Professionalism in the workplace is important for success.
"Professionalism" or "being professional" is difficult to define. Years ago, I worked for a small nonprofit organization. The director's wife, who was also the treasurer, told the receptionist not to bring her infant daughter to the office because it was "unprofessional." While she was telling her not to bring her daughter to the office, the treasurer's poodle was running around the office like she owned the place. To me, having an infant child in the office is no more unprofessional than having a dog running through the office. That being said, "professionalism" does make a difference, so it needs to be understood and that the leaders (owners and managers) have the final say about professionalism.
The dictionary definition of professionalism is "the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or professional person." The difficulty lies in the fact that professionalism is defined according to profession and it has cultural influences. Every profession has its own set of accepted conducts, aims, and qualities. Sometimes they are written and sometimes they are assumed. Have you ever noticed in a group of politicians, they are all wearing dark suits? Even lawyers are often referred to as "suits" because of the expectation of their work apparel. Nurses have an expected set of rules of conduct and behaviors for their profession. Nurses and doctors have written policies to guide their "professionalism," but store cashiers may not have written professional policies.
HOW DOES THE EMPLOYEE THAT DESIRES TO BE A "GOOD EMPLOYEE" KNOW WHAT "PROFESSIONAL" MEANS?
Always begin with the employee handbook.
Most "professional" companies have an employee handbook that explains accepted behaviors and procedures including dress code. Employee handbooks are always in a state of flux. They are continually changing and adapting. As a company grows, policies will change as the company becomes more "professional." Some policies are written in stone, but some policies can be negotiated. Employers want to retain good employees and to keep them satisfied with the job. The key to negotiating employee policy is to be a good employee that brings value to the company and never negotiate from the position of conflict. Tell the employer that you have a problem that you need help resolving. Explain now the policy conflicts with your situation and ask the employer to help resolve the issue. A good employer will help come up with an acceptable compromise. But, if the company policy is that employees will not have any facial hair, stating that you want a compromise because "I like beards," is probably not a good negotiating stance.
"Professionalism" is best defined as "I know it when I see it!"
"I know unprofessional when I see it" is not a good measure of professionalism, but sometimes it is the best test we have. Use the "face value" test. On face value, is it more professional not to have children in the workplace? Yes, but that does not account for real life situations. Is it more professional not to have tattoos that can be seen? Yes, but that does not account for our changing culture. The biggest problem defining "professionalism" is that it is often subjective. In the example above where the treasurer did not want the receptionist to bring her child into the office, she cited "unprofessional" as her reason, while she apparently had no problem with dogs in the office. Had the receptionist another option for her baby, she would have exercised it.
Research shows that professionalism is job/industry specific and includes what you know, how you act, and how you look. Knowledge, actions, and appearance standards change from job to job and industry to industry, but within each there is an accepted norm that can be labeled as "professionalism." There are some characteristics, however, that are common to all jobs and industries. Some professional qualities are:
DO THE EXERCISES BELOW:
Answer the following questions:
*How can a person tell if someone is "professional" by the clothing that they wear?
*How can a person tell if another is professional by their actions?
*How should someone speak on the phone if they wanted to be perceived as professional?
*What is the professional protocol for handling customer complaints?
*How do the following words and phrases impact professionalism?
The dictionary definition of professionalism is "the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or professional person." The difficulty lies in the fact that professionalism is defined according to profession and it has cultural influences. Every profession has its own set of accepted conducts, aims, and qualities. Sometimes they are written and sometimes they are assumed. Have you ever noticed in a group of politicians, they are all wearing dark suits? Even lawyers are often referred to as "suits" because of the expectation of their work apparel. Nurses have an expected set of rules of conduct and behaviors for their profession. Nurses and doctors have written policies to guide their "professionalism," but store cashiers may not have written professional policies.
HOW DOES THE EMPLOYEE THAT DESIRES TO BE A "GOOD EMPLOYEE" KNOW WHAT "PROFESSIONAL" MEANS?
Always begin with the employee handbook.
Most "professional" companies have an employee handbook that explains accepted behaviors and procedures including dress code. Employee handbooks are always in a state of flux. They are continually changing and adapting. As a company grows, policies will change as the company becomes more "professional." Some policies are written in stone, but some policies can be negotiated. Employers want to retain good employees and to keep them satisfied with the job. The key to negotiating employee policy is to be a good employee that brings value to the company and never negotiate from the position of conflict. Tell the employer that you have a problem that you need help resolving. Explain now the policy conflicts with your situation and ask the employer to help resolve the issue. A good employer will help come up with an acceptable compromise. But, if the company policy is that employees will not have any facial hair, stating that you want a compromise because "I like beards," is probably not a good negotiating stance.
"Professionalism" is best defined as "I know it when I see it!"
"I know unprofessional when I see it" is not a good measure of professionalism, but sometimes it is the best test we have. Use the "face value" test. On face value, is it more professional not to have children in the workplace? Yes, but that does not account for real life situations. Is it more professional not to have tattoos that can be seen? Yes, but that does not account for our changing culture. The biggest problem defining "professionalism" is that it is often subjective. In the example above where the treasurer did not want the receptionist to bring her child into the office, she cited "unprofessional" as her reason, while she apparently had no problem with dogs in the office. Had the receptionist another option for her baby, she would have exercised it.
Research shows that professionalism is job/industry specific and includes what you know, how you act, and how you look. Knowledge, actions, and appearance standards change from job to job and industry to industry, but within each there is an accepted norm that can be labeled as "professionalism." There are some characteristics, however, that are common to all jobs and industries. Some professional qualities are:
- Integrity & honesty
- Respect & friendliness
- Team work
- Responsibility
- Adaptability
- Initiative
- Self-awareness
- Self-development
- Finish tasks
- Etiquette
- Punctuality (being on time)
- Sensitivity to fellow workers and customers
- Attention to duty
- Putting others first
- Competence
- Considerate
- Courteous
- Dependable
There are also unprofessional characteristics that go across job and industry. Some unprofessional qualities are:
- Irresponsible
- Lack of self-improvement
- Poor initiative and procrastination
- Tardiness (habitually being late)
- Being unavailable (hard to contact)
- Unprepared
- Unorganized
- Dislike feedback
- Prejudice
- Rudeness
- Unengaged
- Unsocial
DO THE EXERCISES BELOW:
Answer the following questions:
*How can a person tell if someone is "professional" by the clothing that they wear?
*How can a person tell if another is professional by their actions?
*How should someone speak on the phone if they wanted to be perceived as professional?
*What is the professional protocol for handling customer complaints?
*How do the following words and phrases impact professionalism?
- Appearance
- Trustworthiness
- Egocentrist
- Integrity
- Hygiene
- Punctuality
- Argumentative
- Loyalty
- Intelligence
- Hair style
- Education
- Use of language (slang, profanity, etc.)
- Behavior outside of work
- Team player
- Not dilligent
- Lazy
- Self-centered
- Pays attention to detail
- Prejudiced
- Verbose
*What area do you need to work on to become more professional?
*Does your job have clearly communicated professional standards?
*Does your job have clearly communicated professional standards?
What is your main take-away that you can apply to your situation? Please leave a comment below! Thanks
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I believe professionalism can make or break a company. It can make the difference in whether a person chooses to come to your business or go to another. Professionalism is difficult to define because it is not usually objective. It involves the 5 senses, which are perceived differently from person to person that's why having a company's professional standards documented in an employee handbook is so important.
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