Professional vs unprofessional behavior in the workplace

The workplace is supposed to be an ideal environment that needs to be maintained and molded by employee professionalism and company policies. Most individuals probably look forward in working in an environment that is composed of professional and competitive staff. A positive working environment promotes efficiency, productivity, performance, teamwork and camaraderie. However, despite the effort of keeping the working environment positive and conducive, there are still employers who are insensitive of their conducts and behaviors in the workplace.

Examples of Unprofessional Conduct

Their unprofessional conduct starts to interfere with other workers performance and worst; it can destroy ideal relationships established by employers and employee. Any behavior or conduct that adversely affects the ideal functioning of teams is considered to be unprofessional. The common unprofessional conducts in the workplace are as follows:

1. Intimidation or bullying.
2. Sexual harassment.
3. Rude and loud comments.
4. Offensive and abusive language.
5. Persistent lateness in joining activities and attending meetings without valid and reasonable cause.
6. Vexatious litigation, retribution, and violent threats.
7. Passive aggression like refusal of performing assigned task.
8. Demands for special attention and treatment.
9. Uncooperative behavior during regular activities.
10. Unwillingness to talk about issues and concerns with colleagues in respectful and cordial manner.
11. Excessive criticisms.

Common Unprofessional Characteristics

Professionalism is not actually all about how you behave or how you look. It is also about getting the job done right. It is therefore hard to tell that someone is unprofessional by just merely depending on their looks and actions. You can say that a person is unprofessional if he displays the following conduct:

Missing Deadlines Often
It is really very unprofessional for an individual to miss and forget about deadlines more often. Missed deadlines are sometimes due to poor preparation and poor estimation of time. This unprofessional conduct must be addressed as much as possible before these yields more serious negative effects and outcomes.

Withholding Information
One is said to be unprofessional if he refuses to disclose conflicts and withhold information that is essential to the effective functioning of teams or organizations.

Being Disrespectful
This is another unprofessional conduct commonly observed in workplaces. You are said to be disrespectful if you tend to do things and transactions without prior consent from your superior. Respect is an essential element in establishing strong and long lasting relationship in the workplace.

Passing the Blame to Others
When you commit mistakes or you fail to do your job, it is unprofessional to put the blame on others not unless you have solid evidences for your allegations.

Other unprofessional conducts like plagiarizing and overstating experience and qualifications and changing jobs frequently must be addressed properly. Not maintaining proper grooming and professional appearance is also another unprofessional conduct in the workplace. In order to retain positive image and gain great impression from colleagues and all individuals you got to work with. Always look your best in the workplace, do your job with diligence and professionalism and most importantly try your best not to demonstrate unprofessional conduct in the workplace.

Author Biography
Keith Miller has over 25 years of experience as a CEO and serial entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, he has founded several multi-million dollar companies. As a writer, Keith's work has been mentioned in CIO Magazine, Workable, BizTech, and The Charlotte Observer. If you have any questions about the content of this blog post, then please send our content editing team a message here.

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