Professionalism In The Workplace

On Saturday, I visited Hot Topic in Maple Grove and observed one of their employees, named Quinn, interacting with his customers and coworkers. Overall I would give him a score of 4.5 for professionalism. There were many things that he did well. He greeted every customer that came into the store and engaged in conversation with them. He also worked well with his co-workers, they spoke with proper grammar and used a sense of humor with each other. Even in the popular culture setting, professionalism was still displayed through the employees attitudes and even in their attire. They dressed in clean jeans and a clean shirt like the ones they sell at the store. This affected my perception of the company is that although they have a laid back dress
policy, they still encourage their employees to get to know they clientele by asking questions, having conversations by making small talk, and working to find them exactly what they want. It says in the article that social skills are among the top 10 most important soft skills by business executives, the employees here showed that they had very strong social skills and could easily be approached by each other and their customers. My perception of the company has been positively affected by this experience. To improve his professionalism score, I would suggest finding things to do even during slow times during the day rather than standing around. It is important to look busy even if you’re not. Also, be sure to to stay organized and double check your work so there are minimal errors made and there isn’t much lost time to make up for. Other than organization, attention to detail, and staying busy I thought Quinn did an amazing job displaying his soft skills in the short amount of time I observed him.
Rating my own professionalism, I would give myself a 3 because although I can dress professionally, I struggle with some soft skills.
My strengths include communication, integrity, interpersonal skills, work ethic, and responsibility. At my current job, Dairy Queen, communication is key to accomplishing goals and making sure that the job gets done with minimal errors. I work with around six other people per shift and when making products, it is important that everyone know which product you’re making to keep from making the same thing twice. Integrity is also a key part of my job. When you do something wrong, you take responsibility for your mistakes. There was an instance where I had given the customer the wrong order and had to take responsibility for us losing time to remake both orders that had then been messed up. Interpersonal skills are also important because you have to get along with your co-workers and employees to keep a healthy work environment. Although some co-workers and some customers can get under my skin every now and then, I have to maintain a calm composure to keep work going no matter what happens. When it comes to work ethic, it has to look like we’re staying busy. If we aren’t making products or helping customers, we are supposed to be cleaning or stocking cups, candies, or utensils. If there is nothing to do, I ask what else needs to be done or what my managers want specifically to be done. I always arrive at least fifteen minutes early and stay until I’m certain that I’m not needed for the store to be successful. When it comes to responsibility, I try my best to get my work done and keep on top of everything. I also double check the orders that I make so I make minimal mistakes. I definitely need to improve on teamwork skills. When at work, I usually try to work on things by myself with almost no help from my coworkers. I usually find that it’s easier for me to work on my own rather than having help from my coworkers. I could also improve
on having a more positive attitude at work. If something gets under my skin, it is usually hard to pull out of the negativity that tends to take over. I also need to work on flexibility, When it comes to learning new things, I tend to be negative about it depending on the new skills I need to learn. Overall I think I do have some strong soft skills, but I do have a few I should definitely work on to be more successful in the future.