What Professional Integrity Means to Me

The words professional integrity is often used in the business setting in order to describe the manner that one should act. However I think it is often assumed that everyone holds the same values of professional integrity, and chooses to follow them. To me professional integrity is all about making the right choices in regards to the good of the company and the people around you. This decision should not negatively affect anyone. Professional integrity involves being ethical. By ethical I mean acting in a manner that is fair and responsible. Some things that would not be ethical would be cutting corners, and doing things that are illegal such as, using copy written material, or sharing information with a competing firm. Professional integrity also means making decisions in the frame of mind as to what is right, instead of what will make me look better than others, or what will get me that promotion. Yes that is an acceptable perspective to have, however it should only entail things that are ethical, acceptable, and morally right. Professional integrity also has an aspect of responsibility to it. You need to be responsible to your fellow co-workers, your company, and your clients. There should be no question as to whether they can count on you when they need to. Dress is also a very important part of professional integrity. You should always make sure that you are dressed for the occasion. It is always better to be overdressed than to be too casual. Responsibility comes into play here, because it is the individual's responsibility to be conscious of what they are expected to wear in all professional settings. If it is not explicit, then it is their responsibility to find out. Also being responsible in getting work done on time is very important. The individual should always be good at communicating to fellow co-workers and clients when there are important changes in a project, or if something comes up. These notifications should be made well ahead of time if possible so that others have enough time to make any necessary changes or decisions.

Professional integrity is different from personal integrity in that personal integrity does not have the company or the client as the main drive. Instead the main drive to have personal integrity is more for the person themselves. Personal integrity is more focused on the values that the person holds that do not directly affect their work life. These can include such things as having enough energy for work so that you can do your job to the fullest. Professional integrity however is probably not easy to have if you do not have personal integrity. This is because a lot of what is considered professional integrity is actually an extension of personal integrity into the workforce. Except in the professional setting it is less about the individual, and more about the company, and being successful.

Codes of conduct relate to professional integrity because they lay down the basic foundation. They are not completely explicit, but serve as a basis for developing your own professional integrity. Inside the code there is the underlining theme of professional integrity. Understanding the nature of a dilemma is extremely important in being able to act with professional integrity. This is because you can easily make a miss-judgment if you do not know the situation well enough. You may decide that someone missing work is inexcusable because their child was sick. But if it turns out that the person had to take their child in to the emergency room you would have made a choice that did not directly exhibit professional integrity. You need to know the situation in its full so that you know which decision is the right one. As a professional, it is your responsibility to be fair, and unbiased. You cannot merely go with the word of the person that you trust more in a situation. You have to use professional integrity in the aspect of finding out the true story yourself before making a decision. If you work hard to understand dilemmas before acting, others will have a very hard time disputing the fact that you have professional integrity.