Organizational justice is a fairly new field of research. Its roots are deeply in literature and philosophy, but of late, a legal issue. The concept deals with how employees perceive fair treatment when interacting with the managers, supervisors and co-workers. The perception of justice by employees directly affects their productivity, health, and relationships with coworkers or even the employer. Workers may indulge in counterproductive behavior such as theft or sabotage if they experience unfair treatment. Organizational justice, therefore, requires attention in alleviating work based problems as well as maintaining optimal productivity. Principal focus is the strength of relationships between employees and managers. Managers have the mandate of ensuring all workers receive fair treatment in relation to job allocation and compensation for completed tasks. Organizational justice has three components namely distributive justice, interactional justice, and procedural justice.
Distributive justice is the arm of organizational justice which deals with fairness in resource allocation. The allocation takes into consideration the resource available, an appropriate procedure for distributing and the pattern. The arm recognizes three principles namely equity, equality and need. In an organization, employees have the tendency to compare their input and output towards completed tasks with those of their fellow workers. A person whose ratio is higher than the rest raises concern as being inequitably overpaid, and the converse is true for the person whose ratio is low. Enforcement of distributive justice calls for a strict balance. When equality becomes the central element, all workers get an equal share of resources. This results in a truncated level of satisfaction since not all employees have the same level of experience. Their needs are also different. Another option is a distribution based on an individual’s contribution. Hardworking employees get extra benefits. This can only work in an organization where all workers get an equal chance to compete. Distribution on the basis of need is also a viable option for allocation of resources. If all workers need get assessed and benefits shared depending on level of need, the level of satisfaction is high. This can work in an organization where the workforce has homogenous experience and competence.
Procedural justice deals with how individuals perceive their leaders as being fair in decision making and rationality in making those decisions. Employees in an organization desire laid down procedures and processes of decision making in which they have participated. They feel secure when involved in making decisions that affect their operation. The management should allow workers to air their opinion prior to making vital decisions even when the outcome is not favorable. Employees would still perceive the procedure as fair due to consideration of their opinion. In a large workforce, the organization enforces procedural justice by allowing workers to elect representatives. This raises the level of satisfaction concerning decisions as well as creating worker commitment to the organization.
Interactional justice differs from procedural justice with a thin margin. While procedural justice considers the structural quality of decisions, interactional justice deals with social exchange between parties. Workers are sensitive to the interpersonal treatment accorded during execution of organizational responsibilities. Workers demand truthfulness in information passed to them, respect, and a justification in the event of a negative procedure. Respect is an informal social virtue. Justification plays a role of removing bitterness and any form of discontent. During investigation, questions posed must not be prejudicial.
Organizational justice is, therefore, a core element in abating dissatisfaction in the workforce. Dissatisfaction is detrimental to productivity when workers fail to perform optimally due to feeling of unfair treatment. Participation of workers in making decisions that affect them increases their sense of ownership in the operations and increases their desire to stay in the organization.