Each of us have significant moments, experiences, and events in life that can change our perceptions.
Our perceptions of the world can also change as we age or mature throughout our life. People have various values, beliefs and come from different ethnic backgrounds which contributes to shaping who we are. Every employee will usually bring specific skills into the workplace and these employees can develop additional skills through training programs that can be an asset to workplaces if employees are willing to effectively manage these skills. Workplaces will be more successful when the strengths and weaknesses of employees are properly managed so that the workplace can maximum the potential of individual employees.
I grew up in a small town in the United States which helped me to form my perceptions of the world.
Spending a few months per year living in larger cities in the United States as an adult has changed some of the early perceptions that I had developed at a younger age and further shaped who I am as an individual. Being physically disabled has also altered my perceptions and that experience have given me a unique perception of life that may differ from the perceptions that most people typically will have in their life. As I’ve matured I’ve had experiences that have allowed me gain a much broader perception of the world around me than I could have had when I was younger as well. For example, my mom died of breast cancer which caused me to be less naive and made me learn to be more self-reliant. Traveling to other countries has also helped me to form different perceptions than I had prior to those experiences and my education also adjusted my perceptions as well.
It is important that employers are aware of the perceptions and skills that each employee can bring to the workplace. Supervisors and employers need to be aware of their own skills, strengths, and weaknesses as well. Training and management strategies must be implemented that will allow workplaces to successfully operate more efficiently while also providing an opportunity for each employee to maximize their full potential. Diverse employee backgrounds should not be seen as a weakness within the workplace, but rather as a strength that can greatly benefit workplaces. Employers should be willing to encourage more diversity in the workplaces so that a wider variety of ideas can be developed that can benefit the workplace.
This article was contributed by volunteer blogger Shan Simpson.
