Simply put, professionalism is your behaviour during service delivery and the way you communicate the value proposition and product offerings.
In a broad sense, Professionalism depicts our behaviour in the corporate space and the attitude in formal settings. It communicates or demonstrates a commitment to excellence and the efficient execution of job functions, as well as entrepreneurial considerations and business interests. This emphasis on excellence through professionalism should inspire and motivate everyone in the workplace to strive for the best.
Professionalism is an unspoken but broadly accepted code of conduct that underpins the perceptions and expectations that altogether prescribe acceptable behaviour. Beyond your skill sets and know-how, professionalism effectively highlights your expertise and reliability. It also plays a crucial role in reducing conflicts, enabling everyone to focus on the task at hand and avoid being bogged down by interpersonal issues. This reassurance of reduced conflicts due to professionalism eliminates the need for conflict management and interpersonal reconciliation, instilling confidence in the workplace.
Professionalism is the platform on which we express and exercise productivity. It provides the enabling environment for value creation, innovation, and superlative performance. This empowerment through professionalism should engage and excite everyone in the workplace about the possibilities of their contributions.
If your workplace feels like a rowdy marketplace, assess the professionalism of your team members. And this is against the backdrop of Maslow’s Theory X, which assumes everyone who shows up to work really wants to work. We may entertain thoughts to the contrary in another article, but till then, let’s agree that people want to work and therefore have shown up in their best possible character and behaviour.
Professionalism is everyone’s responsibility; it is your badge of honour, worn in and out of season, because it enhances the achievement of results and smoothens interactions between people, thereby promoting personal interactions and highlighting the tenets of collective productivity.