Demands and Contemporary Requirements of Vocational/Professional Practice - Report Example

Professional Requirements Customer inserts his/her answer College October 14, 2011 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper seeks to demystify the relationship between professional and vocational practice coupled with their requirements. In light of this, it will first synchronize the demands and contemporary requirements of either vocational or professional practice and further address the ways in which those requirements change. Demands and contemporary requirements of vocational/professional practice The term vocation (Dewey 1966) refers to the specified occupation practice an individual acquires through training either through formal or informal education. In light of this, vocation enables individuals meet their diverse basic and tertiary needs. For example, food, shelter, clothing and entertainment are just of the few necessities that vocation helps to mitigate. On the other hand, a profession (Brown 1992) is an academic oriented training experience that a person acquires in academic institutions. It’s worth noting that vocations and professions are rather different in a way. Vocations are thought to be Godly given whereas professions are academically sought after. However, both the vocations and professions are characterized by demands and contemporary requirements that the perceived persons should apply in their vocational and professional practice. In this regard, the requirements continue to change with time and thus older workers primarily find themselves on the receiving end as they try to juggle between professional practice and education progression. For example, the rise of information communication technology in the modern society has perpetuated increased enrollment in tertiary institutions to effectively nourish their academic expertise with modern technology in efforts to keep in parallel with competition from others at bay in the professional environment. Lifelong learning refers to a situation whereby individuals are guided to work in a certain way as a result of continued experience on their job. For instance, the experiences of a medical practitioner in respect to a wide range of patients serve as critical avenues to propel his/her understanding of a particular phenomenon that he/she never learnt during his/her academic work. Academic expertise/highly developed skills and knowledge of the domain Professionalism (Kizza 2010 p.57) is the ability to use knowledge acquired through formal schooling and developed through long years of experience. In light of this, professional individuals are restricted by ethics and a wide range of requirements for one to be deemed a profession. First and foremost, the acquisition of knowledge commonly known as education is an ideal requirement in any profession. Education is essential as it serves as an integral tool for decision making involving a problem, situation or undertaking. Education is paramount in any given job discourse since it perpetuates development. In this regard, it plays a very significant role in the actualization of ideas and increases an individual’s reasoning ability. However, with progress in age, education slowly fades away thus creating ample room for older workers to engage in lifelong learning to boost their morale and scale down their dependency levels. Academic expertise is the primary objective of any human resource management panel selecting individuals for recruitment into the organization either public or private driven. It is for this reason that education merit is encouraged. The educational background of an individual serves as a critical evaluation platform for employment. This is because it illustrates the various achievements and provides surety of proper articulation of duties. For example, an individual cannot be employed as an editor of a mainstream publication, if he/she is not proficient in language, both written and spoken and also conversant with the ethics that go hand in hand with the job. However, with the rise in globalization, the ancient academic expertise is slowly fading away and the inclusion of modern technology taking shape in most vocational and professional practice. In light of this, lifelong learning comes into perspective whereby older workers are obliged to engage in further learning so as to accustom themselves with the emerging trends. This qualifies lifelong learning as an economic investment that is touted to be a driving force in old age. For instance, when organizations involve older workers in refresher courses in their vocations, they simply punctuate the workers ability to work even for long periods of time scaling up the eventual retirement ages. Lifelong learning unlike professional/vocation learning perks up the common knowledge with unique qualities. This is because professional education is mostly theoretical paving way for lifelong learning to punctuate practical approaches. Observance of a code of conduct Various professionals are tasked with the responsibility of adhering to set rules and regulations commonly known as codes of conducts. Kizza (2001 p.58) argues that codes of conduct illustrate a number of dos and don’ts for professionals. This is primarily for the protection of the profession against quacks and apprehension of dignity. However, it important to note that apart from the professional code of conduct, there are other forms of conducts namely; personal code and institutional code. Personal code of conduct refers to the rules and principles that an individual sets to govern his/her professional standards. Institutional codes of conduct are principles and guidelines in an organization that arguably set the standard of the organization in efforts to build and maintain public confidence in the institution and its employees. In this regard, codes of conduct ensure that employees devoid of their ages work in unison to realize the goals and objectives of an organization. Additionally, the acquisition of professionalism motivates adherence to set out rules, regulations and ethics of the profession. For example, medics acquire codes of conducts that govern their work ethics. However, through interactions with patients, medical doctors continue to acquire lifelong knowledge that acquaints them with the relevant information on how to deal with various members of the society. According to Kultgen (1988) argues that codes of ethics helps individuals portray high levels of expertise in service delivery. All in all, there are certain things an individual can never learn during normal professional training and are acquired from the wider society during the course of employment. In this regard, lifelong learning enhances the continued positive contribution to society even in old age. Lifelong learning ensures that older workers reignite their cognitive abilities to acclimatize to present times. For instance, an academic ideology learnt decades ago can be irrelevant to modern times thus the need to actualize lifelong learning processes. Value for humanity/transparency and accountability Value for humanity, transparency and accountability are critical demands and contemporary requirements that define the medical profession in modern day world. This is because the medical field is the backbone to the healthy livelihood of humanity whose negligence can cause adverse effects not only to humanity but also to the economy. In this regard, medical practitioners are obliged to maintain high levels of value for humanity, remain transparent and accountable to their work. For instance, a medical practitioner work amount to a spiritual calling that calls for humane character ready to serve mankind with zest. Professional and vocational requirements are essential in the realization of success in professional undertaking but should also be punctuated with lifelong learning that is not necessarily confined in a classroom setting but life experiences. Lifelong learning helps in alleviating ignorance due to individual intellect. It, for instance, increases the scoop of theoretical/professional knowledge that as a result propel intellectual growth and observance of behavior. Lifelong learning is incorporated into older adults in a bid to empower them to work effectively in their jurisdictions. Older workers are integrated into teams to boost their working morale and also teach them lifelong techniques of proper service delivery while at work. In light of this, older workers generate the passion to work and negate the various challenges that come with old age. Through empowerment strategies given in lifelong learning, older workers execute their duties effectively without fail. This means that their prior knowledge is strengthened with emerging technology to propel the growth not only in terms of profits but also in human resource development. The working environment is quite diverse with members of different communities that exhibit different cultural beliefs and deeds. This is not entirely covered during vocational or professional training but is acquired through lifelong learning experiences. In this regard, older workers are able to accentuate on diversity. Diversity concentrates on various factors such as language, dressing and beliefs/religious affiliations. This helps cohesive relationships between members of an organization. Competency and Reliability Competency is the ability of an employee to execute his/her duties effectively with minimal or no supervision at all. In this regard, competency derails the actualization of excellent work input. It is further augmented by the concept of reliability in the workplace. Reliability is a situation whereby a worker regardless of his/her age remains faithful to his/her workplace in that he/she can be given the privilege to oversee the management of an organization. In light of this, the above discussed demands and contemporary professional/vocational requirements are not primarily learnt in any academic facility but acquired through lifelong learning processes experienced in the course of duty. Registered regulatory body Professional requirements are characterized by legally registered bodies that are set up to oversee the successful running of a particular profession. For example, qualified and professional medical practitioners are highly governed by set up bodies to see to it that they carry out their duties with the much required concentration. This is upheld through the provision of licenses for operations that can be withdrawn in the event that the medical practitioner acts in negligence. The registered professional bodies ensure that their members remain answerable on any misconduct and also provide a professional code of conduct aimed at synchronizing their services to international standards. Ways in which the professional requirements are likely to change in the future Dynamics in the organizational life settings serve as a critical pointer in the change of professional requirements in the years to come. For instance, globalization and demographical representation in the wider society among other factors contribute greatly to the change of requirements in professional practices. In light of this, this paper will highlight and argumentatively illustrate the various ways in which professional requirements are likely to change in future. The ways to be discussed in this wide essay provide both positive and negative aspects that impact on professional requirements with time. In essence the ways will address the various changes that both organizational leaders and employees go through during their organizational and professional life. Moreover, it will also highlight the impacts that these perceived ways have on general profession and vocations. These tensions present opportunities as well as threats, and if these tensions are not managed well, they will result in dysfunctional and dire organizational outcomes at the end of any change process. Additionally, the paper will shift focus on older workers and the contribution they make in lifelong learning for the benefit of their professions. Demographics metamorphosis Demographic is a broad terminology that encompasses a wide range of issues such as age, sex, marital and social status among other life variables. Professional requirements undergo a metamorphic change with a similar change in demographics. For instance, with the progression in age of a worker, the needs increase vis-à-vis a constant income thus he/she is unable to maintain the requirements fully. In light of this, demographics play a significant role in the alteration of the professional requirements since they occasion compromise in service delivery, an impediment for development. In such as situation, the concerned parties should come up with mitigating solutions including remuneration increment. This is because the solutions arguably propel the older workers with the zest to work effectively. In a classical example, poor remuneration of security forces compromise their duties creating loopholes for corrupt activities that not only derail good service delivery but also tarnish their reputation. In addition, a complete analysis and actualization of the effects of demographics should be addressed to ensure work reliability and competency is not put at risk. In this regard, the requirements will not change in the future. However, in the event the professional and vocational are left unattended, the workers will be de-motivated injuring the success of work. Furthermore to mitigate imminent challenges posed by diverse demographics its ideal to conduct lifelong learning processes to equip the older workers together with younger workers with the necessary information and knowledge to avert such demographic hitches. These include retirement benefits and encouraging the older workers to save so as to avert challenges upon retirement. Wind of globalization Globalization is the ability to connect the world to assume the status of a global village. In this regard, professional and vocational requirements are paramount to change with the rise in information communication technology development. This is whereby individuals will be required to scale up their professional merits with the modern time technology. For instance, most old workers were taught long before the emergence of the computer precisely in developing countries a characteristic that will emphatically trigger their ability to function properly thus the need for lifelong learning. Lifelong learning in this case will help the various members of staff in their last years in employment to acquaint themselves with the required skills that in return will help them execute their duties with diligence. Additionally, the rise in information communication technology will punctuate the professional and vocational requirements that were previously looked at. In a classical example, newer job applicants will be required to be computer literate unlike before thus scaling down the number of old workers employment. Changes in business and operational processes need time to stabilize for employees to learn the new processes, become familiar with them, and be able to operate effectively and efficiently. Yet, competitive pressures can cause organizations to go through a series of changes without giving employees adequate time for learning and training, and for the benefits of the change to be fully realized in the organization. Organizations that can develop new technologies faster or can adapt to changes in the market faster are the ones that will survive the competition. To maximize response time, organizations have been flattening their hierarchies and structures, in addition to other initiatives such as downsizing and networking. Flat organizations make decisions more quickly because each person is closer to the ultimate decision-makers. There are fewer levels of management, and workers are empowered to make decisions (Carr 2000). Experience and Remuneration Acquisition of experience in any given plays a fundamental role in the realization of success in organizations and institutions both public and private. Lowe (2007) asserts that the continued working relations in a particular environment continue to undergo changes with time. For instance, working for more years in a particular firm provides an opportunity for older workers to have a wide range of ideas that perpetuate good decision making. Lawyers who have worked for a long period of time are far much better to employ as opposed to fresh graduates from the universities. This is because of the experience gained on the job with time. On the other hand, Tikkanen and Nyhan (2006) put remuneration as another change factor that professional requirements undergo. This is because remuneration is arrived at through the actualization of the experience threshold. For instance, the more experience a professional has, the better the chances of having a good remuneration package. Remuneration, therefore serves as a very critical ingredient in the professional life of an individual. In light of this, it’s paramount to note that remuneration goes hand in hand with professionalism and experience. Professional requirements (Malin 2000) are set to change in the future in regard to regulation of professional conduct by regulatory bodies. This implies that the conducts set long ago continue to change with time in a bid to address new measures. For example, regulatory bodies, through the implementation of information communication technology tools upgrade their service delivery to not only realize local expertise but also realize international accreditation. In the legal field, the computerized based filing system is replacing archaic filing system that greatly jeopardized legal operations. Adaptability to change, motivation and less productive Characteristics such as low adaptability to change, motivation and less productivity are recipes for older workers. This means that a good number of older workers become less productive with age due to not only managerial constraints but also physical abilities. For instance, as people advance in age, their expertise fades away slowly due to cognitive and physical problems. In light of this, it becomes a risky affair to employ older workers since their productivity levels are below par compromising the success of the organization (Billet 2010). Older workers, profession and lifelong learning Age is fundamental requirement in the realization of expertise as older workers are thought to have a wide range of experience on their job thus would ensure excellent service delivery unlike young workers. In light of this, professionalism is gauged by the wealth of experience that an individual has over the others putting older workers in a better position in regards to work. This also propels competency and professionalism in employment. However, it’s also important to conduct lifelong learning during employment to keep older workers abreast with the issues at characterize the job requirements (Belanger 1999). Age is viewed not only as a professional requirement but also as an illustration of both cognitive and physical human development. Literally, the acquisition of expertise is probably seen as added advantage to elderly workers. Conclusion Older workers are encouraged to work for institutions since its thought that they have the necessary experience and professional expertise to propel success. However, it’s vital to ensure that the ideology of expertise and professionalism should not jeopardize employment terms. This means that employers should first and foremost ensure that their professionals meet the required professional requirements. In conclusion, the paper has not exhausted all the requirements of professional practice since most of the academic literature does not exhaustively provide information on this topic. This therefore calls for further research by academic scholars. All in all, the paper serves as an eye opener to most people. List of References Belanger, P. (1999). Adult learning and the transformation of work, Hamburg, UNESCO Institute for Education, pp. 19-28. Billet, S. (2010). Learning throughout Working Life: Interdependences at work, Available from http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/csce20 [Assessed 14 October 2011] Brown, J. (1992). The definition of a profession: the authority of metaphor in the history of intelligence testing, Oxford: Princeton UP Carr, D. (2000). Professionalism and Ethics in Teaching, NY: Routledge Dewey, J. (1966). Vocational Aspects of Education (Chapter 23), in Democracy and Education (pp.306-320). NY: The Free Press Kizza, J, M. (2010). Ethical and Social Issue in the Information Age, CA, USA: Springer Kultgen, J. (1988). Ethics and professionalism, USA: Pennsylvania UP Lowe, D. (2007). A Study Manual of Professional Competence in Road Haulage, (12th Ed.), New Delhi: Replika Press Malin, N. (2000). Professionalism, boundaries and the workplace, London: Routledge Tikkanen, T, and Nyhan, B. (2006). Promoting lifelong learning for older workers: An international overview, Luxembourg: European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training Read More