Professionalism is the mode of operation, behaviour and conduct of personnel in a work environment. It is the utilization of all resources necessary to bring out the best in a given occupation. It entails establishing guilds, professional associations and provision of materials for utility and safeguard standards to ensure safety of personnel. This will encourage proficiency and increased productivity.
In Nigeria, there is this notion that if it is not a white collar job like an office job it is not a professional occupation. Parents only want their children to be doctors, lawyers, Chief Executives and bankers. No body wants to be a Baker, stylist, shoe maker/mender because there are not of high social standard.
This mentality has made the society have a population who see politics and a few occupations as their only choice thereby increasing unemployment. Then I ask myself, how much does President Buhari's barber collect per job, how much does his cook, tailor or even shoe shiner take home. Then we will realise if there were dignity in labour we'd not have so much unemployed youths littering the streets.
The Get Rich Quick Syndrome blinds us that we worry about getting paid rather than actually getting the job done. When we focus on getting the job done it improves our performance till we become experts in a certain field. This improves professionalism.
We need to encourage our people to be barbers, cooks, caterers, as well as professionalizing blue and pink collar jobs to reduce the traffic on the white collar jobs.
I urge Employers to support their staff with the necessary gears to help them carry out their various duties proficiently. "An idle mind is the devils workshop" don't be one to avoid "had I known" or it was " the work of the devil".
A place where the population are engaged in lucrative activities that brings income to their wallets, will encourage a society with less crime to contend with. Play your part now to avoid being used to achieve