Resources Articles Authored by Pete

Professionalism in the Contact Center

Management Culture

Pros are people who do jobs well, even when they don’t feel like it.

Talk with any contact center leader about professionalism in their organizations from, well, just about anywhere and they will share their lamentations about the poor quality of professionalism that they are seeing not just from their 20-something employees, but from all ages and across their organizations. Is there a quiet crisis in contact centers? Yes and in this article we’ll define workplace professionalism, describe some of its elements and offer some suggestions on how to restore professionalism.

What is Professionalism Anyway & Why Does it Matter?

Dana Pigford, founder of Professionalism Matters, Inc, defines professionalism as "being responsible and accountable and treating people the way you would like to be treated."1 Service and support consultants, Pete McGarahan and Ric Mims, in an excellent article, "The Essence of Professionalism,"2 suggest that professionalism is composed of such values as courtesy, respect in dealing with clients and, "Do they take pride in their appearance, their work ethic, and the quality of the work they do?"3 In addition, they observe that "In simpler days, professionalism had everything to do with customer service, relationship building, and creating the foundation for effective, persuasive communication across all levels of the organization."4 They also suggest that a good definition of professionalism "... isn’t your appearance and your aptitude, its attitude: knowing what to do, and doing it with passion and purpose."5

Why does it matter? Look at the subject from the customer’s perspective. If they are treated to even one or two poor examples of unprofessional behavior during a meeting, a presentation or even as they are pouring cream into their coffee in the break room, doubt about the capability of the organization and its employees begins to emerge. As soon as this situation arises, it paints the organization as immature, poorly lead and incapable of meeting deadlines, staying on budget; doubt is the last thought that you want your customers to experience. Before a customer decides to spend money with your company or organization, they want to be certain that they are working with grownups, people that conduct business in an adult manner and can solve their problems and inspire trust.

The Elements of Professionalism

It is easier to describe the many characteristics of professionalism than to define it, but the folks at www.Buzzle.com got it right when they wrote, "These days, every salaried employee with a degree considers himself a professional. If that fact was worth any salt, professionalism would not be hard to find and keep in the corporate sector, right? Well, then how do we understand professionalism in the workplace? Professionalism at work requires an individual to possess these characteristics.

Knowing oneself and being in control of one’s reactions and work related antics. Losing control over one’s temper is not considered professional at a work place.
Handling constructive criticism. Constructive or not, criticism is a part of any working experience. As such, as a part of professionalism at work, one needs to be receptive of criticism.
Prompt conflict resolution. One has to be aware that workplace conflicts are natural and hence inevitable. It is not in human nature to be around so many people for so much time on a regular basis, under occasional stress and yet manage to be conflict-free. The point is to harness that conflict into positive productivity and leave it at that."6

Equally important are these characteristics compiled by the following web site: www.tipsforsuccess.com:

"How you look, talk, write, act and work determines whether you are a professional or an amateur. Society does not emphasize the importance of professionalism, so people tend to believe that amateur work is normal. Many businesses accept less-than-good results.

Schools graduate students who cannot read. You can miss 15% of the driving-test answers and still get a driver license. ‘Just getting by’ is an attitude many people accept. But it is the attitude of amateurs.

  • A professional learns every aspect of the job. An amateur skips the learning process whenever possible.
  • A professional carefully discovers what is needed and wanted. An amateur assumes what others need and want.
  • A professional looks, speaks and dresses like a professional. An amateur is sloppy in appearance and speech.
  • A professional keeps his or work area clean and orderly. An amateur has a messy, confused or dirty work area.
  • A professional is focused and clear-headed. An amateur is confused and distracted.
  • A professional does not let mistakes slide by. An amateur ignores or hides mistakes.
  • A professional jumps into difficult assignments. An amateur tries to get out of difficult work.
  • A professional completes projects as soon as possible. An amateur is surrounded by unfinished work piled on top of unfinished.
  • A professional remains level-headed and optimistic. An amateur gets upset and assumes the worst.
  • A professional uses higher emotional tones: Enthusiasm, cheerfulness, interest, contentment. An amateur uses lower emotional tones: anger, hostility, resentment, fear, and victim.7

Finally, those clever folks at www.ehow.com put together an interesting quiz on professionalism. It’s rather long, but the highlights of the quiz are presented below.

"Demonstrate professionalism at any level of employment by the attitude you bring. Ask yourself if you can answer "True" to these statements, if cannot answer in the affirmative, you need to do some thinking:
  • I do the job to my best ability
  • I take pride in the job I do
  • People are better off because of the way I do my job; I make a difference
  • I start my workday neat and clean
  • I report for work on time and stay for my entire shift or workday
  • I treat my customers, clients and coworkers with respect and dignity
  • I set an example of proper performance for my staff8

How to Restore Professionalism

As with most problems and solutions in organizations, the solution begins at the top. If the CIO walks around the office dressed in jeans, flip-flops and a torn T-shirt while yelling at people in an angry rant, how professional do you think he will be perceived? That’s right, not much; professionalism begins at the top. Having said that, restoring professionalism in an office will be greatly aided by using these techniques:
  • Name the problem. The most senior person in the organization gathers ALL of the executives, department heads and middle managers into one room to discuss professionalism. The goal is to determine if the organization has a professionalism problem.
  • Lead by example. Determine what characteristics of professional behavior the organization expects and create a plan whereby department heads, managers and supervisors commit to improving the level of professionalism in the organization. In other words, lead by example.
  • Train for success. While it is sad to have training classes on professionalism, that is a discussion for another time. There are numerous consultants that will be happy to demonstrate what professionalism looks like and how to achieve it; don’t be afraid to invest in training.
  • Identify signs of success. Each level of leadership must identify signs of success and publish them. Just as contact centers have metrics and KPIs, so an organization looking to increase its level of professionalism will need KPIs to measure process.

Professionalism in an organization is critical to its success, in its ability to attract and retain customers and its ability to attract and retain top talent. Work is sometimes difficult, stressful and time consuming and the only way to handle these characteristics and the dozens of others, is to insist on professionalism.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 “Experts Say Professionalism Declining in the Workplace,” Stephen Parezo, January 21, 2006. URL: http://ezinearticles.com/?Experts-Say-Professionalism-Declining-in-the-Workplace&id=131943 Retrieved on April 1, 2011.
2 “The Essence of Professionalism,” Pete McGarahan & Ric Mims, 2007. URL: http://bloghdi.typepad.com/hdi/files/the_essence_of_professionalism.pdf Retrieved on April 6, 2011
3 McGarahan & Mims, page 1.
4 McGarahan & Mims, page 1.
5 McGarahan & Mims, page 2.
6 “Professionalism at work,” Rashida Khilawala, URL: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/professionalism-at-work.html Retrieved on April 1, 2011.
7 “Are you a professional?”, URL: www.tipsforsuccess.org/professionalism Retrieved on: April 01, 2011.
8 “Tips for Professionalism in the Workplace,” Mary Beth Magee, URL: http://www.ehow.com/way_5304458_tips-professionalism-workplace.html Retrieved on: April 1, 2011.