The role of perception, cognition, and communication in diversity

¶ … Role of Perception, Cognition, and Communication in Diversity

Some people dismiss the idea of diversity in the workplace, by suggesting that diversity is about nothing more than meeting quotas and filling obligations that have no real contributive value. However, this position ignores the very benefits that diversity can bring to an environment. Diversity impacts one's perception of a workplace. Anyone who doubts this statement needs to think about what it means to walk into a workplace that is staffed entirely be people of one sub-group; for example, all white women between the ages of 18 and 25, compared to a workplace that is staffed by a diverse population. Both places may be equally competent and both workforces may fulfill needs in the same manner, but the customer perception would be different in each location. Therefore, simply by impacting customer perception, diversity can by important.

In fact, perception is an interesting issue in the workplace. Perception is not reality. According to Eduardo Bustos Farias, perception is "a process by which individual organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment" (Bustos Farias, Unk.). It is important to realize that perception is as much a function of the individual as it is of the actual environment. A person with race-based bias might interpret walking into a room that was representative of the actual population in a different way than a person without the same race-based bias. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that "people's behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself" (Bustos Farias, Unk.).

The fact that behavior is driven by the individual perception of reality impacts business communications. It is critical to understand that communication occurs at many levels. There is the surface denotation of any actual communication, as well as the underlying verbal connotations of the communication. Added in to that mix is the powerful message conveyed by non-verbal communication. In a diverse population, it is very possible for different employees from different backgrounds to interpret the exact same statement by the exact same speaker in very different manners. What may seem like a straightforward business communication by one party may seem confusing, or worse, insulting, by another. Therefore, it is critical for managers to understand how culture impacts perception, so that they can ensure the effectiveness of their workplace communications.