How to Be Fair
Hold all of your employees to the same standards., Lead by example., Establish the rules., Don’t let personal bias affect your decisions., Give employees a voice., Apologize if you’ve made a mistake., Don’t let fairness burn you out.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Hold all of your employees to the same standards.
Of course, it can be challenging to not play favorites in the workplace.
There may be one employee who always listens to you, gives you compliments, and even brings you baked goods, while another employee may be a bit more cold and distant.
However, this doesn’t mean it’s fair for you to let the nicer employee leave work an hour early while making the less friendly employee stay late.
If you want to be fair, you have to check your biases against different employees and make sure that they all get the same treatment.
Ask yourself why you really favor one employee over another.
If it’s because you feel that some of your less-favored employees aren’t putting in the effort you expect, then it’s better to have an open conversation with them about it instead of giving them harsher treatment.
If you play favorites, then the employees who you don’t favor will think you’re unfair and will feel more bitter about working for you.
Fairness fosters a positive, supportive environment; playing favorites is discouraging. -
Step 2: Lead by example.
If you want to be a fair boss, then you have to be a role model for your employees.
You’ll have to serve as a model of what you want to see from them, in terms of your hard work, your enthusiasm, and your ability to work with others.
If you tell them one thing and act in a completely different way, then they won’t respect you and won’t think that you’re treating them fairly.
If you want to be fair, then you can’t be strict with your employees while going easy on yourself.
If you tell them it’s important for them to come to work at 9 o’clock sharp but are always at least half an hour late, then they won’t think you’re being fair if you reprimand them for being late.
If you call out an employee for slacking off though you’ve been making personal phone calls or chatting it up in the kitchen all afternoon, then you won’t be demonstrating fairness.
If your employees think you’re not being fair, they’ll be more likely to resent you. , Another way to be a fair boss is to make the rules crystal clear.
A lot of the time, when employees think their boss is being unfair, it’s because they don’t understand his or her expectations.
If you have certain quotas for what you want your employees to produce, let them know what you expect instead of getting angry or disappointed when they aren’t meeting your expectations.
If you have specific objectives for a new project, write them down so your employees know what you’re looking for instead of guessing in the dark.
The more you can write down your expectations, the more clear your rules will be.
If you have a document, an email, a report, or any piece of paper you can point to when your employees have questions about what you expect, then your rules will feel less arbitrary and more just.
If you’ve changed your rules and expectations, it’s only fair that you let your employees know about it up front instead of surprising them with the change later.
They’ll appreciate your honesty and will feel that you’re more fair. , If you want to be fair, then you have to remain as objective as possible when you hire new employees, fire current employees, delegate responsibilities, assign employees to projects, or just go about your work day.
You can’t just pick people who seem the most like you when hiring candidates, but need to pick the most qualified people; you can’t fire a person just because he rubs you the wrong way, but because he acted poorly.
It’s important to check yourself and to make sure you’re conducting your business fairly.Of course, it’s impossible to be completely unbiased.
Still, it can help you be more fair to get in the habit of checking yourself throughout your decision making processes.
If you’re leaning towards one new job candidate over another, ask yourself if it’s because you think the person is the most qualified, not because he complimented you the most.
If you’re unhappy with a report one of your employees turned in, ask yourself if it’s really because you have tension with the employee instead. , Though being the boss does mean setting the rules, if you want to be fair, then you have to let your employees give some feedback, too.
Make time to meet with them individually, ask for feedback when it’s needed, and make a point of caring about what they think and how they feel.
Though you don’t want to be a pushover, listening to your employees can establish a more fair environment and it can help you run your workplace more smoothly.
If you make time for your employees, then they’ll think of you as being more fair.
Instead of acting like you’re too busy to check in with them all the time, make an effort to get to hear their thoughts on how the company is running; this can make them feel better about being heard.
If you make rules and mandates without taking the employee’s knowledge and ideas into account at all, then you may develop a reputation for being unfair.
Of course, sometimes only you can know what’s best for your company, and you can’t let your employees run it for you.
Still, if you know an employee would have great insight into a certain situation and choose to ignore him or her, that may come off as unfair. , Just because you’re a boss doesn’t mean you never make mistakes.
If you’ve wronged one of your employees, made an oversight, or generally made a mistake somewhere during your work day, then it’s only fair to apologize.
If you brush your mistakes under the rug, then your employees won’t think it’s fair that you hold them to a high standard while not being accountable for your own mistakes.
If you’ve made a larger oversight that affects multiple employees, then you may need to apologize in a group setting.
Coming off as self-aware and wanting to change is far better than acting like you can do no wrong.
If your employees see that you have a strong sense of right and wrong, they’ll think you’re more fair. , Though being a fair boss is an important quality for keeping your employees happy and running your company smoothly, one study shows that following “procedural justice,” which means removing personal bias from situations with employees, making sure to take feedback into account, and avoiding shortcuts, and so on, has actually been shown to cause mental fatigue for managers.
Though you should still be fair, you should also make sure not to let your desire to be fair lead you to feel drained, or you won’t be capable of making wise decisions for your company.
Being fair is important, but so is taking time to decompress.To keep yourself from getting fatigued, make sure to get enough rest, to eat rejuvenating lunches, to take breaks during your work day, and to try to avoid thinking about work after 7 pm.
This can leave you feeling energized while remaining to be a fair boss. -
Step 3: Establish the rules.
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Step 4: Don’t let personal bias affect your decisions.
-
Step 5: Give employees a voice.
-
Step 6: Apologize if you’ve made a mistake.
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Step 7: Don’t let fairness burn you out.
Detailed Guide
Of course, it can be challenging to not play favorites in the workplace.
There may be one employee who always listens to you, gives you compliments, and even brings you baked goods, while another employee may be a bit more cold and distant.
However, this doesn’t mean it’s fair for you to let the nicer employee leave work an hour early while making the less friendly employee stay late.
If you want to be fair, you have to check your biases against different employees and make sure that they all get the same treatment.
Ask yourself why you really favor one employee over another.
If it’s because you feel that some of your less-favored employees aren’t putting in the effort you expect, then it’s better to have an open conversation with them about it instead of giving them harsher treatment.
If you play favorites, then the employees who you don’t favor will think you’re unfair and will feel more bitter about working for you.
Fairness fosters a positive, supportive environment; playing favorites is discouraging.
If you want to be a fair boss, then you have to be a role model for your employees.
You’ll have to serve as a model of what you want to see from them, in terms of your hard work, your enthusiasm, and your ability to work with others.
If you tell them one thing and act in a completely different way, then they won’t respect you and won’t think that you’re treating them fairly.
If you want to be fair, then you can’t be strict with your employees while going easy on yourself.
If you tell them it’s important for them to come to work at 9 o’clock sharp but are always at least half an hour late, then they won’t think you’re being fair if you reprimand them for being late.
If you call out an employee for slacking off though you’ve been making personal phone calls or chatting it up in the kitchen all afternoon, then you won’t be demonstrating fairness.
If your employees think you’re not being fair, they’ll be more likely to resent you. , Another way to be a fair boss is to make the rules crystal clear.
A lot of the time, when employees think their boss is being unfair, it’s because they don’t understand his or her expectations.
If you have certain quotas for what you want your employees to produce, let them know what you expect instead of getting angry or disappointed when they aren’t meeting your expectations.
If you have specific objectives for a new project, write them down so your employees know what you’re looking for instead of guessing in the dark.
The more you can write down your expectations, the more clear your rules will be.
If you have a document, an email, a report, or any piece of paper you can point to when your employees have questions about what you expect, then your rules will feel less arbitrary and more just.
If you’ve changed your rules and expectations, it’s only fair that you let your employees know about it up front instead of surprising them with the change later.
They’ll appreciate your honesty and will feel that you’re more fair. , If you want to be fair, then you have to remain as objective as possible when you hire new employees, fire current employees, delegate responsibilities, assign employees to projects, or just go about your work day.
You can’t just pick people who seem the most like you when hiring candidates, but need to pick the most qualified people; you can’t fire a person just because he rubs you the wrong way, but because he acted poorly.
It’s important to check yourself and to make sure you’re conducting your business fairly.Of course, it’s impossible to be completely unbiased.
Still, it can help you be more fair to get in the habit of checking yourself throughout your decision making processes.
If you’re leaning towards one new job candidate over another, ask yourself if it’s because you think the person is the most qualified, not because he complimented you the most.
If you’re unhappy with a report one of your employees turned in, ask yourself if it’s really because you have tension with the employee instead. , Though being the boss does mean setting the rules, if you want to be fair, then you have to let your employees give some feedback, too.
Make time to meet with them individually, ask for feedback when it’s needed, and make a point of caring about what they think and how they feel.
Though you don’t want to be a pushover, listening to your employees can establish a more fair environment and it can help you run your workplace more smoothly.
If you make time for your employees, then they’ll think of you as being more fair.
Instead of acting like you’re too busy to check in with them all the time, make an effort to get to hear their thoughts on how the company is running; this can make them feel better about being heard.
If you make rules and mandates without taking the employee’s knowledge and ideas into account at all, then you may develop a reputation for being unfair.
Of course, sometimes only you can know what’s best for your company, and you can’t let your employees run it for you.
Still, if you know an employee would have great insight into a certain situation and choose to ignore him or her, that may come off as unfair. , Just because you’re a boss doesn’t mean you never make mistakes.
If you’ve wronged one of your employees, made an oversight, or generally made a mistake somewhere during your work day, then it’s only fair to apologize.
If you brush your mistakes under the rug, then your employees won’t think it’s fair that you hold them to a high standard while not being accountable for your own mistakes.
If you’ve made a larger oversight that affects multiple employees, then you may need to apologize in a group setting.
Coming off as self-aware and wanting to change is far better than acting like you can do no wrong.
If your employees see that you have a strong sense of right and wrong, they’ll think you’re more fair. , Though being a fair boss is an important quality for keeping your employees happy and running your company smoothly, one study shows that following “procedural justice,” which means removing personal bias from situations with employees, making sure to take feedback into account, and avoiding shortcuts, and so on, has actually been shown to cause mental fatigue for managers.
Though you should still be fair, you should also make sure not to let your desire to be fair lead you to feel drained, or you won’t be capable of making wise decisions for your company.
Being fair is important, but so is taking time to decompress.To keep yourself from getting fatigued, make sure to get enough rest, to eat rejuvenating lunches, to take breaks during your work day, and to try to avoid thinking about work after 7 pm.
This can leave you feeling energized while remaining to be a fair boss.
About the Author
Nathan Miller
A passionate writer with expertise in hobbies topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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