(Akiit.com) Fairness is one of our biggest complaints in life. Our children complain that dinner times aren’t fair. That it’s not fair that they have screen time limits or homework. Parents certainly don’t think that the amount of sleep that they are getting is fair. Employees worry about the fairness of their treatment and pay. Even the super-rich and famous in Hollywood are worried about gender equality and fair pay.
It’s something that worries all of us. We worry about the minor fairnesses of our own lives, like getting a fair deal when we go shopping. But, we also worry about much more significant issues, the fairness of public policy and how laws and rules affect us all fairly, or unfairly.
If you run your own business, promoting fairness is crucial. Ensuring that your workers are treated fairly, by you, by company policies and rules, and by each other is vital. Treating them fairly helps to keep them happy. To raise morale and increase productivity. It helps to improve staff retention and reduces any complaints and issues that you might have to deal with, both now and in the future.
Fairness isn’t always obvious, however. Many employers genuinely believe that they had always treated their employees fairly, only to find themselves in trouble years down the line, when a bad decision or choice led to an employee feeling victimized or unfairly treated in the past. With such a minefield in front of you, it’s essential that you take some simple steps to ensure and promote fairness in your workplace.
Fair Testing
As an employer, you are free to test your staff. You can have tests at the end of training days or events. You can issue new starters with a drug test. You can use a written exam to make sure training is up to date. This is all fine, as long as you do it fairly. If one member of staff has to sit any kind of test, they all do. The results should also be measured fairly, with the same standards and expectations across the board.
A Clear Pay Structure
Fair pay is probably the thing the concerns employees the most. Minimum wage entry level staff and worried about it, and multi-millionaires are talking about it. Gender discrepancy in pay is being discussed about more than ever, and a lot of big companies are taking steps to close gaps in pay.
Take a look at your own pay structure. No one is saying that you have to pay every single member of your team the same, in its own way, that wouldn’t be fair. More experienced staff deserve to be paid more. Staff doing different jobs should receive different paychecks. But, this should all be clear and straightforward. There should be no opportunity for anyone to say “we do the same job, why are we paid differently?”
Open Reward Processes
You probably offer some of your staff bonuses and rewards. You can’t possibly provide everyone the same reward. Then, it wouldn’t be a reward at all. But, you need to offer it reasonably. All of your staff should have the same chance to earn bonuses. There should never be a system where only some members of your team are eligible to earn a reward. Your policies and methods should be clear and transparent. All of your employees should clearly understand why rewards are, and aren’t, given. They should know that they’ll always have a chance to earn them.
Fair Recognition
Recognition is crucial to team morale. The argument “they are just doing their job” is a poor one. Rewards are one way to recognize hard work and achievement, but not the only one. A simple thank you can go a long way. Offering your staff congratulations and merely letting them know you recognize and appreciate how much time and effort that they have put in is a great way to keep them happy.
Rewards can only be given to those that deserve it, but recognition should be given to everyone. You shouldn’t have your favorites. You shouldn’t only thank those people that are always in your eye line and putting themselves forward. Even those quiet members of the team that put their head down and work that don’t push themselves forward or make a fuss of their own achievements should be offered your gratitude and recognition.
In House Promotion
When it comes to promotion, one person will always win out. But, you can still do it justly. Allow everyone to apply for the promotion and put them all through the same process before reaching your decision. Have a transparent process, that everyone knows about, so no one can doubt whether or not they have been treated the same as other applicants.
Staff Writer; Bobby Moore