The 3 dimensions of Fairness that Impacts Employee Engagement

What is fairness really?

When most people talk about fairness, they talk about the concept as an absolute and objective term, things are either fair or they are not. This is also how people behave although it is blaringly obvious that even two people can disagree on what is fair. If fairness truly was objective we would have no wars, sufferings or extreme inequality – there would be enough for everybody.

Fairness is a very subjective concept and it is shaped by age, culture, religion, age and a whole host of other dimensions. Fairness also changes according to context; in scarce situations like who should have the last bottle of water in a desert, people’s perception of fairness changes dramatically.

Anybody that has been in a situation they deemed unfair knows that the response is instantaneous and can be quite powerful. This reveals that fairness is hardwired in the emotional parts of the brain, in particular the amygdala – where also anger gets trigged and the two often works in concert.

Why fairness impacts Employee Engagement

For companies the fairness concept really is a tightrope that needs to be walked. If you trip, you risk getting a powerful emotional response from people that can have a dramatic and instantaneous impact of the engagement levels – disengagement can increase very fast.

Fairness is also a positive engagement factor but it builds slowly over time as the company demonstrates that it is a fair company. Communication strategies cannot only be built around rational business strategies and decisions – it will need to respect the fact that fairness is emotional in nature.

The 3 Dimensions of fairness

Taking a deeper dive into the concept of fairness, reveals that there are three dimensions that needs to be considered when dealing with Employee Engagement and the fact that they interact.

Fairness towards Self

The relationship between the employee and the employer can be seen in the light of fairness. The tangible elements of fairness are what the employee gives in terms of presence and effort compared to what the company gives back in pay and benefits. The tangible elements of fairness are closely related to satisfaction but not much to motivation and engagement.

The intangible elements of the relationship, like how you are treated, trusted and listened to combined with other leadership and cultural elements has a high impact on how motivated and engaged the employee is. Engagement is not about money – it is about how you treat people.

Fairness compared to others

Another dimension of fairness is when employee compares their situation to those of others. This could be colleagues, leaders, similar groups outside the organisation. When employees start to compare their situation to others, their perception of fairness can change very rapidly. What they were happy with a second ago is now completely unacceptable when they have seen what the others get. This is key in designing engagement, you need to either be transparent and up front or be secretive if you have very differential pay or treat people very different.

Fairness towards others

The last dimension is about how fair the company treats others and can have a significant impact on the engagement. Companies that only focus on shareholder value are typically short term oriented and see conflicts between the shareholder and other stakeholders like workers, customers, society and the environment.

Fortunately a lot of the younger more successful companies are built on a foundation of a strong worthwhile purpose and know that serving multiple stakeholders eventually benefits the shareholder. If a company treats all stakeholders well and respect them their reputation, brand and image as an employee grows. This can significantly increase employee engagement.

If you want to create engagement in your company you need to be able to manage fairness along the three dimensions