Individuals are complicated. Varying personal experiences, beliefs, biases, etc., all shape each individual and their social perception (Schneider, Gruman, Coutts, 2012). That is, how one sees themselves and others is quite subjective. In order to make sense of others, individuals may group ideas together to form schemas, generalize others based on a single characteristic, or favor those who are similar to themselves (similar-to-me) effect (Schneider, et al., 2012). Organizations face the problem of attempting to alleviate the problems that can arise from having a myriad of personal biases and perceptions working together.
Just that individuals form perceptions about one another, they also possess varying perceptions of organizations and all of its parts. From fellow co-workers to job duties, opportunities for development and perhaps most importantly, job satisfaction (Schneider, et al., 2012). Two methods used by organizations to measure job satisfaction are the global approach and the facet approach -both of which require input from employees via questionnaires (Schneider, et al., 2012).
Culture is one area of job satisfaction that has been changing the workplace. According to Schneider, et al. (2012) ‘Social influence processes also affect one’s level of job satisfaction. For example, the social information processing model of job satisfaction (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978) is based on the premise that people “ adapt attitudes, behavior, and beliefs to their social context and to the reality of their own past and present behavior and situation” (p. 226)’. Organizations have been embracing this idea by implementing policies to create an employee favorable atmosphere in the workplace.
Sophie Brown’s recent CNN article titled, “Can disappearing desks improve how we work?” illustrates several companies who are making strides at creating their unique culture. For example, a Netherlands design studio designed their communal desks with the ability to retract (computers and all) up into the ceiling, allowing for other activities such as yoga to occur in its place. “’We think that doing activities like this makes it easier for people to work here,” Vincent Stolk, a junior art director at the company, told CNN by email’.
Volkswagen began restricting e-mail to off duty employees and a French technology company has shifted towards removing e-mail use altogether! (Brown, 2014).
Some companies in Asia are making the workplace more fun by including things like miniature golf courses and beds -similar to the approach that major technology companies in the United States has implemented. (Brown, 2014).
While it may be impossible to please every single employee within an organization due to the variety of perspectives, it may be possible to attract individuals who favor the culture that it has created. Companies are now attempting to find their own culture from which it can cultivate like-minded employees. Maybe there is hope for pleasing everyone yet?
References
Brown, S. (2014, October 13). Can disappearing desks improve how we work? Retrieved October 13, 2014, from http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/12/business/transformer-office-no-more-long-work-hours/
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Tags: culture, job satisfaction, perception