The Australian Council of Professions defines a profession as: ‘A disciplined group of individuals who adhere to high ethical standards and uphold themselves to, and are accepted by, the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised, organised body of learning derived from education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others.’ On a lesser idealistic plane, a profession is an occupation, which necessitates widespread training and study, and generally has a professional association, ethical code and the procedure of certification or licensing.
Classically, there were three recognised professions – divinity, medicine and law (not considering the oldest profession of the world!) Over a period, with the development of specialised bodies of knowledge and technology, other occupations came to be recognised as professions or started claiming the status of profession. It is a process of evolution and today in the expanded meaning of profession, one would include many other occupations although they may not possess all the characteristics of a profession. In that sense, professionalism is a matter of attitude.
Professionals enjoy a high status and esteem, because the society considers the work that they do, functions that they perform as vital and valuable to the society.
Professionals and professional associations often have a power – power to regulate members of the profession and guard and protect their area of specialisation. To that extent, an organised profession is monopolistic. This is often considered necessary to maintain the high standards of learning, expertise and capability to exercise the profession.
Till about 50 years back, the line between profession and business was clear and well understood. In the recent years, this line is becoming increasingly hazy and blurred. There could be many reasons for this. A profession renders services where it has a monopoly as well as services that even a person who is not a member of the profession renders. A professional rendering unregulated service finds competing in such an environment a disadvantage and knowingly or unknowingly crosses the `Laxman Rekha’. With technological advances the investment required for exercising the profession has increased manifold. This is particularly true with the profession of medicine where expensive equipment plays a major role in diagnosis and at times even in the treatment.
Often the equipment has a short life due to obsolescence. This makes the medical professional or the institutes engaging them think on the lines of business rather than profession. Possibly due to this, the way the professions are excised today has also changed. In the past, a professional practised individually or in small partnerships.
Today, mammoth organisations of professionals or those engaging professionals are dominating. This is a reality of the ever-changing world. What one needs to ensure is that while the size and the type of organisations change, the profession retains its high ethical standards. Traditionally, there has always been a wide variance between earnings even within a profession. In a lighter vein, there were always two types of `outstanding lawyers’ – those who excelled in their profession and those who stood outside the courtrooms to solicit clients. This is true with all professions.
On a serious note, this gap is only increasing. One needs to debate whether this is desirable, is it inevitable or it is the market’s way of enabling the talented younger members of the profession to gain a foothold by charging lower fees. As professionals, we often tend to stay in the ivory tower forgetting what is society’s perception about our profession, what the society expects and what the profession offers or delivers. It is a fact that professionals today enjoy a diminished level of respect and esteem. True, every profession has a few black sheep whose behaviour gives a bad name to the whole profession inspite of exemplary work by the majority. Consider the recent TV episode of Satyamev Jayate hosted by Amir Khan.
While the viewers felt that the programme depicted the reality, there is a muted outrage within the medical profession. Certainly, all medical professionals are not engaged in unethical practices. But all professions need to introspect whether the black sheep amongst us are increasing in numbers and do we need to do something about it. Do professional bodies need to strengthen their disciplinary mechanism?
It is a matter of pride that amongst various professions, Chartered Accountants have a very sound and effective disciplinary mechanism. A weak self-regulation will sooner or later prompt the government to assume the power of regulation. In a globalised world competition has become the key word. Agreements or arrangements promoting monopolies or curtailing competition are struck down as illegal. World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements, domestic laws on the subject foster competition.
These will pose challenges before professions. For example, whether recommended schedule of fees breaches the Competition law? Internationally these aspects are being debated. Traditionally, professionals did not advertise or market their services, in many jurisdictions they were prohibited from charging success-based fees, sharing fees with even members of allied professions. Today, these restrictions are being questioned. Increasingly, professionals are facing action under various Consumer Protection Laws.
Professions need to think about these issues. We believe that there is a common thread running through various professions. A few years back BCAS even attempted to form an organisation of various professions. We feel that it is necessary to give a thought to various issues facing professionals. With this objective in mind, we bring this issue to you with two articles, one from Mr. M. L. Bhakta a respected advocate and solicitor and one from Mr. Kaiwan Mehta a renowned architect.
We also bring you an interview with Mr. Anupam Kher who may not fit into the classical definition of a professional but is a professional in true sense. Going forward we hope to bring to you periodically, articles dealing with issues faced by professionals.
