Word-Of-the-Week #687: Professionalism
October 5, 2017 by Susan Clarke
Professionalism – demonstrating a high degree of knowledge or skill.
Have you learned every aspect of your job? Are you performing to the best of your abilities? Do you inspire others with your work ethics?
These are the last 3 Values of Penny Loretto’s article, “The Top 10 Work Values Employers Look For.”
- Strong Self – Confidence
Self-confidence has been recognized as the key ingredient between someone who is successful and someone who is not. A self – confident person is someone who inspires others. A self-confident person is not afraid to ask questions on topics where they feel they need more knowledge. They feel little need to have to impress others with what they know since they feel comfortable with themselves and don’t feel they need to know everything.
The self-confident person does what he/she feels is right and is willing to take risks. Self- confident people can also admit their mistakes. They recognize their strengths as well as their weaknesses and are willing to work on the latter. Self-confident people have faith in themselves and their abilities which is manifested in their positive attitude and outlook on life.
- Professionalism
Employers value employees who exhibit professional behavior at all times. Professional behavior includes learning every aspect of a job and doing it to the best of one’s ability. Professionals look, speak, and dress accordingly to maintain an image of someone who takes pride in their behavior and appearance. Professionals complete projects as soon as possible and avoid letting uncompleted projects pile up. Professionals complete high quality work and are detail oriented. Professional behavior includes all of the behavior above in addition to providing a positive role model for others. Professionals are enthusiastic about their work and optimistic about the organization and its future. To become a professional you must feel like a professional and following these tips is a great start to getting to where you want to go.
- Loyalty
Employers value employees they can trust and who exhibit their loyalty to the company. Loyalty in the workforce has taken on a new meaning. Gone are the days when employees plan on starting out and retiring with the same company. It is said that most people will hold between 8 – 12 jobs throughout their career. What does this mean in terms of loyalty in today’s workforce?
Companies offering employee growth and opportunity will ultimately gain a sense of loyalty from their employees. Employees today want to feel a sense of satisfaction in their jobs and will do a good job when they feel that the employer is fair and wants to see them succeed. Although this may mean only staying for five or ten years in a position, employees can offer loyalty and make an important contribution during their time with the company.
- More companies today encourage employee feedback and offer employees an opportunity to lead in their area of expertise. This gives employees a greater sense of satisfaction and a sense of control over their job. Empowerment encourages employees to do their best work since companies are displaying a trust and expectation that they believe in their employees to do a good job.
Offering jobs that encourage learning and the development of new skills also gives employees a sense of empowerment in the workplace. Aligning an employees values with the goals of the organization will foster loyalty and a bond between employer and employee. Fostering good relationships within an organization and offering constructive ways to handle conflict provides a win – win situation for both employer and employee. Creating an organization that values loyalty within the organization can also work to its benefit by using the same techniques and strategies to establish loyalty with customers; and loyalty from customers ultimately makes for a successful business.
This week is all about your level of professionalism. Are you proud of your behavior and appearance? Are you confident in your abilities and skill level? Do you have a sense of satisfaction and control over your job?
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