Industrial-Organizational Psychology Learning Module Organizational Justice Perceptions

1. Industrial-Organizational Psychology Learning ModuleOrganizational Justice Perceptions

2. Think of a time you’ve been unfairly treated at work • Were you ever treated rudely or disrespectfully? • Were you up for a promotion / raise / job, and didn’t 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?

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

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

10. Interactional Justice • Interpersonal component – treating people with dignity and respect; refraining from improper remarks or comments • Informational component – providing adequate explanations for decisions

11. 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)

12. 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?

13. 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