Who Is The Professional At The Workplace?

Typically, the term “professional” is used in context to refer to different ideas about work or the one who does it; a person who exhibits certain behavioral qualities thought to represent “excellence” particularly in how work is done; a person who occupies a job at a certain level in the hierarchy of an organization; a person who’s job falls within a loosely defined range of careers; a person who is seen as competent at what they do; the quality of the output of work as in “a professionally executed job”.

                                               

The seeming conflicts in the defining parameters make it challenging to determine sometimes who could be referred to as a professional. I have on occasion had difficulty filling out information sheets that require a differentiation between categories such as Management, Technical or Professional Staff, Support Staff, Administrative Staff. As if to suggest that professionals cannot be found in some categories of workers. So for instance, the Accounts Officer or the I.T. Officer tends to be placed in the Support Staff category for reasons other than that those positions rely on technical, specialized knowledge and skills that often require certification.

The work place is filled with people executing work of all types; cleaners; drivers; mechanics; administrators, engineers, secretaries; draughtswomen, lawyers. All of these jobs can and should be filled with professionals. Indeed the ultimate objective of any recruiter should be to find the best “professional” for any position. I would therefore not differentiate “professionals” on the basis of the type of work or career or indeed the status of a job in the organization.

So then, are we professionals because we have “professions”? I doubt that is so and the answer for me is in the variety of the references to who the professional is above. The professional for me combines the competency, behavioral and self-presentation qualities related to and expected in his or her line of work or position. A popular definition is this: “the conduct, aims or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional”

  

I believe that many of the characteristics cut across professions. Here are my top rather loaded characteristics of the professional at the workplace:   

1.      They not only possess the knowledge and the skill needed to undertake the work they do; they are flexible in applying their knowledge and skill to address work related issues.

2.       They are open to new ideas and constantly explore new ways of improving their work methods and outputs. Bottom-line, they are lifetime learners who constantly seek ways to improve their work.  

3.      They produce outputs or products and services to a standard and of a quality generally accepted as satisfactory by consumers and to industry standards.  

4.      They behave ethically. No gossip, no lies, No cheating, no stealing,

5.      They require no supervision to get the job done.  

6.      They present themselves and comport themselves appropriately at all times. That is they look the part and act the part.

7.      They are polite

I will elaborate on the characteristics in another post. In the meantime what would be your ideal characteristics of the professional?