Perception definition ,nature and implications
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Definition of perception
Perception means perceiving, i.e., giving meaning to the environment around us. It can be defined as a process which involves seeing, receiving, selecting, organising, interpreting and giving meaning to the environment.
Nature of perception
(1) Perception is the intellectual process.
(2) Perception is the basic cognitive or psychological process.
(3) Perception becomes a subjective process and different people may perceive the same event differently.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS OF PERCEPTION
People in organizations are always judging each other. Managers must appraise their subordinate's performance. In many cases, these judgements have important consequences for the organizations.
Application of Perception in Organisational Behaviour
Let us look at the more obvious applications of perceptions in organization.
Employment Interview: A major input into who is hired and who is rejected in any organization is the employment interview. Evidence indicated that interviewers often make inaccurate perceptual judgements. Interviews generally draw early impressions that become very quickly entrenched. If negative information is exposed early in the interview, it tends to be more heavily weighted than if that same information comes out later. As a result, information elicited early in the interview carries greater weight than does information elicited later. A "good applicant" is probably characterised more by the absence of unfavourable characteristics than by the presence of favourable characteristics.
The employment interview is an important input into the hiring decision and a manager must recognize that perceptual factors influence who is hired. Therefore, eventually the quality of an organization's labour force depends on the perception of the interviewers.
Performance Evaluation: An employee's performance appraisal very much depends on the perceptual process. The performance appraisal represents an assessment of an employee's work. While this can be objective, many jobs are evaluated in subjective terms. Subjective measures are, by definition, judgemental.
The evaluator forms a general impression of an employee's work. What the evaluator perceives to be "good" or "bad" employee characteristics will, significantly influences the appraisal outcome. An employee's future is closely tied to his or her appraisal -promotions, pay raises and continuation of employment are among the most obvious outcomes.
Performance Expectations: A manager's expectations of an individual affect both the manager's behaviour towards the individual and the individual's response. An impressive amount of evidence demonstrates that people will attempt to validate their perceptions of reality, even when these perceptions are faulty. This is particularly relevant when we consider performance expectations on the job.
The term self-fulfilling prophecy or Pygmalion effect have evolved to characterize the fact that people's expectations determine their behaviour. Managers can harness the power of the Pygmalion effect to improve productivity in the organization. It appears that high expectations of individuals come true. Managers can extend these high expectations of individuals to an entire group. When a manager expects positive things from a group, the group delivers. Similarly, if a manager expects people to perform minimally, they will tend to behave so as to meet these low expectations. Thus, the expectations become reality.
Employee Loyalty: Another important judgement that managers make about employees is whether they are loyal to the organization. Few organizations appreciate employees, especially those in the managerial ranks openly disparaging the firm.
The assessment of an employee's loyalty or commitment is highly judgemental.
What is perceived as loyalty by one may be seen as excessive by another. An employee who questions a top management decision may be seen as disloyal. Some employees called whistle -blowers who report unethical practices by their employer to authorities inside or outside the organization, typically act out of loyalty to their organization but are perceived by management as trouble makers.
Impression Management: Most people want to make favourable impression on others. Impression management is the process by which individuals try to control the impression others have of them. This is particularly true in organizations, where individuals compete for jobs, favourable performance evaluations and salary increases. Some impression management techniques used in organizations are given below:
Name-dropping: is a technique, which involves mentioning an association with important people in the hopes of improving one's image.Flattery: is a common technique where by compliments are given to an individual in order to win his or her approval. Favours are also used to gain the approval of others.
Perception means perceiving, i.e., giving meaning to the environment around us. It can be defined as a process which involves seeing, receiving, selecting, organising, interpreting and giving meaning to the environment.
Nature of perception
(1) Perception is the intellectual process.
(2) Perception is the basic cognitive or psychological process.
(3) Perception becomes a subjective process and different people may perceive the same event differently.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS OF PERCEPTION
People in organizations are always judging each other. Managers must appraise their subordinate's performance. In many cases, these judgements have important consequences for the organizations.
Application of Perception in Organisational Behaviour
Let us look at the more obvious applications of perceptions in organization.
Employment Interview: A major input into who is hired and who is rejected in any organization is the employment interview. Evidence indicated that interviewers often make inaccurate perceptual judgements. Interviews generally draw early impressions that become very quickly entrenched. If negative information is exposed early in the interview, it tends to be more heavily weighted than if that same information comes out later. As a result, information elicited early in the interview carries greater weight than does information elicited later. A "good applicant" is probably characterised more by the absence of unfavourable characteristics than by the presence of favourable characteristics.
The employment interview is an important input into the hiring decision and a manager must recognize that perceptual factors influence who is hired. Therefore, eventually the quality of an organization's labour force depends on the perception of the interviewers.
Performance Evaluation: An employee's performance appraisal very much depends on the perceptual process. The performance appraisal represents an assessment of an employee's work. While this can be objective, many jobs are evaluated in subjective terms. Subjective measures are, by definition, judgemental.
The evaluator forms a general impression of an employee's work. What the evaluator perceives to be "good" or "bad" employee characteristics will, significantly influences the appraisal outcome. An employee's future is closely tied to his or her appraisal -promotions, pay raises and continuation of employment are among the most obvious outcomes.
Performance Expectations: A manager's expectations of an individual affect both the manager's behaviour towards the individual and the individual's response. An impressive amount of evidence demonstrates that people will attempt to validate their perceptions of reality, even when these perceptions are faulty. This is particularly relevant when we consider performance expectations on the job.
The term self-fulfilling prophecy or Pygmalion effect have evolved to characterize the fact that people's expectations determine their behaviour. Managers can harness the power of the Pygmalion effect to improve productivity in the organization. It appears that high expectations of individuals come true. Managers can extend these high expectations of individuals to an entire group. When a manager expects positive things from a group, the group delivers. Similarly, if a manager expects people to perform minimally, they will tend to behave so as to meet these low expectations. Thus, the expectations become reality.
Employee Loyalty: Another important judgement that managers make about employees is whether they are loyal to the organization. Few organizations appreciate employees, especially those in the managerial ranks openly disparaging the firm.
The assessment of an employee's loyalty or commitment is highly judgemental.
What is perceived as loyalty by one may be seen as excessive by another. An employee who questions a top management decision may be seen as disloyal. Some employees called whistle -blowers who report unethical practices by their employer to authorities inside or outside the organization, typically act out of loyalty to their organization but are perceived by management as trouble makers.
Impression Management: Most people want to make favourable impression on others. Impression management is the process by which individuals try to control the impression others have of them. This is particularly true in organizations, where individuals compete for jobs, favourable performance evaluations and salary increases. Some impression management techniques used in organizations are given below:
Name-dropping: is a technique, which involves mentioning an association with important people in the hopes of improving one's image.Flattery: is a common technique where by compliments are given to an individual in order to win his or her approval. Favours are also used to gain the approval of others.
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