What Is the Connection between Perception and Organizational Behavior?

The relationship between perception and organizational behavior stems from the role that the perception of an employee regarding factors in an organization influence the manner in which he or she reacts or performs in the organization. This process of perceiving something is a truly complicated one that is often shaped by individual preconceived notions regarding certain factors. As such, it is possible for two people to look at the same object and still manage to perceive it in wholly different ways. Sometimes, there are certain aspects that lend themselves to a more uniform sort of perception than others, even if there will still be some variations as a result of individual characteristics and cognitive processes. To this end, the link between perception and organizational behavior can be seen in the manner that employees perceive the social life in the organization, the formal aspects of the organization, and other factors like the ethical standards in the organization.

One of the ways in which perception and organizational behavior are connected is through the manner in which the employees that make up the organization view the formal factors in the organization, such as the corporate goals and their expected roles. Assuming a parcel delivery company has stated its main corporate goal is to gain the trust and confidence of its clients, based on its promise to deliver parcels to their destinations as promised no matter what, the manner in which the employees perceive this goal will affect the way in which they work toward attaining the goal. As such, an employee who may have come from a company that gives one statement but means something different may not have the same respect or regard for company goals as one who is used to organizations that say exactly what they mean. In this sense, the two employees are faced with the same corporate goals, but they choose to perceive it in different manners that lead to various reactions to the expectations by the company that its employees will comply with this goal. The relationship between the perception and organizational behavior can be seen in this instance due to the fact that the employee who respects goals will try as much as possible to conform, while the one who does not will most probably not go out of his or her way to respect the company goal.

Another manner in which perception and organizational behavior are linked is in the way employees perceive the ethical standards in the company. A company that employs a double standard in its treatment of employees will have different perceptions from different groups, leading to different outputs. For instance, a company that treats minorities or females with less regard than others will be perceived in various ways by them. The employees who are treated well will feel that the company is a good place to work, while those who are treated unfairly will harbor feelings of resentment toward the organization.