Three Reasons Why Fairness Matters In The Workplace

Employees sometimes encounter situations where they feel they’ve been treated unfairly. Perhaps the boss is harder on them than others or maybe they feel they’ve been overlooked for a promotion or raise they deserved. While such concerns might seem petty, below are some reasons why workplace fairness matters.

It Determines Employee Morale

The morale of your employees will determine how well they perform. And that performance is inextricably linked to the company’s earnings and profits. When management or co-workers engage in hostile and unfair behaviors, it damages morale, which can lead to poor performance, high turnover and over the long run a decline in profitability.

It Enhances Your Corporate Brand

In a day and age of social media, corporate branding is more important than ever before. The last thing you want is for your firm to develop a bad reputation for mistreating employees; because once this happens word will spread quickly and not only could you lose clients, but your company will find it difficult to recruit top prospects.

Remember, companies aren’t just competing with each other for market share; they are also competing for the top employees. Depending on the industry, competition for workers that have a unique skill set can be fierce, and if your firm has developed a bad reputation for mistreating its employees, it is unlikely that these hot prospects will sign up with you, and will join the competition instead.

You Could Be Susceptible to Legal Action

While the word “fairness” isn’t a strong legal concept in and of itself, depending on the manner and circumstances your mistreatment of employees could lead to legal repercussions. For instance, if an employee reports that they were sexually harassed by their boss, and has the evidence to prove it, this could be legally damaging, as would be a scenario where an employee is terminated because of their race or sexual orientation.  While no organization is perfect, implementing a policy of fairness will go a long way to minimize the legal damage that can ensue from such bad behavior.

Equal Versus Fair Treatment

At the same time, it is important to know the difference between equal and fair treatment. While every employee should be treated fairly and have equal rights, they can’t all be treated equally because each employee is unique. For example, it is a fact that some employees excel above others. If you run a business that operates based on sales commissions, it is inevitable that some of your employees will perform far better than others.

In fact, the Pareto Principle (80/20 Principle) predicts that twenty percent of your employees will be responsible for eighty percent of your sales commissions. Clearly, the group of salespeople that are bringing in the majority of your profits would enjoy certain privileges over those that don’t. You might pay them bonuses or give out raises and other perks. As long as everyone is given an equal opportunity to earn the same profits, and you’re remaining in compliance with the law, then this is what ultimately matters.