TRUST – THE IMPORTANCE OF FAIRNESS

Fairness

The third component in my model of what it takes to build and maintain TRUST as a Leader is Fairness. Fairness includes:
1. equity,
2. impartiality, and
3. justice
As a leader, to act in an equitable way means that you are balanced in the treatment for all in terms of rewards. You are impartial in regards of favoritism in hiring and promoting. And, you are just. Justice requires that you lack discrimination and have a process for appeals when your associates don’t agree with you or with some other aspect in the workplace.
Being perceived by your staff as fair is trickier than it seems on the surface. What we think of as acting in a fair manner may not be perceived by others as fair. I personally experienced this when I was leading a diverse team of individuals. The organization I was working for conducted an annual employee engagement survey. The first year the survey was conducted results showed that there was an opportunity for me to improve my score on the Fairness dimension. When I followed up with my staff, I received important feedback that surprised me, but I understood why it might be perceived by some that I was not being impartial in my hiring process. The mistake I made was privately meeting with staff members that I thought would be strong candidates to be promoted into new leadership roles. Even though I announced at meetings that these positions were open, the fact that I approached individuals that I thought were strong candidates, they naturally told others that I approached them, it was perceived by some that I was not being fair.
Another factor that makes being perceived by your staff as fair is when your staff members perceive that the organization is acting in an unfair manner. As a leader, you symbolically represent the “organization”, so actions and policies of the organization reflect back on you. For an organization to be perceived by individuals as being fair, economic success is shared equitably through compensation and benefit programs. Everybody receives equitable opportunity for recognition. Decisions on hiring and promotions are made impartially, and the workplace seeks to free itself of discrimination, with clear processes for appealing and adjudicating disputes. From my experience in leadership roles, it was not uncommon for staff to have issues with the fair distribution of profits and with some of the organizational policies that didn’t fit with their particular preferences.
What is your experience?