1

BUSINESS ETIQUETTES
AND PROFESSIONALISM

BRINGING
PROFESSIONALISM
IN
MANAGEMENT

INDEX

S.No. PARTICULARS

Page

INTRODUCTION

MANAGEMENT

PROFESSION

PROFESSIONALISM IN MANAGEMENT

PROFESSIONALISM AT WORKPLACE

PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS

PURPOSE

3 STEPS FOR PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOUR

12

SUBJECTIVITY

14

10

BENEFITS AND CONFLICTS

14

11

REASONS FOR LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM

15

12

CONCLUSION

16

13

BIBLIOGRAPHY

17

INTRODUCTION
Today every manager is required to work as a leader and therefore, he is
required to be conscious of the fact that he cannot survive in the organization
as effective and useful leader unless there is radical change in his outlook to
achieve the distinction of his being a true manager with high successful
record of achievement. He should understand the inherent possibilities in
interacting with other professionals. The business world is filled with
possibilities for those who understand key business partnerships and the
potential. Knowing how to interface with business professionals can greatly
expand our network of contacts and our access to critical career information.
One should take responsibility when he has made a mistake and others are
wrong. One way to earn the eternal gratitude of those around him is by being
willing to take blame. When a manager can do this, he will virtually never
have to take all of the blame, because no one will ever let him. Apologies are
always accepted and graciousness counts for a lot. One should use
professional methods of communication. If the managers are going to be
interacting with other professionals and receiving confidential information
through a home e-mail or on a home voice mail, it is not the best time to
have two-year-old make the message, and it is the time to not use "hotmail"
or some other connector which sounds lightweight.

MANAGEMENT
The word management has been defined by different writers differently but
for our purpose this can be defined in the simplest concept, Management is
the Organization, control and motivation of human efforts directed to the set
goals.
Management is an individual or group of individuals that accepts
responsibilities to run an organization. They plan, organize, direct and
control all the essential activities of the organization. Management does not
do the work themselves , they motivate others to do the work and coordinate their work for achieving the objectives of the organization. Hence
we may say that management is basically managing people at work and coordinating their activities.

Management is the process of designing and maintaining performance

environment through relations building within and outside the organization
by utilizing optimally all resources including human, available to it and
manage effective and efficient use for attaining selected purpose for which
the organization has been established and then to achieve economic surplus,
so as to promote the best interest of consumers in competitive conditions.
Management brings together all 6Ms i.e.
Men and Women
Money
Machines
Materials
Methods
Markets.
According to Harold Koontz
Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in
formally organized groups
Any Management analyses situations and facts for guiding and directing the
organization objectives and the manager is the dynamic and life giving
factor for the growth of the organization and the national prosperity.

Management is a dynamic process, ever progressing in the practice with

changing world scene. The main objective of the management is set goal
achievement for economic growth of the country in wider sense. No
economic growth could ever be achieved by legislation, administrative
regulation and exhortation It is only through MAN and efficient and
effective management

PROFESSION
The oxford English dictionary defines PROFESSION as a paid occupation
especially one that involves prolonged training and formal qualification.
Professionals are the ones who are
COMPETENT,
SKILLFUL, and
ASSURED.
And professionalism is the level of competence and excellence that is
expected of a professional. It is knowing how to do it, when to do it
and doing it.
Professionalism is basically, the knowledge that an individual carries about
a certain field. At work, professionalism refers to a person doing
his/her job with sincerity, and maintaining professional etiquette
and ethics at workplace. It leads to logical and completely unbiased
decision-making, making it the basis of a good work environment.
Professionalism at work is completely devoid of politics, positive
politics or mind games. Its root lies in those who do their work with
quality and quantity in mind.
Professionalism is essential trait both in business and the society. It is that
quality that drives a persons appearance, personal and professional
interaction and which provides others with first impression.
6Ps of professionalism are:
Punctual
Prepared
Prudent
Progressive
Proactive
Proud

DISTINCT FACTS THAT PERSONIFY

PROFESSIONALISM

Adhere to your commitments with the reporting heads and colleagues.

Living up to your commitments every single time is a mark of a true
professional.
Realize the sensitivity of the work that comes over to you and make
sure not to misuse it in any way. This will make you a trustworthy
professional.
Valuing the time and effort spent by others is never taken for granted
by a thorough professional.
Conducting yourself well in office, following a certain set of work
principles and setting an example for others will make you a good role
model.
Laying high standards for your work performance from time to time
and always doing your best in all that you do, speaks volumes about
your professionalism at work.

IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONALISM
Firstly professionalism was related only with some specific jobs like doctor,
engineer, lawyer etc.. but now professionalism need to be in every job
irrespective of degree and designation whether it is music, photography,
military, teacher, etc..
In the organizations earlier the top management
was only responsible for bringing the professionalism to the organization but
now in the organizations even the bottom line has to be profeesional in order
to achieve the organizational goals.
Professionalism is something every business must present to customers,
vendors, and competition. Many people view professionalism as something
that individuals should practice. However, the concept stretches to all
aspects of business. A successful business integrates professionalism into all
aspects of its operations, advertising, and customer relations.
In order to understand the true importance of professionalism, the first step
is to understand what it means. One good definition goes something like
this. Professionalism is adhering to a set of values which include meeting
professional obligations, conducting oneself according to formal and

informal codes of conduct, and meeting the expectations of everyone with

whom we come into contact as part of our business role.
Hence following are the points which discuss the importance of
professionalism in management:
Professionalism at work is important to ensure good performance by
all. If everyone is professional, everyone will do the best they can at
their job.
Professionalism at work is required to ensure a good team spirit. If
people work professionally, they will know how to value their
organizational goals, along with their personal ones.
Professionalism is required to keep all the employees motivated.
Happy employees are positive brand ambassadors for the
organization. Keeping the employees motivated, is important to
maintain a good reputation of the office.
It is important to ensure justice to everyone's efforts. In a professional
environment, a person's quality of work is taken into consideration
along with the quantity of their work. This phenomenon does justice
and appreciates the efforts of the employees.
Professionalism at work helps in maintaining the right amount of
communication at the workplace. It also ensures that those who need
to be heard, are heard.
Professionalism is the axis around which any organization revolves.
Without this axis, the organization will be lost in the galaxy of politics,
mind games and blame games.
The greatest misconception about professionalism is that it is all about
money but this is not true. One should believe passionately in what you do
and never knowingly compromise your values and standards. Act like a true
professional, aiming for true excellence and the money will follow you.

10

PROFESSIONALISM IN MANAGEMENT
We know that management is like an indicator that exits between work and
results. Without a proper indicator one would have been in
disarray. Due to fast technological changes and innovations, high
competitions, spread of education and knowledge, change in the
nature and attitude of customers etc, managing an organization is
becoming increasingly complex and challenging today and hence
calls for professional skills of high caliber. A professional manager
has to know many things in addition to his/her basic knowledge,
qualification and experiences. It depends on how well a
professional manager intelligently act on a particular situation,
develop his ideas, thoughts imaginations, creativity, maintain
discipline in every respect, communicate effectively, hold back his
personal ego for the larger interest of his/her fellow colleagues
and his organization. In short he/she is to make proper planning
well in advance, organizing his task systematically with minimum
cost, time and effort, directing all individuals to make proper
execution of the tasks, co-ordinating all facilities and finally
controlling all activities in conformance to the plans of the
organization.
To become a true professional manager, one must possess sufficient
knowledge, skills and competence in the priority area, which can be acquired
and developed through formal education, training, experiences and
exposures etc. A professional manager should also constantly update his/her
knowledge by getting himself/herself associated with relevant professional
associations/bodies, by undergoing periodic training, attending and
participating seminars, workshops etc and by visiting professionally
managed organization/institutions, both within and outside the country and
by reading current management books, management journals, periodicals,
research journals, case studies etc. In addition, he/she should clearly
understand the objectives and mission of the organization, ability to analyse
both short term and long term oppurtunities and priorities, develop a proper
system and culture, share organizational concern for developing capabilities
of all category of employees in the organization.

11

HOW TO BRING PROFESSIONALISM AT WORKPLACE

So, now that we know what professionalism is all about, it is important to
know how to induce it in the employees. It is very important to ensure that
professionalism is understood by the employees who make an organization.
So how do you inculcate professionalism at a workplace?
Keep a uniform environment for communication. If you wish to refer
to each other with formality (that is with the surname, or using "sir"
and "ma'am"), then let that be constant for all, in the workplace. If you
want a more friendly environment, then let everyone refer to all with
the first name. Whatever you choose, it has to be constant and uniform
for all.
It is important that all employees are aware of the professional
environment at work. While their personal issues will be considered
by the management when required, they need to abstain from
discussing it during office hours. This keeps the office environment
free from empathy related biases about productivity.
Employees should be told off from the concept of competition
bashing. Often in the heat of the moment, employees go about bashing
their competition's reputation. This would include complaining to the
management about certain aspects about them, or spreading rumors
via the grapevine. This should be avoided at all times. If anyone is
found indulging in such activities, strict action should be taken at the
earliest.
Punctuality is very important. If the office has fixed working hours, it
should be abided by all the employees. In case there is a deviation by
any employee, either they should inform beforehand, cover up for the
work in the near future, or complete their day's target in a short span
of time.
Professional dress code should be maintained. Luring a senior by
wearing provocative clothes has been a tried and tested method. If one
wishes to avoid the use of such tactics at the workplace, and avoid the
possibility of fraternizing within the workplace, it is important that
everyone dresses in a certain manner, that is acceptable by all in the
management.

12

These training tips are to show how to keep the environment professional,
yet flexible. A professional environment does not necessarily have to be a
restricting one.

PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS

Ethics and professionalism are closely related. The management should set high
ethical standards for employee behavior. It should support those standards with
training, communication and an atmosphere of trust. Ethical problems can add
up to significant legal exposure and loss of competitive advantage in the
marketplace."The employers that best avoid these difficulties are not
necessarily the ones with the fanciest ethics policies, but those that most
effectively provide their workforce with the framework to identify and address
ethical issues as they arise."

Few basic qualities of professional managers are:

1. Have an insight of his/her job requirements;
2. Carry out continuous updating of all his learning to fulfill his job
requirements;
3. Have a performance oriented relationship with the superiors, subordinates and colleagues, based on mutual respect to facilitate
teamwork for collective contribution to the organization;
4. Have a relationship based on long term mutual benefit approach with
customers, suppliers and other members of public;
5. Have a linkage with fellow professionals to improve the standard,
contribution and prestige of the managerial profession.
Professionalism in management has brought radical changes in all walks of
life, particularly in the industrial and business world. The challenge has also
assumed significance in view of high competition and also rapid growth
mainly after liberalization and globalization of the economy.

PROFESSIONALISM IN MANAGEMENT ESSENTIALLY

DEMANDS THE FOLLOWING:

The right attitude and approach to management.

The systematic evolution of objectives for the organization

13

The application of appropriate methods for achieving the objectives of

the organization.

PURPOSE
The very objective of professionalism in a constant endeavor by the
Manager is to eradicate the real short comings and bring in reality to practice
for the achievement of organizational objectives with the help of his
education, training, skills, experience and vision with right attitude and
approach,and with the required adoption in the environment in which he
was.
Professionalism must lead to the ascendancy of Managerial excellence over
various constraints and how this can be brought above formal education and
training. What is needed is to create real awareness among the management
personnel.
Every manager is required to work as a leader and therefore, he is required
to be conscious of the fact that he cannot survive in the organization as
effective and useful leader unless there is radical change in his outlook to
achieve the distinction of his being a true manager with high successful
record of achievement. Professionalism will then appear to be meaningful to
him. It is a Herculean task to achieve professionalism in management but
both of them are very close to each other. In present day managerial
situations, professionalism adds greater strength of achievement, may be,
simpler too. Therefore, professionalism in management is desirable and all
efforts should be made to achieve it.
Following are the points which may help the organization to practice its
managerial functions and create favorable situations for bringing
professionalism to management :

Faith and confidence:

Every profession is dear to its professionals. But all those who are in the
profession may not be managers and are responsible to manage. Even those
who are so responsible may not bring professionalism to management.

14

Unless they have faith and confidence in their profession, its usefulness to
management and the organization. Therefore, faith and confidence in the
profession and its utility for the management will not only make the
management easier but also will produce results which otherwise could not
have been possible.

Favorable attitude and approach:

No professionalism in management will be effective and useful to the
management of the organization unless who intend it and those who will be
using for objective achievements have right approach and attitude in
utilizing the professionalized management. The absence of proper approach
and attitude the part of professionals and managers will not only hinder in
serving the purpose but may harm the management and be a real hurdle and
constraint for objective achievement.

Competence and capabilities:

For obvious reasons, professionalizing management cannot be said to be
always smooth selling. However, inspite of its professionalism can be
brought into management if the concerned managers are possessing adequate
capabilities and are competent to make proper adjustments in
professionalizing the management.

Creativity
A Manager has to possess the quality of creativity and such managers are not
only pro professionalizes but make all endeavor to accept professionalization
in Management.

Reasonable freedom, Safety and security:

Management function has increasingly been complex and constraints often
imbalance the managerial situations. Therefore, the management has to
have adequate safety, security and freedom in its functions which will help
in not only managing the organization but professionalizing management
functions which makes objective achievements easy.

15

Management of situation & Environment:

Political, social, and economic situations in our country is changing very fast
and becoming complex day by day. Today's manager finds it really hard to
function and produce desired results. He is required to manage the
environment and situations and not only control them but make them
favorable for accomplishing his managerial functions. Therefore, the
management has to evolve systems and adopt appropriate measures to
manage the situation and environment which will create atmosphere for
bringing professionalism into management.

Updating Knowledge and education:

Be he a professional or a member of the management team or he is in any
sphere of life, adequate knowledge is a must and updating of this is
desirable. A manager cannot function effectively and efficiently unless he is
knowledgeable and improves his capability through adequate knowledge
which is possible through proper education and updating of the knowledge.
Proper education of the management team and updating their knowledge
will have higher bearing on bringing professionalism and its practice
thereafter for objective achievement.

On going and incoming situation oriented ability:

AN organization cannot achieve its desired growth unless its management is
effective. Management cannot be effective if it is aware of only the ongoing
happenings and turns out itself deaf to the future. Therefore, the
management should be fully aware of what is happening now and have to
sense what might happen in days and few years to come. The management
can adopt professionalism and use it efficiently if sensing power is possessed
and adequate measures are taken to harness the future.

Managing the Management:

A manager in the management team cannot be effective unless he is capable
of managing the management in a wider sense. While playing his own role
he has to play certain roles in some situations and make the management
team to function effectively. Every manager and entire management team
has this responsibility to discharge and such quality helps greatly to bring
professionalism to management.

16

Disposition:
Adoption of professionalism into management will face hurdles if the
management team is disinclined or disinterested and adoption is
circumstantial, if it is so, lit will not serve any purpose and made do harm to
the organization and the management. Therefore, management team has to
be properly disposed for bringing professionalism to management which
will help the management to achieve the objectives of the organization.

THREE STEPS FOR INSPIRING AND GUIDING THE

PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOUR
While there are many strategies and tactics an organization can consider,
The Goals Institute recommend that the following three steps can be
consider to inspire and guide the professional behaviour:

Step 1- Establish the rules

The first step is to establish the rules of professional behavior that
everyone is to follow.This means adopting written policies, procedures, and
codes of conduct that establish values, standards, and principles of behavior
in tangible form.
This is important. It provides a reference set of benchmarks that employees
and managers can use for modeling, guiding, and correcting behavior.In our
environment of diverse cultures and backgrounds, it is foolish to assume that
people know right from wrong and understand what they should do or not do
to think and act professionally.If we do not tell people exactly what we want
them to know and do, they are going to guess. Oftentimes they are going to
guess incorrectly.In establishing standards of conduct and rules for guiding
professional behavior, many organizations fall short of the mark. They
attempt a piecemeal approach or they are not as explicit and clear as they
must be.

17

Step 2- Teach the rules

The second step is to teach individuals the rules and make sure they
understand them. This means providing individuals opportunities to read and
learn the organizations guiding principles for professional behavior.
People need opportunities to ask questions and get answers. They should be
able to obtain first hand guidance for how they should apply the rules in
their individual circumstances and environment.

Step 3- Reinforce and enforce the rules

The third step is to reinforce and enforce the rules. This means providing
ongoing reminders and reinforcement by recognizing and rewarding the
professional behaviors desired.
It also means being intolerant of behavior that is not acceptable and
providing appropriate penalties and consequences for non-compliance.
Managers need to learn how to insist that professionalism standards are
maintained. They also need to know how to address behavior that is not
professional.
To implement the three steps above, an ongoing six-point program is
recommended.

Establish a Professionalism Goal:

Establish a goal of polishing and revitalizing professionalism and

professional behavior throughout the organization.

Establish a Group of Professionalism Champions:

Establish a core group of Professionalism Champions to pursue the goal,

spearhead the effort, and keep it alive.

Establish the Rules:

Establish the basic rules of professional behavior by adopting the

concepts in Professionalism Is for Everyone as guiding principles.
Provide a copy of the book to each employee.

Train Everyone:

18

Provide continuous presentations, seminars, and discussion sessions to

teach everyone the principles in Professionalism Is for Everyone. Give
them opportunities to provide input and ask questions.
Provide Reminders and Reinforcement:
Create and implement a series of events, rewards, and reminders to keep
the spirit of professionalism alive and top of mind. These programs
should drive professionalism into the DNA of the organization and
facilitate a positive corporate cultural change.

Incorporate Professionalism Is for Everyone:

Incorporate the Professionalism Is for Everyone book into ongoing

orientation programs for new employees. Let people new to your group
understand, from Day 1, what the expectations are for professional
behavior.

SUBJECTIVITY
Because of the way professionalism is judged the term is subjective. What is
considered professional in one culture may be considered unprofessional in
another. For example, while workers in one social subset might view
bringing gifts to negotiations as a professional gesture of goodwill, workers
in another subset might view bringing gifts as an unprofessional attempt to
bribe.

BENEFITS AND CONFLICTS

Adopting the standards of professional conduct generally works to improve
employee relationships, business efficiency and company revenue. However
professional behaviour can be misunderstood or perceived in a more
negative light because it places behavioural expectations on individuals that
might stifle true personalities and styles, some may suspect that time that
could be devoted to production and getting the job at hand done is wasted in
red tape or appearances or that unethical practices on the part of
management are being foisted upon them under the guise of professionalism.
In this argument, there is a danger of losing individuality in the name of
respect, profit and production.

19

REASONS FOR LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM

Professionalism is responsible for several positive actions in the
organization. As a flip side to the coin, lack of professionalism will be
responsible for several negatives.
Lack of motivation at work often occurs due to lack of
professionalism.
Lack of professionalism will lead to employees not thinking of the
organization as their own, but as a place where they are till something
better comes up. It will lead to declining job satisfaction.
Lack of professionalism leads to unethical acts in the company that
would mar its reputation.
Lack of professionalism leads to higher attrition rate, which keeps the
organization's recruitment budget in use at all times, causing it a
financial strain.
It also leads to lack of loyalty between the management and the
employees, making the basic functioning in the organization difficult.

20

CONCLUSION
The recent trends in India have been favorable in many disciplines and
organizations and professionalism has to into managerial functions. With
proper training and understanding, right attitude and approach do emerge
and this had helped in professionalizing the management. Proper faith,
confidence and disposition are keys to success and achieving the objectives
of the organization through professionalizing the Management.
To conclude we may say that "Professionalism is knowing how to do it,
when to do it, and doing it."

21

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.

Principles and Practices of

Management. Published by SCDL

2.

www.google.com

3.

www.wikipedia.com

4.

www.altavista.com