week 3: Perception, Attribution and Work place behavior

Individuals behave in a given manner based not on the way their external environment actually is but, rather, on what they see or believe it to be. An organization may spend millions of dollars to create a pleasant work environment for its employees. However, in spite of these expenditures, if an employee believes that his or her job is lousy, that employee will behave accordingly. It is the employee’s perception of a situation that becomes the basis for his or her behavior. The employee who perceives his/her supervisor as a hurdle reducer who helps him/her do a better job and the employee who sees the same supervisor as “big brother, closely monitoring every motion, to ensure that I keep working” will differ in their behavioral responses to their supervisor. The difference has nothing to do with the reality of the supervisor’s actions; the difference in employee behavior is due to different perceptions.

Absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction are also reactions to the individual’s perceptions. Dissatisfaction with working conditions or the belief that there is a lack of promotion opportunities in the organization are judgments based on attempts to make some meaning out of one’s job. The employee’s conclusion that a job is good or bad is an interpretation. Managers must spend time understanding how each individual interprets reality and, where there is a significant difference between what is seen and what exists, try to eliminate the distortions. Failure to deal with the differences when individuals perceive the job in negative terms will result in increased absenteeism and turnover and lower job satisfaction.

Perception and attribution are important topics because all decisions and behaviors in organizations are influenced by how people interpret and make sense of the world around them and each other. Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize, and interpret sensory input. Attribution is an explanation of the cause of behavior. Perception and attribution explain how and why people behave in organizations and how and why they react to the behavior of others.

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