Ep 13 - 3 Steps to Create a Fair Work Environment in Your Business

Power Up Your Team Podcast

I am sure you have read some or the countless books and articles on leadership. Many CEOs who are leading successful companies have been interviewed, analyzed and observed

We learn about how they ideate genius new products nobody ever thought about or inspire their teams to reach for the stars and make the impossible possible. They shape the culture of their organization and enable results without being involved in every detail.

But you are wondering how you can step more into this space after you have been hands for so long. In episode 8 of Power Up Your Team podcast, we covered that stepping into the CEO role is a process by which you change the way you interact with your team.

In this episode, I am sharing a key insight about the concept of fairness that I had when I crossed the bridge from managing to leading.

I started my career as an individual contributor. I led project teams before I was given a small staff to supervise. With a degree in engineering, I dabbled in quality management, application engineering and process improvement.

All these disciplines are rooted in science and logic. As manager, I was focused on creating structure, guidelines and procedures. I felt so at home in that space. And that type of work in indispensable for the functioning of an organization.

• How well would computers come off the production line if there weren’t any procedures for how to build them?
• How well would software – even open-source code – function if there weren’t any protocols and standards?
• How engaging would a football game be if there weren’t any rules for how to play the game?

Every business needs to ensure people can collaborate well and deliver excellent products and services. Check out episode 7 where I discuss governance as a vital ingredient to ensure your team can deliver.

Does Fairness Mean Every Team Member is Treated in the Exact Same Way?

In my early years as Manager, I was guided by the believe that fairness meant the same for everyone. Same rules, same goals, same amount of attention, same training and so forth.

As I progressed into leading larger teams and businesses, I had one key insight. Team members have different needs based on their personality, work style and career aspirations.

Therefore, the perception of fairness is very subjective.

Let me give you some examples:
1st example:

I was bent out of shape if some employees didn’t want a weekly check-in meeting. They said every other week was enough. How could that be fair? I need to give the same amount of attention to everyone. That’s the manager’s perspective.

As leader, I became more flexible and collaborated with the team members to design a meeting cadence that fits their needs in frequency, duration and content.

2nd example:

As manager, I worried that sending just one team member to a training program would automatically be perceived as unfair by everyone else. That wasn’t the case. In fact, some people were relieved that didn’t have to go.

As leader, I made sure that team members had individualized development plans that were co-created with the employee based on their current capabilities and their career aspirations.

Here’s the Aha:

Fairness is created by giving everyone a chance to succeed.

Three Steps to Create a fair Work Environment

There are three steps you can take to foster the perception of fairness in your organization. Find out what they are at www.PowerUpYourTeam.com/13