraint, data protection and privacy in every situation.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Often uses the same terms for different situations.
    • Often uses generic terms like 'thing', 'stuff', etc.
    • Cannot present complex thought processes in a comprehensible way.
    • Often uses the verbs 'do', 'make' and 'do'.
    • Uses power expressions or superlatives (e.g. that's mega, just awesome, etc.).
    • Just write stereotypically structured sentences or unstructured texts that are difficult to read.
    • Uses no or inappropriate non-verbal means of expression (e.g. appears distant, does not maintain eye contact, 'fidgets').
    • Own body language does not support the message and damages the credibility of the message.
       
  • Empathy

    Ability to recognise different emotional states in oneself and others and to put oneself in the other person's shoes. 

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Can describe their own current emotional state precisely.
    • Recognises the emotional state of others.
    • Perceives changes in a person's mood or the atmosphere of a conversation.
    • Recognises when another person is proud of something and expresses appreciation.
    • Helps others when they need support
    • Expresses compassion when something has happened to another person.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Does not react to changes in other people's feelings (e.g. does not respond when someone expresses fear).
    • Only makes undifferentiated comments about their own emotional state, even if a differentiated statement would be appropriate in a confidential situation.
    • Does not realise that they have hurt or offended others. Does not show any feelings when they learns of the suffering or distress of others or causes it themself.
    • Hurts the feelings of others by making fun of their "weaknesses" (e.g. being overweight or having a speech impediment).
    • Chooses the wrong media to communicate their feelings (e.g. short message about a death). 
       
  • Ability to deal with criticism and conflict

    Ability and willingness to deal constructively with criticism and to recognise, accept, address and resolve conflicts.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Listen when it is criticised and consider the points.
    • Recognises own internal conflicts and conflicts with or between other people.
    • Addresses conflicts proactively with "I" messages.  
    • Expresses own opinion at the appropriate time and/or when asked.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Immediately adopts a "defensive posture" when criticised.
    • Takes even factual criticism personally and reacts to it inappropriately.
    • Returns the favour for critical statements.
    • Denies or trivialises conflicts
    • Frequently changes own opinion to conform to group opinion.
    • Tolerates another person's unpleasant habit, e.g. "talking loudly on the phone at work", without addressing it.
    • Withdraws after criticism and reacts offended.
    • Signs off work after receiving negative criticism and stays at home.
       
  • Tolerance and inclusion

    Appreciates diversity and differences in society and treats them with respect and without prejudice. Shows interest and openness towards different cultures, religions and ways of life.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Is open and tolerant towards other opinions, other feelings, other beliefs and other ways of life.
    • Expresses tolerance and inclusion in a positive, non-verbal way.
    • Understands inclusion as added value and creates an environment in which everyone feels respected and recognised.
    • Challenges and promotes people fairly and objectively, regardless of external and internal personal characteristics.
    • Is mindful that everyone feels fairly treated and valued.
    • Has a controlled and cultivated communication and uses contemporary terminology.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Expresses themself unequivocally and problematically towards those who think, feel and believe differently.
    • Only tries to win over groups of people for their own interests and has more of a divisive function than a unifying function in groups and teams.
    • Shows non-verbally and unmistakably what your own opinion is regarding tolerance and inclusion.
    • Makes inappropriate jokes regarding origin, religion, sexuality, politics, etc.
    • Sees no chance for inclusion and tolerance and tends more towards exclusion and intolerance.
       

Leadership skills – me in my role as a leader

  • Role expertise

    Ability to recognise and differentiate between occupational and non-occupational roles, to enable more active and thus role-appropriate action in specific situations and to recognise differences in self-perception and role perception.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Can name and differentiate between their various professional and non-professional roles.
    • Adapts own behaviour and communication to a certain extent to the external situation and still remains recognisable as a consistent personality.
    • Adapts clothing style and appearance to the role and can represent this credibly.
    • Can recognise role conflicts and acts in a solution-oriented manner.
    • Is aware that roles entail rights and obligations.
    • Recognises the responsibility of own role and puts it into action.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Is not clear about different professional and private roles.
    • Mixes different roles in everyday life / e.g. a manager who also gives instructions at home.
    • Does not adapt their preferences (clothing, demeanour, language, manners) to the situation, insists on "his/her style".
    • Device in role conflicts without recognising them.
    • Expresses their own opinion without thinking about the role model function of their own role.
    • Believes that role competence comes at the expense of their own authenticity and behaves accordingly. 
  • Conceptual and networked thinking

    Ability to derive meaningful strategies and measures from overarching objectives.

    Ability to recognise the impact of strategies and measures on other departments and areas of the company.

    Ability to break down workflows and processes into their individual parts and analyse their interaction.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Argues logically and comprehensibly.
    • Recognises dependencies between individual parts and can effectively take these into account in the conceptual design phase.
    • Anticipates opportunities and challenges.
    • Can substantiate concepts with facts, studies and statistics.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Argues exclusively on the basis of personal experience, without abstracting from general laws and contexts.
    • Works inefficiently, as important things are not differentiated from unimportant things and overarching relationships are not recognised or only recognised insufficiently.
    • Does not plan or does not plan successfully, as the impact and dependencies of key elements are not considered.
       
  • Leadership and influence

    Leadership and influence encompass the ability to develop and communicate a vision and to inspire others to share and realise this vision. 

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • He has an overview and moderates discussions confidently, knows when it is appropriate to assert their own opinion and when objecting opinions should be recognised.
    • Achieves goals through convincing behaviour.
    • Is predictable and transparent in the exercise of leadership.
    • Maintains an overview at all times and proactively controls events
    • Controls organisational and operational activities

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Frequently changes own opinion to conform to group opinion.
    • Does not express an own point of view in controversial discussions.
    • Is exploited by others or appropriated for their interests. 
    • Sees differences of opinion as insurmountable conflicts and does not address them.
    • Is unprepared, overwhelmed and does not enjoy the support or legitimisation of the team.
       
  • Service-orientation

    Personal attitude, ability and willingness to recognise, anticipate and fulfil customer needs and wishes and to develop new customer-oriented services.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Recognises the wishes and needs of the stakeholder groups.
    • Utilises and expands its own scope for decision-making in order to fulfil the concerns of stakeholders.
    • Takes suggestions and criticism constructively and creates suitable solutions.
    • Utilises tools and techniques for professional and long-term stakeholder engagement.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Has difficulty adjusting to other people and their needs.
    • Does not take criticism and concerns seriously but expects stakeholders to "adapt" to the product/service.
    • Puts own interests or the interests of the company before the interests of the stakeholders.
    • Is always reactively busy "reworking" and therefore always behind schedule.
       
  • Decision-making ability

    Ability to recognise alternatives and decide on the best solution.

    Willingness to take on the associated responsibilities during implementation. 

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Utilises room for manoeuvre and discretion.
    • Makes decisions, even if there is a risk involved.
    • Represents decisions credibly both internally and externally.
    • Proves courage and pioneering spirit
    • Recognises the importance of making decisions and takes responsibility for them.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Frequently changes their mind and arbitrarily overturns decisions made.
    • Prefers to sit out necessary decisions until someone else decides or the situation changes.
    • Shows uncertainty when an important decision is pending for fear of disagreement and unpopularity.  
    • Overloaded with preparatory work, planning and additional information without ever making a decision or making it in good time.
    • Places wrong decisions onto others.
    • Shows insufficient sense of responsibility.
       

Future skills – me and the world

  • Critical thinking and analysis

    Ability to form an objective and professional judgement of facts from different perspectives and to set priorities correctly.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Obtains information from various sources in order to form an opinion.
    • Seek out discussion with people who hold opinions that differ from your own.
    • Expresses unpopular ideas in discussions if they are in line with the overall objective.
    • Scrutinise sources and information from official media on your own responsibility and check their reliability and credibility. 

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Believes rumours.
    • Never contradicts higher-ranking persons.
    • Adapts their own opinion to the group opinion without reflection.
    • Allows themself to be manipulated by charismatic people and seduced for their purposes.
    • Falls for every trend / hype without questioning it critically. 
    • Cannot set priorities but creates unrest in the organisation.  
       
  • Ability to change

    Ability and willingness to recognise change and help shape it in line with organisational goals.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • View change as a professional and personal development opportunity.
    • Supports change processes through active collaboration in groups.
    • Appreciate the past without preventing change.
    • Can convince and inspire others of the need for change.
    • Can react to rapidly changing conditions and deal successfully with a new situation
    • Maintains an overview even in confusing and hectic situations.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Views every change as a threat and represses it.
    • Refuses to take note of changes and information about changes.
    • Reacts with resistance to every upcoming change.
    • Expresses opinions such as: "everything used to be better".
    • Refuses to implement pending or resolved changes in own area.
    • Shows signs of stress, emotional strain or anxiety as soon as changes are discussed.
    • Basically, devalues every innovation and emphasises the value of the old ("We've always done it this way"). 
  • Creative thinking and action

    Ability to recombine existing contexts or to develop and implement unconventional or novel ideas.

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Questions the usual procedures.
    • "Think outside the box": looks at things from a new or previously unusual angle.
    • Has the courage and can solve practical problems when the necessary resources are lacking or insufficient. Makes unconventional proposals for solutions.
    • Is generally solution-orientated, confident and future-oriented.

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Despite their specialist knowledge, they cannot think of any possible solutions to problems.
    • Pursues entrenched thought patterns.
    • Demonstrates predominantly functional thinking in practical problems ("a chair is for sitting on").
    • Is too fear-driven and doesn't take any risks.
       
  • Intuition and anticipation

    Ability to identify emerging trends, developments and the needs of society, track their development and use them to develop solutions, services and future-oriented products.  

    Promoting indicators: The person...

    • Actively searches for information in different cultures and contexts.
    • Critically and openly examines new trends, developments and needs for relevance and feasibility.
    • Allows themselves to critically scrutinise their own intuition and anticipation without rejecting own ideas.
    • Knows the market leaders and trendsetters or is part of them
    • Develops new needs-orientated concepts, products and services, considering the relevant non-systemic factors.    

    Obstructive indicators: The person...

    • Does not take any risks and misses trends and developments or - in some cases - reluctantly follows them.
    • Is constantly influenced by the opinions of third parties.
    • Sees risks (and no opportunities) in every trend and every development.
    • Can be controlled externally.
    • Reluctant to leave their comfort zone because it involves effort / anxiety.