Introduction
The term ‘organisational justice’ has been identified as being a psychosocial hazard. But what exactly is it?
It is an umbrella term that describes poor workplace behaviours engaged in by the organisation (as opposed to poor workplace behaviours by individuals).
Basically, it relates to:
decision-making,
conflict resolution, and
performance management.
It’s important to understand how to control this type of psychosocial hazard, because, if left unchecked, it may result in:
a lack of trust, feelings of helplessness, frustration and resentment among workers,
low morale, poor teamwork, poor behaviours (such as incivility and conflict), and/or
behavioural changes, stress, and ultimately, psychological injury.
These outcomes are not only bad for the individual workers, but bad for the business as well.
Instead of throwing management theory terms at you, we will describe these organisational behaviours from the worker’s perspective. This is because organisational justice is defined in a way that involves the perception of workers.
The hazards
Information
A worker’s personal information is not kept private
Insufficient information about a business decision – in relation to either the process or the outcome.
Treatment of workers
Workers being blamed for things that either are not their fault or out of their control.
Workers’ reasonable needs being ignored (for example, a more accessible workplace).
Policies or procedures (for example, promoting, recruiting or rewarding workers) are applied:
unfairly,
in a biased way, or
inconsistently (between workers).
Failing to properly investigate and/or deal with poor behaviours (such as bullying and harassment).
Failing to protect workers who voice safety concerns from discrimination.
Insufficient feedback or recognition relating to a worker’s contribution to a particular outcome.
Micro-managing workers.
Controls
Perhaps the most important thing is to make sure that:
workers feel comfortable to raise their concerns, and
management handles those concerns in a respectful, fair and transparent way.
However, it’s best to try and have business systems in place that provides a workplace where complaints are few and far between.
This means having a workplace culture that drives safe behaviours, such as having:
fair processes and procedures in place (that are regularly reviewed),
open and respectful communication channels (including management’s expectations), and
adequate levels of information, training, instruction and supervision available to workers.
For more information about culture, communication, conflict management and change management, please go to our webinars page.