Working in an organization is life in itself. Life can be defined as any system capable of performing functions that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death. This indicates that life has a cycle and stages. I have borrowed this definition to help us understand organizational life. Organizational life is what happens at our place of work where we interact with groups and is distinct from what takes place in other groups we are part of.
Organizational life has stages and cycles. The cycle will involve activities on procedures, interactions, and outcomes. It comprises how we get along with people to maximize collaboration; how we manage our communication systems effectively; how we manage small groups and teams at work. Concisely it is a social reality from the initial stages of recruitment to the last stages of separation with an employer and it can even exceed to life after separating with the employer. Additionally, it is about how we find a place and gain acceptance within a group, manage our judgments of others, and our self-criticism. How we manage the policy processes. How we handle our emotions at work. It also depends on how organizations are managed. Not only the outcome but also the processes towards achieving the objectives. All these systems require people. People with various capabilities to satisfy their personal needs and organizational needs, people with the capacity for growth, to produce as well as to function within the work systems until that time of separation. Indeed, working in an organization is a unique life that requires justice.
Organizational justice can be defined from a four-dimensional perspective. Distributive justice, Procedural justice, Interactional justice, and Informational justice. All these four dimensions perform key roles in organizational life. Indeed, these dimensions will give a glimpse of the daily running of organizations, how employees are handled, and decision processes in all spheres within the organizational life cycle.
Distributive justice is an organizational justice dimension that deals with the fairness of outcomes including pay, rewards, promotions (Colquitt, Greenberg, & Zapata-Phelan, 2005). It has to do with the allocations or outcomes where some get and others do not. It can help to reshape an employee towards displaying appropriate workplace behavior. Also enhances continuity and survival. Distributive justice cannot motivate an individual to go the extra mile. It leads to limited production but does not exceed the target. Briefly, it is delivering in relation to what the employer rewards or payments to employees. Not having in mind the capability to grow with the organization but the capability of equal performance for equal employers’ offer.
The procedural justice dimension concerns the participants’ perception of the process as fair when they feel that they had control in the entire process that includes the voice effect or process effect. The pronunciations like ‘we were involved or not involved in the process define this clearly. It is concerned about the procedure used to arrive at decisions along with the fairness and favourability of their outcomes. For instance, how did you arrive at this promotion, how did you arrive at dismissing employee X or Y. How salaries were reviewed? Was there fairness in the process? Were the policy and procedures followed fairly? Was there employee participation? Can we hear employees’ voices in the process? Summarily, grounded on equity in the process and voice.
Interactional justice stands with social exchange theory and norm reciprocity as the key basis (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). According to Bies and Moag (1986), decision events have three facts: a decision, a procedure, and an interpersonal interaction during which that procedure is implemented. Bies and Moag continued to say that interactional justice is fostered when decisions using honest and truthful information are justified. Many scholars giving two broad classes of criteria that include clear and adequate explanations, or justifications and treatment of recipients with dignity and respect also echo this. Summarily, Interactional justice will involve the key elements of social exchange, clarity, and justifiable explanations with dignity without offending any party. In an organization’s daily life, the way you communicate change processes will require much to do with interactional justice to make the change process successful. Communicating change agenda with interactional justice dimension will instill a positive life in organization and can lead to successful human resource development processes, organization growth as well as improving on individual productivity.
Informational justice refers to the extent and effort made by the organization to justify decisions and procedures. It is the truthfulness and justification of information provided to employees. It, therefore, plays a key role in the reaction and receptivity of employees to procedures because information and explanations help those affected to understand the underlying rationale for the procedures (Greenberg, 1990). When applied well it can minimize issues on industrial unrest that sometimes are experienced in the organization life cycle.
At each point in the entire HR cycle, Managers will require the application of organizational justice. The wise choice of which dimension to apply and at what stage will enhance the effectiveness in organizational life. There are issues that at a given point will require distributive justice, at another level will require Procedural justice, Interactional justice as well as Informational justice. Each event and activity has a relationship with organizational justice. The generations today are concerned with how they are treated with their leaders at places of work as well as how the working environment treats them, when things are fair for the workers there are higher chances of an increase in productivity and growth. Justice to the employee will lead to justice to the employer. The employees can go the extra mile where they feel they are treated fairly. This treatment is only explainable within the four dimensions discussed above
If you want your workforce to go the extra mile, you should learn how to apply various organizational dimensions in your decisions making processes and documentation. Employees are influenced by the perceptions of fair treatment in all the organizational life cycles. Breath in all organizational justice dimensions appropriately and watch instance workplace positivity results on procedures, interactions, and outcomes in the organizational life. There is organizational life where there is organizational justice.
About the Author
Fostine Opiyo Odhiambo is the Founder of Jo Africa and an Independent HR Consultant. He has written a number of articles and immensely contributed to many professional writings globally. He has a wealth of experience in various family-owned businesses, industries, and projects in the hospitality, communications, manufacturing, production, merchandising, Maritime, Casinos, Entertainments, Education, Agribusiness, and Healthcare sectors as well as community-based projects within East Africa. Working with people is his passion. He advocates for Honest Human Resource Practices and Africanization of Human Resources practices. He developed AKOBRA Model as a fit between employer and its employees. He is also an expert in the HR Documentation Processes, Business Strategies, and Policy Development. He is a member of IHRM – The professional body of HR Practitioners in Kenya. You can reach him through fostineodhiambo@gmail.com