Expediency and pressure to deliver V fairness and compassion
We behave as if only rogue organisations act unethically and only short sighted employers treat their employees unfairly. In public there is a consensus that organisations need to do more than simply stay the right side of the law and that organisations that are seen as fair by their employees have a more committed and productive workforce. And yet when leaders/senior managers are trying to push through new working practices, complete a stalled reorganisation, relocate part of the business or get the best deal from a provider ethics and fairness are not what they talk about.
Management is mostly about the management of change and from a management point of view it takes too long . The impatience and frustrations are greater at the leadership level, they make a decision/agree a policy and can’t understand why it is taking so long for action on the ground to happen.
The Chief Executives who know what is needed to turn the organisation round, increase efficiency, improve performance finds it rather tiresome repeatedly explaining their thinking especially to those out side the leadership group who don’t have the big picture and are preoccupied with the minutia.
They will seek legal advice - can we do this? Then they will ask HR - how can we make this happen ( faster) ?
So how effective is HR in ensuring fairness is not the first casualty of the change agenda?
In my experience pretty effective especially when it comes to individual cases of bullying, harassment, favouritism, competence, and tackling bad practice .
Pretty good at ensuring a fair recruitment process ( although the determined can get round it) performance review and redeployment. Not bad at ensuring a fair reward scheme or bonuses are negotiated with unions ( now that we are addressing the historic equal pay for work of equal value issues for women).
However on the broader issues of employee engagement, opening up debate and explaining the rational behind decisions some managers still need convincing.
Whilst the role of HR in case work is understood , if not always appreciated, the more strategic role that many in HR would like to see developed is still struggling to be accepted in many organisations. Strategically HR wants to influence the organisation’s culture particularly its management culture - promoting compassionate management, health and well-being, employee engagement and greater transparency.
The business case is clear the research confirms that employees who think their organisation is fair are more committed to the organisation , have higher job satisfaction and perform better. HR can influence the perception of employees but they need the leadership to set the right tone and managers to recognise the value of a compassionate management style.
Blair McPherson former Director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
