Analyze peer posts and provide a response with a new academic peer reviewed article. This is the feedback instructor provided so please adhere to their feedback as well:
The discussion board should be a “conversation” between you and your colleagues. I know you are sticking to third-person voice, but for the discussion board only, its OK to create a friendlier tone for this class. For example, instead try:
“Hi Lois,
I see how you reflected upon certain aspects of….”
Instead of
“In the post, Jackson reflects…..”
Post 1 – Author: James
Social Justice Culture and Productivity
Everyone enjoys being treated fairly, and they are more likely to have positive attitudes and improve performance in situations where they feel they are beating treated fairly. The statement seems to be intuitive, but scholars who study human behavior and workplace interaction conduct studies to prove or disprove these intuitive notions, working to understand the impact of fair treatment within the workplace and society as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to briefly explore the concepts of social and organizational justice and their impact on productivity in the workplace.
Discussion
Social and Organizational Justice
The concept of social justice can be difficult to define, but it is often associated with the concepts of equality and equity. Citing Powers and Faden (2006), Moffa and Longo (2016) describe the theory of social justice that focuses on human well-being rather than specific metrics of equality or equity. This line of thought argues that being proactive and attentive to anything that hinders peoples well-being is the best path to social justice. In a later article, Faden and Powers (2008) further define the concept of human well-being, upon which their definition and viewpoint of social justice rest. They postulate that the major components of human well-being are health, personal security, development and exercise of reasoning, social respect, deep personal attachments, and self-determination in life.
Some scholars take the concept of social justice and apply it more specifically to business organizations that exist within a society. The principles of fair treatment (or the perception of fair treatment) that apply within the larger society are mirrored within business organization. This social justice within the confines of the particular organization is termed organizational justice. Cropanzano et al. (2007) identify three components of organizational justice: distributive, procedural, and interactional. Of note, the authors look at organizational justice based on the perception of employees – their definition of organizational justice is linked to perceptions and not some definitive or objective reality of whether or not a situation is just. To further exlore the three components mentioned, Cropanzano et al. (2007) relate procedural justice with the appropriateness of the allocation process within an organization. Its subcomponents include consistency, lack of bias, accuracy, comprehensive representation, and having an appeals process. Distributive justice is linked to the appropriateness of the outcomes of situations and managerial decisions in the workplace. Its subcomponents include equity, equality, and need. Interactional justice is based on the appropriateness an employee receives in their treatment by authority figures within the organization. Its subcomponents include interpersonal justice and informational justice. To achieve organizational justice in the workplace, it is important to understand and work towards success in each of these three areas (Cropanzano et al., 2007).
Productivity
Research suggests that fair treatment, social justice, and organizational justice increase employees willingness to perform at high levels as well as raising the level of positive citizenship behaviors by employees. Organizational justice also increases employees commitment to their group within the organization. Further, it also increases their desire to remain with the organization. These indicate the bottom-line business benefits of increased performance and reduced turnover (Cropanzano & Schminke, 2001).
Conclusion
This brief exploration of the concepts of social and organizational justice expand understanding of the concepts makeup and subcomponents, and also provide indicators that successfully achieving these conditions has a positive impact on productivity in the workplace. Elements of the body of knowledge indicate that organizational justice (a subset of social justice with similar characteristics) includes the components of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Research suggests that workers who perceive these elements within their workplace have increased performance and are less likely to leave the organization. Cropanzano et al. (2007) provide further incentive to pursue organizational justice with their analogy that it is a two-sided coin – the absence of justice is likely to cause problems within an organization and the existence of organizational justice brings positive outcomes to the organization. For this reason, leaders have strong incentive to understand and pursue organizational justice within their spheres of authority, knowing that it also contributes to benefits within the larger society.
Post 2- Author: Chad
Workplace Investigations
Lorene Schaefer, an employment lawyer and workplace investigator in Atlanta stated, In todays world, being able to conduct an effective internal investigation that will withstand legal scrutiny is a core competency for HR professional (Meinert, 2014). The ten common HR investigation mistakes are the following:
Failing to plan.
Ignoring complaints.
Delaying investigations.
Losing objectivity.
Being distracted during interviews.
Using overly aggressive interview tactics.
Not conducting a thorough investigation.
Failing to reach a conclusion.
Failing to create a written report.
Failing to follow up with those involved.
Ballard and Easteal (2018) found that workplace investigations into alleged misconduct lacked procedural fairness, neutrality and were not timely. Employers have an implied responsibility to take care of their workers which includes ensuring rules, regulations, and any of the employees or management of the organization does not violate policies. It is this ability, to investigate wrongdoings, that allows employment relationships to be effective (Ballard & Easteal, 2018). The overall recommendation from Ballard & Easteal (2018) was to have a trained investigator, not part of the organization, that can develop fair and unambiguous investigation following government laws as well as company rules and policies.
The way an employer responds to a complaint is so important to eliminate employer liability for a work-rule violation (Meinert, 2014). The four key items for employers to immediately determine based on the complaint are the following:
Select who will be interviewed;
Determine what will be investigated by setting parameters for that particular investigation;
Identify documents and evidence need to prove or disprove allegations;
Decide on an impartial investigator that is trained knowing that his actions and decisions
might have to stand up in a court of law.
The last issue is what to do once an investigation is completed. Smith and Stone (2017) state the most important part is to document the incident and record all actions to include the following:
The incident investigated with dates;
All parties involved with any part of the investigation with full contact information;
All key factual and credible findings as well as all documents reference during the investigation;
All employer rules and regulations involved in the investigation;
The deciding party for any violation with written rational to the decision;
All actions taken by the employer.
Again, all of these documents might be needed in court and without them, an employer has no proof they attempted to do the right actions (Smith & Stone, 2017).
