One of the most frequent variables that arise with problems in the measurements of organizational climate has to do with the perception of recognition, but how is it constructed? How is it perceived? What to do when it is deteriorated?
When we talk about culture in organizations, we have to refer to a whole series of elements that are present in this environment and that build human and labor relations within a company, which will ultimately determine the climate and organizational development.
What is recognition? Recognition is nothing other than a perception, it is related to perceiving if those around us or with whom we relate, perceive the value that we have of ourselves.
Hence, recognition has its origin in self-worth, in the value we build of themselves.
This "self-worth" is built on the judgments we make about ourselves and that we have built on our successes, our failures, and the judgments we have received about ourselves from others.
Furthermore, "self-worth" gives way to what we know as self-concept and is the basis for the development of self-esteem, a poor concept of ourselves will cause a deteriorated self-esteem, the reflection of poor self-esteem is the inability to defend ourselves if we are assaulted or belittled.
For this reason, recognition is also associated with or is a response to the appreciation or contempt that others show towards us.
In this sense, we could say that self-worth or self-concept is nurtured by the following elements:
- I am worth because I exist, since I occupy a place in the space that I hope will be recognized by my peers. I value what I do, because my occupation generates a status that is recognized by my social group. I value what I have achieved, is Say, my story contributes to my sense of value. I value what I am capable of doing (talents), because my abilities generate recognition. I value what I have, since what I have gives me value, I have things, I have relationships I have knowledge. I stand by my principles, the person is worth for the values that identify and differentiate him, for his beliefs.
To be is to be perceived
Berkeley, maximum exponent of subjective idealism, said that “to be is to be perceived”, that is to say, the person feels that he exists in the measure that another perceives him.
In this way we can see that perception can occur in two ways, both physical and linguistic, an example of the first has to do with the fact that one person waits for another person to not crash when he arrives, because he has to perceive their existence The second is when, when being in a place, another person enters and greets them, that way they will feel perceived, otherwise they will feel attacked, because the other person does not recognize their existence.
Recognition is one of the frequent elements of the organizational climate in the measurement that gets poor evaluations, hence we ask ourselves about how to improve it and turn it into a company value.
Likewise, it is a component of the company's motivation and is perhaps the most personal, it has to do, as well as respect, with the relationship established between the value that the person has of himself, his perception and the perception of value of those who surround and have that person.
In the graph we see how various elements such as ability influence recognition, a clear example is presented when a person is not chosen for a position where they know that they have the competencies to perform the same, and instead they choose another She is not going to feel recognized and it is more likely that she will feel disrespected.
Another issue of recognition is that the person is taken into account in information circuits, that is to say that if he belongs to a work group, he expects that when the leader addresses the group he will also link them and not that others will find out and this person does not, because then they would feel excluded.
Being treated well and being taken into account are then joined to another of the elements that has to do with recognition, the recognition of achievement, which occurs when a person expects that when carrying out a task well, someone tells him that he has made a nice job.
Respect and appreciation, inseparable friends
Although recognition is the perception that we have about whether we are perceived or not or whether we are valued or not, it is the basis for the respect that has to do with "responding to the value that the other person has of himself", that is to say, while in recognition I am perceived, in respect people take actions according to that perception.
Hence, it is not strange to find that people who feel little recognized also feel disrespected.
Well, one last question would suffice, How to build a culture of recognition? If weaknesses related to people feeling demotivated by poor recognition have been detected through organizational climate or internal communication measurements, it is enough to observe what elements constitute the foundations of self-concept to initiate actions that are involved in the culture of organization.
In this sense, campaigns to resume the habit of greeting, resume courtesy manners or person-to-person motivational exercises are not only valid but useful and simple tools that give good results.
However there are risks, a poorly focused culture of recognition can easily result in a behavioral culture of the prize where people only act if they are bribed with handouts, also being a breeding ground for the development of overflowing egos and environments saturated with envy.
This is how these elements have an obviously key role in building a culture of recognition, hence the importance of knowing how to instill them within organizations, since this depends not only on the coexistence of people but their productivity.
