Professional Development Research Paper

My professional development seminar class has taught me a great deal. It has enhanced my knowledge of the subject a great deal. One of the first things I learned was about professionalism. “Professionalism is defined as workplace behaviors that result in positive business relationships” (Anderson 2). Professionalism is key to any business relationship. It is important to carry yourself in a manner that depicts the business in a great light. I learned that it is all about how a person conducts themselves when in a business setting or situation. Showing professionalism is key at all levels in a business. Professionalism can also help the business’s reputation. It is not only the people in leadership positions that have to display professionalism.

All of the individuals should show the skill of professionalism to be considered for career advancement, acknowledgement and to express to colleagues that they are supportive and a team-player. Professionalism also goes a very long way in personal career accomplishments, as well as the success of the corporation a person is working for. It will also be considered when management decides to promote employees. I learned that if I show professional behavior to my boss only, my co-workers will start to see that I am not honest, and that I am not able to provide proper relationships to all that I work with. Professionalism to each group shows your pledge to the field and your extraordinary standards at work. If you are rude or inappropriate to others, you may even lose your job. Every person deserves to be treated professionally and with respect. I learned how important it is to know your professionalism is not just shown to others, but through your effort as well. To be successful you have to show a quality work that you take pride in. It can be as simple as accurate grammar and consistency in presentation. You must take pride in everything you do in the work place. I learned to do my best to never blame others. This only fuels a negative situation, which could make for an even worse outcome of events. This as well could result in being terminated.
During the course of the class I learned about how important having workplace values are. “Values are things that are important to you as an individual based on your personal experiences and influences” (Anderson 3). A business’s workplace values must be the leading rules that are most important to the way people operate at work. Personnel use these rules to pick between right and wrong behaviors of working, how they treat each other and their customers, and how they make vital decisions. An organization’s workplace values determine the tone for a company’s philosophy and they categorize what your organization cares about. It’s important that the employee’s values match up with these. When this occurs, people understand each other, everybody does the right things for the right causes, and this mutual purpose and understanding aids people in building great working relationships. When work place values are not matching up, employees work for dissimilar goals, with unalike purposes and with different results. This can harm work relationships, job efficiency, job fulfillment, and innovative potential. For example, an employee who operates the cash register is expected to put in the precise amount of money at the end of his shift. If this does not happen it can become a huge problem for the employee, management, and for the business. I believe that showing people you have strong values helps in the gaining and keeping of trust. This is important in creating, developing, and maintaining working relationships. Employees in all trades are expected to act responsible for what they do at work. That includes arriving at work when they are scheduled and being on time. It also includes not abusing the time they are given for breaks. I have seen this a lot in previous jobs I have been given. It is important to accept accountability for when things do not go the way they are planned. It means to be willing to work towards a mutual resolve. Sometimes it could possibly mean working longer hours than previously planned to see that the work gets done correctly. All of these aspects play a huge part in having proper work place values.
I believe the most important thing I learned in the class is how to set goals.

There are two different types of goals. The first ones are long-goals. “Long-term goals are goals that take longer than a year to accomplish, with a realistic window of up to 10 years” (Anderson 8). These goals can be buying another food truck or opening up another brick and mortar establishment. The second types are short-term goals. “Short-term goals are goals that can be reached within a year’s time. They are commonly set to help reach long-term goals” (Anderson 8). These types of goals could be anything from making a credit card payment to paying the card off in full within a couple of months. Goals are important in the development of any business. They keep businesses on track and moving forward. Without goals, a business would never survive. I learned that it is important to come up with well thought-out plan of action. It is crucial for me to take the time to gather all of my smaller daily and weekly goals in one place so I can easily check my progress. Goals should be a source of joy in life. They should be one of the main reasons a person gets out of bed in the morning. If a person’s goals don’t excite them, then that person desperately needs to re-think them. I think it is important to not just reserve goals for a career. People should also challenge themselves to set fitness, finance, family, relationship, educational, spiritual, health, and adventure goals. Every area of a person’s life that they value should have a goal to help them improve upon it. Many of the things that happen are outside of a person’s control. For example, someone may have a goal to climb a mountain. The person follows a plan and trained daily. Suddenly, a terrible storm makes the person turn around and retreat. The weather was out of the person’s control. Life just happened and they weren’t able to climb the mountain. That does not mean they will not get another chance to reach

that goal!
This class has taught me so much. I just hope to pass on what I learned to another person. I truly believe it can change their perspectives as well.