Business needs professionals

by Amila Muthukutti

Every business organisation needs professionals to plan and implement business strategies and finally achieve business success. Due to the increasing competition in the business world, professionals have a major role to play in organisations.

There is a difference between the way a professional and non-professional look at a given situation, ad

This difference can make the business unique and exceptional. Hence, employees should not be just labourers, workers or merely employees.

They should be professionals. As some middle level managers suffer from the lack of professionalism, it is up to the CEOs and senior managers to empower employees with professionalism.

For some, being professional might mean dressing smartly at work, doing a good job and having lots of advanced degrees such as MBA.

Professionalism encompasses all of these things. But, it also covers much more. Professionalism can be defined as the conduct, aims or qualities that characterise or mark a profession or a professional person.

It needs to be discussed what the attributes of professionalism are and how to be a good professional, because the whole business lies in the hands of professionals.

Specialised knowledge

Professionals should be experts in an area of knowledge and always committed to improve and sharpen their skills. A person is called a professional, once he can perform a job more efficiently and better than others.

Every professional has specialised knowledge in their fields. Training programs can be conducted, so that all the employees can become professionals. Senior managers should also be responsible for empowering employees with knowledge and skills.

Because every professional in the organisation has to deal with customers directly or indirectly, they should know how to do their jobs professionally through specialised knowledge.

Competency

Professionals should execute their duty well, especially through the specialised knowledge that they have gained. They not only do their job but also get the job done by their subordinates. They are reliable, as they fulfill their promises.

Since today's business environment is highly volatile and competitive, it is up to professionals to strategically face challenging situations. This is why, they do not make excuses, but find solutions.

Honesty

Professionals represent their organisation inside and outside the business. Hence, they can be trusted by colleagues and shareholders in the organisation and customers and other business partners outside the organisation.

Honesty and integrity are important qualities for professionals to have for self-improvement and business development. As most professionals are bound by a code of ethics set by professional institutes, they have to comply with professional ethics in executing their duties.

If a job falls outside their field of expertise, they do not hesitate to take the challenge.

They ask for help, whenever necessary, because they are willing to learn from others.

Accountability

Professionals always perform their job properly, implementing unique business strategies to make the business profitable on behalf of shareholders.

As they are by nature representatives of the shareholders, professionals have to be accountable for what they do.

They cannot exceed ethics and avoid accountability under any circumstances. Business accountability is a critical factor in building shareholders' confidence which spontaneously results in business growth.

Self-regulation

Professionals are self-regulated people. Even though they have to work under various circumstances, stress, disappointment so and so forth, they are responsible for maintaining professional behaviour.

What is more important to be noted here is that customer get an image of the organisation through the way professionals behave and respond to customer needs.

Hence, professionals need to be self-regulated and show professionalism. For instance, imagine a receptionist who has to deal with an irate customer putting the blame on the organisation, what she has to do is to be self-regulated and respond professionally.

Image

They try to provide customers professional solutions and don't let personal life impact on the way in which they interact with colleagues and customers.

Although it is true that people should not judge a book by its cover, they can get an idea of the book at first glance and decide whether to buy it or not. The same can also be applied to the business world as well. That is why, we are used to the saying 'first impression counts'.

One of the most important things expected from professionals is to present a good image to customers about the organisation. The image that a professional builds in the mind of a customer communicates the values, ethics and finally professionalism that the business organisation holds.

Hence, they have to be smartly dressed, to convey a good image about the organisation and themselves.

Once employees are empowered with these characteristics, they become an asset to their organisations. Today, one of the problems from which SMEs suffer is the lack of professionalism.

Therefore, business leaders have to find out ways through which the performance of employees can be improved. True professionals are the first to be considered for promotions, because business needs more professionals.

The writer holds a BA in Economics from the University of Colombo