Saturday, 28 April 2012

Blog Six - Perception and Communication


Blog 6 - Perception and Communication

The importance of how an employer perceives their staff both on first impressions and during the job roles of the business is crucial to making a positive decision during recruitment and selection processes but also contributes to the start of a positive working relationship. Researchers have used a number of organisational performance measures including labour productivity ratios, product and service quality, unit cost ratios and revenue productivity (Bratton and Gold, 2003). This shows that perception can occur throughout an employees working career however these examples show perception of staff through figures and productivity rates. Communication between employees and managers on all levels of the hierarchy is beneficial to ensure the smooth running of the business and efficient methods of communication help to ensure this. People communicate differently depending on the context in which communication occurs, each message may have multiple layers of meaning, and culture influences communication, by which the perception of reality is created, sustained and transformed (Bratton and Gold, 2007). Therefore it is clear to see that perception and communication both intertwine with each other when looking at such factors within a business and is important when ensuring a positive and effective work ethic is maintained.
There are many different factors which can alter a person’s perception of another individual including past experiences and their attitudes and beliefs. From my own experience my perception of a teacher at my secondary school was incorrect. I developed a generalised attitude towards teachers and therefore my belief towards this individual secondary school teacher was incorrect. I realised later on through my school years that this perception was incorrect as I matured and developed my own attitudes which weren’t shaped by others. I got to know the teacher as an individual and found that they could help me positively to develop my work and found a common goal. Therefore I altered my perception of the teacher and developed a positive attitude towards them which I have maintained. To avoid making a similar incorrect judgement again, I would maintain a positive attitude towards a person and not make an initial judgement based on opinions.
Communication can occur in many different forms in an organisation for example speech, writing, actions, gestures and emails (Anon., 2012). Many organisations use multiple flows of communication within their organisation including upward and downward flows between departments within the hierarchy. Downward communication explains messages sent to subordinates whilst upward communication sends information to higher levels in the hierarchy however horizontal communication explains communication that flows between employees at the same level in the business (Bratton and Gold, 2007). Employees can communicate with line managers and managers of departments through discussion boards, meetings and forums to ensure that workers views and information regarding work are communicated effectively throughout the organisation.

Article on ‘How to improve staff communication’

This article gives recommendations on how to improve communication within a business including working collaboratively and measuring results on performance. When using these recommendations to show ways in which Buckinghamshire new university could improve its communication with students, firstly by considering the communication channels from the article the university could create a Social networking site e.g. a Facebook site to inform students of the upcoming events in which the university offers. This would benefit students as most young people use social networking sites therefore communication would be fast and formative. This would also be engaging the universities students as they would be informed regularly of what was happening in and around the university and students would also be able to comment with feedback on the events being arranged. Finally, the introduction of an online forum where the university can upload new information to students about news and events of the university however it allows students to have a discussion about any issues which may arise and the university can give comments back to the students. This creates a fast, active and informative way of communication and reduces the need for face to face meetings which incur time costs to both parties (Clake, 2012).

Conclusion

To conclude, the way in which employers perceive their staff has a large effect on their future employment within the business. Attitudes and beliefs of an employee show specific traits of themselves and can distort the perception of them as individuals to other staff if these views do not coincide with the companies’ ethics. Communication of information throughout an organisation is one of the fundamental factors of a business’s success. Without effective communication where messages are not distorted, businesses can deal with potential problems that may occur and insure the smooth running of the businesses quickly and correctly.

References

Anon. (2012) Business communications [online]. The Times business case studies. Available from: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/business-theory/people/business-communications.html [Accessed: 27 April 2012].
Bratton, J. and Gold, J. (2003) Human resource management. 3rd ed. Bath: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J. (2007) Human resource management. 4th ed. China: Palgrave Macmillan.
Clake, R. (2012) How to. improve staff communication [online]. People management. Available from: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2010/07/how-to-improve-staff-communication.htm [Accessed: 27 April 2012].



No comments:

Post a Comment