A PROFESSION OR PROFESSIONALISM?


A PROFESSION OR PROFESSIONALISM ?

It is clear that the concept of professionalism is closely tied to ethics ”professional ethics to be more precise. All you need to do is a quick search of Web sites on professionalism and you will rapidly come up with an extensive listing that is almost entirely sites with the words ˜ethics and professionalism. But what is this elusive notion of professionalism? How important is it? And, closest to home, how do you cultivate it?

Who cares if the public views public relations as a profession, an occupation , a vocation or just a job? Evidently, public relations associations do. According to the Web site of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (of which the Institute of Public Relations, the Canadian Public Relations Society and the Public Relations Society of America among others are members ), a profession is distinguished by specific characteristics, including ˜master of a particular intellectual skill through education and training, acceptance of duties to a broader society than merely one's clients / employers , objectivity [and] high standards of conduct and performance. [ 8] It is this last tenet that places professional ethics squarely in the domain of defining a profession. And it seems clear that from a public relations perspective, it is in PR's best interest to be viewed by the public as a profession (rather than an occupation or a job). Whether or not this designation is of any material value doesn't seem to be on anyone 's radar screen. That, however, is quite a separate argument. For now, it seems important to a lot of people within our field that it be seen as a profession. It is clearly a part of our image.

So, one might conclude that professionalism is something that is characteristic of only those individuals who are members of so-called professions . Where does that leave all those people whose occupations do not seem to display those characteristics of a profession? Can they not be deemed to have a high level of professionalism? Intuitively, I'm sure you know that they certainly can.

What about that waiter at your favourite restaurant whose professionalism shines through in the way he treats you and his other customers? What about your cleaning lady whose pride in the quality of her work always makes you think that she shows great professionalism? It is this quality of professionalism that sets individuals apart from their peers, even if they don't work in disciplines with high levels of education and training and codes of professional standards (ie ethics).

On the other hand, don't you know people who belong to traditional professions such as medicine, law and the clergy whose behaviour clearly indicates a lack of professionalism? One need only read the newspaper every day to see examples of such individuals.

[ 8] Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management [accessed 19 September 2003] Global Procotol. http://www.globalpr.org/knowledge/ethics/protocol.asp




Ethics in Public Relations. A Guide to Best Practice
Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice (PR in Practice)
ISBN: 074945332X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 165

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net