Often, events and occurrences which are hinged on professional conduct in the corporate world leaves me perplexed and that has led to my trying to unravel the dilemma surrounding the need to be a professional and whether or not it matters anyway. For example, if an employer is confronted with the dilemma of choosing between two (2) candidates with the same level of competence and the only difference being in their professional status i.e one is a qualified professional and the other is not. Which do you think the employer would probably go for?Simple I guess, the professional candidate would probably be the rational pick because being a professional gives an added advantage. But what about if we tweak it a bit and bring in the cost implication due to wage differential which is in favour of the non-professional i.e the professional candidate cost more to hire compared to the non-professional. So, now it’s less straight forward and the final decision is likely to be more subjective. Factors that would influence the final decision of the employer includes the consideration of the importance of the firms image/brand, the level of incentives and opportunities for fraud inherent in business activities, the level of responsibility needed to carry out the tasks, inherent risks of a business, importance attached to intangible aspects of human attributes and relationship such as integrity, trust, loyalty etc

Its therefore safe to say that a budget constrained employer would most likely take the non-professional should the cost of hire of the professional surpass his/her expectation. Basically, a budget constrained employer is an employer whose main goal is to achieve his/her target for any set budget and whose performance evaluation would be based strictly on same. The employer would have achieved his goal, especially when viewed in the ‘here and now’ context, but such perception can be deficient over the medium to long term time frame. Why? In order to explain the ‘why’ question it is important to have an understanding of what it takes to be a professional, what it means (and doesn’t mean), and the implication of the concept of a professional for the wider business operations.

What it takes to be a professional

A professional belonging to a certain body in a specified field is required to pass some specified requirements before being deemed fit to be regarded as such. Different bodies/organizations would have different level of requirements which might include trainings/seminars, examination etc, but their goal is usually to embed an individual with certain principles and values considered as critical in identifying with the brand/image of the professional body. For example, ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountant) is strict about the following core values and as such it expects individuals who are designated as professionals under its umbrella to have them: professional competence, integrity, objectivity, confidentiality and professional behavior.

What it means to be a professional

A professional is expected to relate with people, generally, on the basis of the enshrined values and principles of his profession at all times and in all places. The broadness of the application of these principles would also transcend all undertakings (whether paid or unpaid, official or personal etc) of the professional as an ambassador of that profession. A professional oath/undertaken is usually signed by member of such bodies stating their commitment to observe and comply with set values and principles of their profession.

Implication of the concept of a professional in business

The implication of the professionalism concept can be viewed from the perspective of business exposure. A business is exposed to operational, financial and compliance risks and the concept of professionalism helps to mitigate these exposure. While not totally possible to eradicate the inherent risk (and overall risk) of human unpredictability regardless of trainings and exposure (including exposure to the concept of professionalism), the risk that an individual who stands as a representative (and his proud) of his professional body in his everyday activity would be less likely to fall for incentives and opportunities that might cause him to act in a way that might be damaging to his profession compared to the other individual who is not a professional.

Conclusion

An individual who has something to protect in terms of reputation/image is less likely to act in ways that might derail the achievement of corporate goal and expose the organization to business risks. This is because the individual is better equipped to handle such situations due to exposure to trainings and tools by virtue of his relationship with a reputable professional body and the painstaking requirement he/she had had to undergo before being accepted as a recognized member of the professional body. The importance of having competent and ‘trusted’ professional in a company cannot be overemphasized, this might be the difference between a business that is failing (if not dead yet) and one that is alive (and thriving).

Article Credit: Paradigm Shift Professionals - Leading ACCA training provider in Lagos Nigeria.