Fairness

The last in the series of drivers is fairness.  If fairness is your biggest driver, you’re happy if beaten by someone who is better than you but hate those that cheat the system.  People who butt in line get under your skin.

A threat response can be triggered very quickly when someone perceives an unfair situation.  You’ll hear your employees say things like “He has a different set of rules for Jim than he has for the rest of us”; “They talk about values but it’s business as usual at the top”;  “She is the favorite and doesn’t have to do half the work we do”.  The sense of unfairness can spread throughout your organization very quickly.  There are some simple actions to ensure this doesn’t happen.

To decrease the thoughts of unfairness, increase transparency.  Increasing the level of communication and involvement in business issues can also decrease perceptions of unfairness.  Explain to employees the organization’s financial situation, involve the staff in complex business challenges, look for solutions throughout the organization.  Creating an atmosphere of “We’re in this together” will increase fairness organization wide, minimizing the “Us vs. Them” that happens in some organizations.

Establish clear expectations in all situations – from one hour meetings to five-year contracts.  Create clear ground rules, expectations and objectives in performance.  Set policies and procedures for operating in your organization with consequences if they aren’t followed – apply them equally to all.

If possible, allow teams to create their own ground rules for operating.  Include how workloads are shared and who can do which tasks.  Self directed teams, where everyone on the team participates in setting operating guidelines, go a long way to creating the sense of fairness.

When I grew up my sense of fairness was developed with the understanding that everyone had a chance to win at a game, but not everyone would be a winner – it depended on your skills and abilities.  It wasn’t who you were that determined an outcome, it’s what you did.

I also understood that all situations may not seem to be fair; however, when you looked a little deeper, you could usually pinpoint the reason – someone was smarter, knew the right people, received help along the way.  Sometimes you hold an advantage and sometimes others have an advantage.

I wonder if people’s view of fairness has changed over time.  When I was growing up (this is at great risk of sounding old) teams and people won or lost.  Young kids playing in organized sports all seem to go home with a prize or a ribbon, just for participating.  When everyone is a winner, how do you learn to lose?  When you do lose, is the loss more profound?  What effect does this have on your sense of fairness?

Have you noticed a generational difference when it comes to issues of fairness?  What has your experience been?  Leave your comments below.

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