Does the concept of professionalism apply to the creative industries?

Introduction

Professionalism as a concept is something many have differing views on how to describe. To me being a professional is someone with a vast knowledge of their area of expertise. Usually, they gain this through years upon years of practice within their chosen profession. For example, someone who's been a builder for 10 years has gained knowledge and wisdom that someone starting now just wouldn't have. These professionals have organisations usually organised by governments or bodies which regulate set the standards of their conduct. These professionals have a voice within their profession and are able to make decisions on things which lay people may not have a full grasp on. With all these things, a professional is a major benefit to society since they are necessary in making sure nothing goes wrong within their profession.

So how does this relate to creative industries? Things in these industries might not seem as important as other but like other professionals, creative industry professionals must uphold certain obligations to many different people. They uphold these to keep up the integrity of their field. Why would anyone hire someone for a job if they cannot trust that this field holds value? So as with other professionals, creative industry professionals must make sure that the role they play gives value to their profession.

Obligations

So what are the obligations that professionals in the creative industry must uphold. They have many obligations to many parties; employers, clients, fellow professionals and society as a whole. These professionals must keep obligations towards their employers because of the degree of freedom they are given. Companies trust in professionals and depend a lot upon their knowledge and experience. Many game companies need professional help to make sure that their projects come out as good as possible and if the professional messes up their job, it means the company bears the brunt of the criticisms of unpolished products. They must also keep their obligations towards fellow professionals for similar reasons, keeping the name of professionals within the industry good. No one within the game industry would hire professionals if professionals kept working awfully and ruining the projects they work on.

Professionals within the Creative industry also have obligations to their clients since if a conflict of interest arises, they must do their best to alert them to this. Without this, faith within professionals will falter. Professionals within the gaming industry must be able to help their clients with the creation of games but without just reusing ideas and concepts used with another client. The biggest obligation of a creative industry professional is the social role they play of educating society and in turn the people they work with. Their role within anything they do, is training others to become as good professionals as they are. As gaming industry professionals, they must educate and train the people they work with on the core principles of working on games; the software, hardware and everything in between.

Professional Codes

Professionals within the gaming industry must keep themselves to professional codes along with the upkeep of their obligations. These professional codes work to encourage ethical behaviour within the profession along with setting the standards of the profession. Failure to pay heed to the code must also have appropriate punishments and disciplines otherwise the code itself has very little integrity for people to trust.

One of the professional codes upheld by gaming professionals would be the · IGDA (International Games Developers Association) code of ethics. This code is split into 3 main sections: Principles, Workplace and Leadership.

The 'Principle' section states that everyone deserves the same opportunities and maintain the proper use of things like Intellectual Property, presentation of skills and keeping everything they create appropriate to the audiences they choose for their work. This section also makes sure that professionals know to pass on the knowledge of the code of ethics to everyone within the entire profession. With this section, it keeps professionals honest with their employers, so that they know that who they hire is the right person for the job. Without a section such as this, companies have no idea who it is they are hiring, leading to a loss of trust within the profession.

Section 2 of the IGDA code of ethics, Workplace, commits professionals to uphold ethics within the workplace. This includes workplace safety, the idea that the workplace is physically and mentally comfortable for developers. It also includes the tolerance of everyone within the workplace, respect towards the laws of the region only deviating if absolutely critical, harassment of any kind being intolerated and the fair treatment of any worker rather than one specific type. With this section, it helps keep the gaming industry professionals respectful to absolutely everyone. Professionals are unlikely to be hired in any industry let alone the gaming industry if they disrespect people and make the workplace somewhere where nobody wants to work. By being respectful in the workplace, professionals make themselves and others within the profession much more appealing to work with.

The final section of the IGDA code of ethics would be 'Leadership'. This section of the code is much more focused on the professional being a good leader for the client. It encompasses everything needed for someone to be a caring, respectful and diligent leader who keeps their team happy and working to the best of their abilities. Things in this section include keeping a healthy workforce by not knowingly deceiving them, agreeing to fair schedules which are healthy for workers, upholding confidential details and the support of developers and their families regardless of seniority in the workplace. With professionals providing all of these services, they are helping bolster the strength of their workforce leading to many continued employment opportunities for not just themselves but also their staff. Failure to uphold this section of the code would lead to low worker retention with many workers being to stressed or overworked to continue working at the company. Being a good leader is an absolute necessity for a professional in the games industry since many rely on them making their jobs manageable and stress-free.

You can read the full, non-condensed version here - https://igda.org/about-us/core-values-and-code-of-ethics/

Conclusion

So all in all, I believe with an upmost certainty that the concept of Professionalism applies to Creative Industries and especially to the gaming industry. Without professionals, workplaces in the gaming industry, would be very stressful environments. Companies rely on professionals to keep their projects on track and their workforce happy and stress-free. These professionals have many obligations they need to fulfill to many different people as they do their job to keep themselves and other professionals employed and respected. Anytime a professional messes up, it reflects badly on many more people than just themselves. Likewise though, anytime a professional does a good job, it makes just as many people look better. So, to keep everyone in the gaming industry stress-free and good at their job, professionals are a necessity in the gaming industry.