Robbins et al (2010), defined perception as “the process by which individuals organise and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.” Perception can be influenced by many different factors for example past experiences, attitudes, behaviour and backgrounds. Individuals relate to certain stimuli because of internal and external factors that relate to the individual and the environment respectively.
I have encountered many situations where my perception of someone was incorrect; the most surprising experience took place at Wallis in my part time job. Working in retail, one of the most important aspects of your job is to be alert for shop lifters. Stereotypically I thought of a shoplifter as somebody that looked quite scruffy, acted in a suspicious manner and was either a teenager or in their early twenties. One day at work a manager of mine came and whispered that that famous mother and daughter shoplifters were in our store and told me to follow them round casually. When I looked over I stereotypically was expecting to see a mother and daughter acting unusual wearing a tracksuit and trainers. Instead I saw a 40 year old lady who I recognised as a friends mum. She was fashionably dressed, well spoken and had immaculate hair and make-up. The way that she looked made her seem very respectable not somebody that would shoplift. I assumed that she was the mother however I was wrong again when I saw she was linking arms with a little old lady who seemed harmless. There behaviour was not that of a typical shoplifter as they were both extremely confident and were asking my advice on outfits which further indicated to me that my manager had misidentified them. It wasn’t until I witnessed them shoplift that I realised that my perception of them had been wrong. They were extremely subtle in the way they did it right under our noses as they knew they would never be suspected. From this experience I have therefore learnt not to be influenced by appearance and stereotypes as looks can be deceiving!
Communication is a key skill involved within the workplace as its involved within nearly 70% of employees time at work. Communication is important to keep control and inform employees of what’s happening within the organisation, this in turn helps to motivate employees. People management created an article about ‘How to improve staff communication’, using these recommendations it is possible to relate these ideas to improving communication between Buckinghamshire New University and its students. The CIPD employee outlook survey provided some interesting results regarding how well employees felt they understood what was going on in their firms. According to the survey less than half the respondents felt well informed within their organisation. People Management magazine have therefore put together a plan to create an effective communication strategy.
Within this strategy one of the key points was to ‘ensure that leaders realise the importance of communication and take time to share their vision’. Within any organisation it is important that a shared sense of purpose is established as it enables employees to understand the goal they are working towards. A common problem in many organisations is that senior management often deligate communication to junior managers. Employees like to be able to put a face to management and feel like they can approach them if there is a problem. This can also be applied to Buckinghamshire New University and its students. Students tend to only be aware of their lecturers and personal tutors, in order for the student to feel more involved within the university it would be better if the senior management were made more well known by attending certain university events for example. If senior management were to arrange a meeting once a term held in one of the lecture halls where students are able to attend then they would feel more involved and would understand more about what is going on within the university.
The second key point made in the article by people management was to ‘Create communication that is two-way, not only top-down.” This would be an effective form of communication to implement within the University so that students could easily talk to the correct member of staff. Top down communication refers to Handy’s role culture which suggests a chain network where the person at the top directs the flow of information to the bottom of the chain. Mullins (2010) suggests that Handy developed the ideas of Harrison to create four types of organisational culture one of which being role culture. This can be described as a beaurocracy as the job description is often more important than the individual. Within a role culture position is power. A greek temple has been used as imagery to support Handy’s theory of role culture with the apex of the temple being where the decisions are made, this can be seen in the diagram below. The pillars then reflect the functional aspect of the organisation which takes orders from the apex. According to Handy role culture it is most appropriate within organisations which that not constantly change in examples of these include; local authorities, government departments, public utilities and the public sector in general. This sort of culture finds it extremely difficult to change rapidly. The role culture is typified by rationality and size.
Two way communications however is where there is no set way in which employees communicate. This means that everyone is active within the communication process. If this system were to be implemented within Buckinghamshire New University then it would mean that students would be able to approach management and have their say. This will help students feel more involved within the university and would therefore improve communication between students and the university. A diagram of a chain network can be seen below.
Using the article from People Management it can be identified that the third way in which Buckinghamshire New University can improve communication with its students would be to measure the success of the universities actions. The article suggested that it is important for organisations to conduct surveys to understand the effectiveness of the organisations internal communications. Relating this back to Buckinghamshire New University and its students it would be useful for the university to conduct regular surveys so that they can measure its success. Currently the university asks students to complete surveys on the modules in their course but not about the university as a whole. For the university to improve its communication with its students it would be advisable to create a survey about how students think communication could be improved. The university could then use these results to make the necessary improvements.
In conclusion perception can be influenced by many different factors and in many cases provides an incorrect image of an individual based on stereotypes. Perception and communication are both essential tool within the business environment as it has a significant impact on how the organisation is run. With regards to improving communication between the university and its students it can be concluded that firstly a two way communication system should be implemented so that students can have their say. The university management needs to make itself more well known so that students can feel a part of the bigger picture and understand the common goal and finally the university needs to measure its success by conducting surveys to receive the students opionions.
References
Books
Mullins, L. (2010) Management and organisational behaviour.9th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Websites
People management (2010) How to improve staff communication. [online]. Available from: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2010/07/how-to-improve-staff-communication.htm [accessed 28 February 2011].
Managing change toolkit (2009) Culture- Charles Handy. [online]. Available from: http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_overview/05_culture_handy.htm [accessed 28 February 2011].
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