PROFESSIONALISM

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines professionalism as "the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person". Professionalism is essentially the way an employee carries himself and applies himself to his occupation. Professionalism can manifest itself in a multiple of ways.

Ethics

Etiquette

Responsibility

Competence

Appearance

Reference

Ethics

Good ethics is key to a business for profitability. Ethics is what keeps the team working together and ensures the business is moving along. Companies decide which behavior is acceptable and they let their employees know during the interview process. You must be able to control yourself at work so you must watch your behavior. Good ethics in the workplace involves maintaining integrity. You must be honest and do the right thing. When employees maintain integrity they won’t lie or try to involve themselves with sneakiness and gossip. This in turn reduces workplace conflict and loss of profits.

Another ethical behavior is teamwork.Teamwork helps business tremendously. Teamwork allows coworkers to work together and build a bond and a friendship. When this happens there is less workplace conflict and work tends to be even easier. Teamwork is what helps business flow. The last ethical behavior is commitment. Workers must be dedicated to their work and commit to it. When you commit to something you are more than likely to give your all to it. When you put dedication in something you try your absolute hardest to achieve it. Work is completed efficiently and quickly. This in turn leads to company profits and employees are more likely to complete their job like they want to. If they did not have dedication they would perform the job like they wouldn’t care.

Etiquette

Workplace etiquette as defined in the Cambridge dictionary is a set of rules that helps people understand how they should behave in business or professional settings (Cambride Dictionary.org). Etiquette can vary from company to company, but there are basic guidelines that are good to follow in any workplace situation. Try to maintain a pleasant vibe while interacting with coworkers. Manners are never out of style! Please and thank you are always appreciated in the workplace, treating your coworkers with kindness and respect is a sign of a poised professional. As always, comments and conversations regarding religion, sex, politics, and age, are not only a bad idea, but may be considered workplace harassment. Keep your phone ringer on low or vibrate and avoid using speaker phone. Additionally, it’s common sense to keep all conversations with other employees at a quiet level and avoid gossip type conversations. Specific rules for your workplace and individual work area should be listed in your company’s employee manual.

Workplace etiquette that may be job specific includes:

Dress code
Rules of conduct for office relationships
Cell phone and personal phone call policy
Internet and technology policies
Food consumption on the job
Lunch and break expectations
Time-off guidelines

When in doubt about specific etiquette rules for your workplace, ask. And always remember that your professional behavior and adherence to workplace etiquette is a reflection of you. In the long run, that can mean the difference between a temporary job becoming permanent and a promotion.

Responsibility

A key element in workplace professionalism is responsibility. Responsibility is a duty or task that you are required or expected to do. Accountability is huge for employees (Webster, n.d.). Employees must show up on days they are scheduled to work and own up to something done wrong if they did it. You must own up to your mistakes and work toward a resolution with other coworkers.

There are many activities going on in the professional world, and it is up to the employees to be responsible enough to handle all their duties in order to keep business moving. It is also at times expected for employees to go above and beyond the call of duty. Employees carry the responsibility around the workplace including maintenance duties, and keeping a respectful environment.

Competency

Employee competency manifests itself as many different personal traits. These competencies may vary from job to job, but there are basic competencies that will remain consistent no matter what your career field may be. Competencies can be defined as “a person’s knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors which predict competent performance in a certain job” (Ley, 2003) Employees are expected to have a certain competencies to be able to fulfill the requirements of their assigned position, Here are some basic areas of competency that apply to nearly all professional positions:

Problem Solving – Ability to understand the job functions and perform them

Interpersonal Skills – Ability to interact with others, whether it be customers, coworkers, management or employees

Leadership –Skill required to lead others, whether it be your attitude to lead coworkers, or authority to lead employees

Organizational –Ability to manage or organize the work environment

Self-managed –Ability to motivate and direct oneself, delegate and hand out job assignments, and make judgement calls

Communication – the ability to exchange information in such a way that it

Employees excelling in these competencies have the ability to be high performing and highly productive employees

Appearance

Professional dress code for the workplace:

Be modest:

This includes no tight jeans or work pants. No tight shirts showing cleavage. No overdone make up looks. No overdone up hair styles. Casual Fridays are where the fun comes to play. Employees are allowed to dress in jeans and this is a freebie day, but there needs to be restrictions. Don’t/ does of freebie Friday are: Don’t wear the sweater that you look like you would clean your house with. Don’t wear the jeans that have the holy rips in them. Don’t wear the low cut v neck shirt you were supposed to get rid of five years ago guys and girls. Don’t wear the club make you want to wear Saturday night on Friday. Don’t look like you had five mins to get ready for work that day. Don’t look like you had a kid play in your hair and had a coffee spill on your tee. Don’t ever wear them things they call flip flops. Don’t wear the highest heels you have either. Dress for the job or like you have the job already. If wondering about a tattoo or piercing refer to the employee hand book or an immediate supervisor. Dress for the job you want not the job you are in. Hair should never be in your face or become a detraction. Hair and makeup come hand in hand. You should not be running to the bath or flipping open a mirror all the time to check your makeup or fixing your hair. You nail polish should also not be chipped or looking like you have been eating your fingers. You should not be at work trying to paint your nails also. The right color is important too, because if you have a bright yellow or orange or pink, then you should sign up for the circus.