IndustrialOrganizational Psychology Learning Module Organizational Justice Perceptions

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Industrial-Organizational Psychology Learning
ModuleOrganizational Justice Perceptions
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Think of a time youve been unfairly treated at
work

• Were you ever treated rudely or disrespectfully?
• Were you up for a promotion / raise / job, and
  didnt get it when you thought you should have?
• Why was it unfair? How did you know?
• How did you react? Did you take action? Why or
  why not?

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Lesson Objectives

• At the end of this lesson, you should be able to
• State why managing perceptions of justice is
  important to organizations
• Distinguish between three different elements of
  justice perceptions
• List factors that influence perceptions of justice

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Justice Perceptions are important

• Justice Perceptions employee judgments about
  whether their work situation is fair
• Justice Perceptions in organizations have been
  found to be related to
• Job Satisfaction
• Organizational Commitment
• Job Performance
• Withdrawal Behaviors
• Counterproductive behaviors
• Self-perceptions

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Types of Justice Perceptions

• Distributive Justice perceptions of the fairness
  of a particular outcome
• Procedural Justice perceptions of whether the
  process used to make the decision was fair
• Interactional Justice perceptions of whether
  organizational agents implement procedures
  fairly, by treating people respectfully and
  explaining decisions adequately

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Distributive Justice

• Rules for allocating resources
• Equity resources are distributed to employees
  with respect to their abilities or contributions
• Equality resources are distributed so each
  person gets the same outcome, regardless of their
  contributions
• Need resources are distributed to the person
  who needs them more

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Distributive Justice Equity Theory

• Employees compute a ratio of how much they
  contribute to the organization and how much they
  get back from the company
• Employees choose a coworker and computes their
  ratio
• Employees then compare ratios, and react on the
  basis of this comparison. Unbalanced ratios
  create equity distress, which lead to a variety
  of responses including changes in work effort or
  quality

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Procedural Justice

• What are some things that lead to a procedure
  being seen as fair?
• Voice getting a say in things
• Consistency
• Bias Suppression
• Accuracy
• Correctability
• Ethicality

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When is Procedural Justice Most Important?
Favorable
High Procedural Justice
Reactions to Org.
Low Procedural Justice
Unfavorable
Low
High
Outcome Favorability
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Interactional Justice

• Interpersonal component treating people with
  dignity and respect refraining from improper
  remarks or comments
• Informational component providing adequate
  explanations for decisions

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Research Example (Greenberg, 1990)

• Two plants in the same company announced 15 pay
  cuts for their workers
• One plant given extensive explanations remorse
  was shown in the announcement
• Second plant given a short explanation, but
  without remorse or apology
• Measured missing inventory ? theft
• Theft increased in both plants, but more so in
  the second plant (inadequate explanation)

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Improving Fairness Perceptions

• Change how fair the situation actually is
• Improve distributive justice
• Improve procedural justice
• Treat employees with sincerity and respect
• Change how fair the situation is perceived
• How do you explain decisions and procedures to
  employees so they understand?

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Summary

• Employee perceptions of justice can impact
  important organizational outcomes, as well as
  employee feelings and attitudes
• Types of justice include Distributive,
  Procedural, and Interactional
• Justice perceptions can be altered by actually
  changing the justice of a situation, or by
  providing adequate explanations for
  organizational events