Written by: Patricia Faust, MGS, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The workplace is in a state of flux. Pandemic accommodations created a different sense of ‘place’ to get work done. Whether good or bad, employees’ perceptions of their ‘place’ in the organization began to change shape. The personalities of the worker, the communication level of coworkers, managers, and the overall workplace environment, all affect the way that employees perceive their jobs and can be quite different from what exists. Because the workplace environment went from remote to hybrid, to in-office, perceptions can vary widely as to what the reality of the workplace situation may be.
Everyone perceives information and directives through the filters of their experience. Each person can have a different take on how the workload is to be accomplished and can vary from what is expected from supervisors and co-workers. The reality of the workload can be somewhere in between what is expected from a supervisor and what the worker perceives. There must be effective communication to close the gap and reduce the overwhelm of guessing what the supervisor wants. ‘Communication quality control ‘occurs when the sender of a message follows up with the recipient to ensure a mutual understanding is reached. Disseminate important information over the phone, in person, or via video when possible. It is easier for employees to perceive your intended message when they can see and hear you. (Regine Anaejionu, Perception vs. Reality in the Workplace)
Too often, the result of a team-led project can overshadow who did the work. Many times, team working situations result in a small percentage of the team doing most of the work. Instead of feeling the rush of dopamine for a job well done, there are disgruntled workers, and the best workers may be overloaded. A team leader must set specific roles for each person and the duties of the team with a double-check system in place. Many managers perceive that a project went well just because it was completed on time, but this is not always the case.
Leaders, managers, and direct supervisors should ask their employers how they view their jobs, the company, and their interactions. By listening to what their employees are saying, they open many different perspectives to be considered. It helps an organization stay out of groupthink and status-quo behavior. Leaders who do not pay attention to the behaviors of their teams can lose out on the value their employees offer to the organization.
The Organizational Bullshit Perceptions Scale
In doing the research for this article, I discovered a unique organizational perception scale: “Organizational Bullshit Perception Scale”. It definitely caught my eye! It turns out that the study cut through the ‘bullshit’ prevalent in the workplace and I thought you might find it interesting as well.
“What’s interesting is that workplace bullshit (BS) is something that most people can relate to. If somebody says, ‘that’s bullshit’ there is typically a shared understanding of exactly what that means, but the extent to which this phenomenon has been studied in academic research pales in comparison to other workplace phenomena.” “It’s important to note that there are several potential negative effects of workplace BS, including lower job satisfaction, increased distrust in leadership and reduced performance (McCarthy et al., 2020) thereby warranting further research in this area.” (Beth Elwood, July 9, 2021, in Business)
To answer this question researchers from Simon Fraser University and the Lulea University of Technology constructed a legitimate study to develop the Organizational Bullshit Perception Scale. The primary study sample consisted of full-time employees in a range of different industries including healthcare, education, manufacturing, financial services, software development, government, gaming, and marketing.
Respondents were solicited via email and various social media platforms to complete an online survey containing 15 items. A total of 332 usable responses were received in the primary study sample. The secondary study sample was collected from a purchased, large commercial database of individuals currently in full-time employment, who completed an online survey, that initially garnered 381 responses.
Following data cleaning procedures that eliminated any duplicate responses, those failing basic attention checks, and responses with excessive missing data, the final realized secondary sample comprised 343 respondents.
The scale is designed to gauge perceptions of the extent of organizational bullshit that exists in a workplace, where bullshit is operationalized as individuals within an organization making statements with no regard for the truth. Analyses revealed three factors of organizational bullshit, termed regard for truth, the boss, and bullshit language. (Abstract, Organizational Bullshit Perception Scale).
Regard for the truth:
speaks to the extent to which the corporate culture places importance on evidence and facts in decision-making.
taps into the fundamental nature of bullshit as a communicative act that tends to disregard evidence and other factual information
employees are aware that such communicative acts are present in organizational life
a source of frustration for many employees
when disregard for the truth may be accepted, such disregard may lead to organizations making questionable decisions
The boss:
speaks to the perpetuation of workplace BS by hierarchical structures within an organization – suggesting that superiors may be key role players in the dissemination of BS
bullshit aims only to serve an immediate end
employees are likely to have to act based on any bullshit communicated by their bosses
employees are more likely to be aware when their superiors use bullshit to advance their own self-interests
Use of bullshit language in the workplace:
highlights some of the language typically used by those perpetuating workplace BS.
“if a statement is riddled with meaningless language, acronyms, buzzwords, and jargon, then it is likely to be bullshit” (McCarthy et al. 2020)
The study findings suggest that employees are attuned to the presence of bullshit in organizations, and their attitudes, beliefs, and actions are likely to be influenced by the perceptions of it. The OBPS tool enables the identification of more specific areas in which bullshit might be a cause of problems so that they can be addressed:
Does communication in the organization occur without regard for evidence?
Do senior executives purvey bullshit in their communication?
Is there excessive use of acronyms (e.g. CPC, LBH. NBD) and Jargon:
“thinking outside of the box”; “low hanging fruit”; “drink the kool-aid”
If these conditions can be identified, strategies can then be developed for remedying them.
(Psychology Reports – December 2020)
It seems that in coming back together in the office, employees are not letting anything slip by them. Many bosses may need to change their leadership styles and factor in perception about the way their message is being received by their employees.
Patricia Faust, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Patricia Faust is a gerontologist specializing in the issues of brain aging, brain health, brain function, and dementia. She has a Master in Gerontological Studies degree from Miami University in Oxford Ohio. Patricia is certified as a brain health coach and received a certification in Neuroscience and Wellness through Dr. Sarah McKay and the Neuroscience Academy.
My Boomer Brain, founded in 2015, is the vehicle that Patricia utilizes to teach, coach, and consult about brain aging, brain health, and brain function. Her newsletter, My Boomer Brain, has international readers from South Africa, Australia, throughout Europe, and Canada.
Patricia’s speaking experience spans the spectrum of audiences as she addresses corporate executives on brain function, regional financial professionals on client diminished capacity, and various senior venues concerning issues around brain aging and brain health.
References:
Anaejionu, R., Perception vs. reality in the workplace.
Elwood, B. (July 2021). Researchers explore employee perceptions of bullshit in the workplace with the “Organizational Bullshit Perception Scale”.
Ferreira, C., Hannah, D., McCarthy, I.P., Pitt, L. (December 2020). This place is full of it: towards an organizational bullshit perceptions scale.
Hamilton, D., (October 23, 2019). Perception in the workplace: the eyes have it.
