What does professionalism mean to you?

pro·fes·sion·al·ism

prəˈfeSHənlˌizəm

noun

1. the competence or skill expected of a professional. “the key to quality and efficiency is professionalism”

• the practicing of an activity, especially a sport, by professional rather than amateur players.
  

To you, professionalism may mean how you or your colleagues dress, the image you/they portray or the perception that you/they convey.  It may be the essence in which you communicate vocally, verbally, or nonverbally.  How do you balance the development of relationships and maintaining a professionalism culture at the same time?

This month we will cover all of these topics and much more as we work to develop our professional culture at Headway while maintaining a fun, exciting and innovative atmosphere that is so iconic of Headway.

I think that everyone can agree with the www.dol.gov statement that “Employers want new workers to be responsible, ethical, and team-oriented, and to possess strong communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills. Wrap these skills up together and you’ve got professionalism.”

Professionalism is a complex combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, and perception that everyone (and every has an opportunity to work on.  Most importantly, it is directly correlated to an organizations culture.  Take a minute to think about the culture here at Headway Workforce Solutions.

Take another minute to think about other organizations that you have worked at.  Does professionalism (or lack thereof) improve the morale of the employees?  Does it make people more or less productive?  Does it make the organization more or less collaborative or innovative?

Think about what professionalism means to you and reflect on what you do to maintain that level that you bring to the organization on a day-to-day basis.  Think about what you can do to become more professional as well as what you can do to make your core teamwork more professionally.

-Alex Smith, Account Manager