Ground Rules of Fairness at Work
Unfairness is such a demotivator that I left my first engineering job because of it.
In my first job I earned much less than my colleagues doing the same work due to the contract that I chose. I had not done my research so it was my own fault. Nevertheless, the sense of others having higher salaries for doing the same work was demotivating. It was not the only factor for leaving the company, but it contributed significantly.
Fairness is important. We evolved as a social species and through our lives we rely heavily on those around us. A lack of fairness feels threatening — we lose confidence and feel that we are being excluded from the group.
Fairness is subjective. There are subtle differences in what people believe is fair and what is not. We perceive any unfairness towards us much stronger than unfairness towards others.
As a manager your decisions might be judged by their fairness. Properly managing expectations is my baseline for good leadership; checking fairness comes second.
Over the years, I have led teams and witnessed demotivation that could have been easily prevented by shedding more light on what was happening. To ensure fairness is remembered, I have compiled these ground rules:
Be Transparent
Transparency is key. People need to see what is happening and why, and they need to know that objective measures have been used to make decisions or create processes.
A great example of maintaining transparent processes within a company is The Handbook by GitLab. It is open to the public, and as a GitLab employee, you will find every piece of information on how the company operates. It covers everything from running a book club and stock options to their values (it is an interesting source of inspiration for managing a company).
People need to understand what is happening and why. If we leave too much room for their interpretations, they can construct a story that fits their narrative, trying to figure out why something happened.
As a manager, when designing new processes or making decisions, be bold in sharing as many details as you can. Remember that transparency is crucial in all instances where we select a group or individual from the team, especially when money or bonuses are involved.
From a fairness perspective, consider these questions:
Do you know how to obtain a raise and what the criteria are?
Do you understand how the promotion process works?
If the answer to any of these is something similar to "be a good friend of a manager", then it is not a fair environment.
Explain Compensation
Money is an interesting concept for measuring how much something is worth. Our salaries indicate how valuable our work is, but we must remember that its price is determined by the market, demand for services, and the current state of the economy. However, people will compare their salaries within the company, and that comparison might become a source of demotivation.
We want to be compensated based only on our skills and contributions.
When I was responsible for hiring new engineers, I led the final meetings with them and we discussed offers.
Here is how I framed the discussion before revealing the offer:
In a perfect world, I would have a magical device that connects to your brain, gathering everything you know and how you work. Then, it would compare it with people inside our teams to determine your salary. Unfortunately, we are not there yet.
Our recruiters did their best throughout all steps to gather as much data about you as possible, used our career path matrix, and together we estimated where in the ranges you should be.
If the offer is not what you expected, it does not mean that you performed poorly. It is an imperfection of our process and internal salary distribution.
Is it fair?
Candidates generally agreed that it was a fair approach, often emphasising their preference for working in a company where newcomers are not overcompensated just because their services are needed.
Transparency regarding general rules on compensation is crucial for maintaining team motivation.
Evaluate Recognition
Employee of the Month, Hero of the Unit, Superheroes, Coder of the Quarter, etc. — all these titles make selected employees feel motivated, recognised, and rewarded.
Broadcasting employee achievements can make them feel appreciated but there is another side to consider. If the criteria are unclear or if certain groups can easily manipulate results, such processes can do more harm than good.
Most people have a tendency to think they contribute the most work. When researchers asked authors of multi-author papers about their contributions, the combined result was about 140%. Similarly, when couples were asked about the amount of housework they do, the combined time is almost always above 100%. This is known as egocentric bias.
The same bias occurs in the workplace. In a team, individuals may believe they are doing more than others because they are only aware of their perspective. Anytime there is an unequal distribution of resources or recognition, questions about fairness will arise.
In my career, I have witnessed specific teams that were determined to promote their own members at the company level. They knew how to optimise recognition programs and voting processes, which ultimately demotivated the rest of the teams.
Individual recognition and group recognition are both important for creating a sense of appreciation within teams. However, it is essential to communicate the reasoning behind these decisions and be transparent by using data.
Summary
Motivating our teams can be a challenging task, but by implementing these guidelines, it may become easier:
Transparency in how you operate contributes to the perception of a fair workplace for employees. To ensure fairness: be transparent, explain the reasoning behind compensation decisions, and evaluate recognition practices.
Thank you for reading!
Michał
Post Notes
Discover Weekly — Shoutouts
Articles that might help you explore new perspectives which I have read this week:
“How refactoring almost ruined my marriage” from
by — I will use Anton's personal story with his in-laws every time to explain refactoring.“Your Guide to Ensure OnTime Delivery” from
by — Four strategies to implement to help teams, especially useful when transitioning from an individual contributor role to a team leader position.“Practical Learning Strategies for Engineers“ from
by— Nicola's practical approach to learning, organising and memorizing. Highly practical with numerous tips to immediately implement (not only for enginners).
“Unpacking the Truth of Peer Reviews in the Software Industry” from
by — We can greatly benefit from multiple perspectives. I advocate for peer reviews whenever possible.
I loved the pre-reveal message.
It's so important to be transparent as much as possible with your employees and I believe that it applies to any close partnership.
The more open you are with your partner, be it a romantic partner or a business one, the better the relationship is and the higher the chances are to grow and thrive.
I have a rule:
If I consider whether I need to discuss it or not - I discuss it.
It was important enough to bother me, so it's probably important enough to talk about.
Thanks for the article Michal! Great job :)
I loved this one Michal!
Your focus on salary is just - this the place where most people feel the unfairness. It's a very tough situation to be in as a manager.
For example, in 2021, the salaries of new comers were much higher, because it was a very competitive market. Now, people will agree to much lower offers, and the budget for hiring is lower.
This creates a lot of people in the same situation as you - earning less than there peers. But the question then becomes - do they learn less than they deserve, or the 2021-hires earn more than they deserve?
I only recently started to be a part of those conversations as a director, and it's much more complicated than I thought - as you wrote, fair is very subjective.