Employees May Believe That They Are More Objective Than They Actually Are

Organizations should make decisions that affect employees based on data and facts. However, managers know that sometimes employees can make employment decisions, such as hiring and firing, based on personal biases and prejudices, instead of on real information. Today’s best managers know that the problem is even worse than was thought. When employees believe that their biases and prejudices are factual, then those employees are more likely to act on their erroneous beliefs. This means that today’s best managers should help employees rely on facts and figures, and not trust that their own personal views are accurate when making employee decisions.

Source: Uhlmann, E. L., & Cohen, G. L. 2008. “I think it, therefore it’s true: Effects of self-perceived objectivity on hiring discrimination. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 104, 207-223.

Employees Assess Fairness By Looking at Both the Decision Maker and the Overall Organization

Managers would like employees to believe that organizational processes and outcomes are fair. Today’s best managers know that employees assess the fairness of both people making decisions and the fairness of the organization as a whole. Employees can have higher perceptions of fairness when they trust a decision-maker compared to when they don’t trust that person. Employees may have higher levels of commitment to the organization and may be more likely to be a good citizen when they believe that the overall organization is fair. Improving employee fairness perceptions of the organization doesn’t happen quickly, and must be developed over time.

Source: Choi, J. 2008. Event justice perceptions and employees’ reactions: Perceptions of social entity justice as a moderator. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 513-528.