What does professionalism mean, especially for front line staff?
SINTO is running a workshop on An introduction to personal and professional development aimed at front line staff.
http://extra.shu.ac.uk/sinto/Events/events.html#profession
Why should managers responsible for workforce development want to send staff on a course to develop professionalism? The answer is that this event is not about developing Certified or Chartered Librarians (although it might lead to that). Instead it is about putting people on the path to developing their skills and values - which in turn will meet the needs of your service.
You know that your library service will be facing major changes in the near future - not just changes in coping with fewer resources but important changes in the nature of what you do. Your staff - in particular front line staff - will have to respond to these changes and respond positively. It is no good just training staff to do their job well. You need to ensure that they are in a position to embrace change and respond to it in a creative way.
See http://sintoblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/professionalism.html for more about the concept of professionalism.
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