Managing Employee Perceptions- Bridging the Gap Between Reality and Perceived Experience

Managing Employee Perceptions- Bridging the Gap Between Reality and Perceived Experience

Employees’ perception of their workplace depends on many factors. These factors include the employees’ personalities and the nature of communication with colleagues and their managers. Also, the present working conditions in their workplaces influence their perception. To that end, managers may also have a different perception of the workplace’s working conditions than the reality encountered by employees. Consequently, this calls for managers to dedicate time and resources to harmonize reality and perception.

Working conditions at a workplace determine employees’ job satisfaction. Overall, there is a negative relationship between job satisfaction and employee attrition rate (Champoux, 2020). This is where factors such as salary and career advancement come in. If employees feel that they are doing much but are not paid enough or given a fair opportunity for career advancement, they may consider leaving the organization. Managers can manage this by reviewing the employees’ working conditions in short intervals and rewarding outstanding performers.

The communication process also significantly impacts employees’ perceptions. Some of the standard workplace communication modes include virtual or physical meetings, memos, and emails, among others. The tone and persuasiveness of a message determine its efficacy (Otara, 2011). Therefore, it is recommended that managers communicate directly with employees, as employees may misinterpret the intent of messages delivered in written forms. Messages delivered in person are hardly misinterpreted.

Also, managers should embrace social responsibility and flexibility to manage a diverse workforce. Modern organizations have complex diversity issues, bringing together people with different worldviews and varying perceptions of workplace conditions (Champoux, 2020). Managers should harness the differences to attain organizational goals. For instance, new mothers need a flexible schedule to get time to attend to their babies. Besides, students require fewer work hours to get time to attend classes. As such, managers must schedule tasks to satisfy all employees while meeting organizational goals.

In conclusion, managers may perceive themselves as effective, but their followers may perceive differently. A leader needs to be visionary and possess good interpersonal skills to manage their employees’ perceptions. Structured and interpersonal communication will harness employees’ perceptions and reality.

References

Champoux, J. E. (2020). ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: Integrating Individuals, Groups, and Organizations. Routledge.

Otara, A. (2011). Perception: A Guide for Managers and Leaders. Journal of Management and Strategy, 2(3). https://doi.org/10.5430/

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There is a saying among managers that one must manage the employee’s perception and reality. What does this mean to you?

How would one go about managing from such a perspective?