Organizational culture icon Fairness and integrity

Leadership which is honest, transparent and consistent, where there is fairness and equity in decision-making and humble understanding of personal limitations and biases.

“The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Overview

What is fairness and integrity?

Fairness and integrity involves leadership which is honest, transparent and consistent, where there is fairness and equity in decision-making and humble understanding of personal limitations and biases.

Why is fairness and integrity important?

There are many benefits to having people leaders effectively trained in fairness and integrity:

  • Enhances all workers’ trust in leadership.
  • Reduces and eliminates discrimination.
  • Problematic worker issues are addressed proactively.
  • Workers are much more likely to want to do their best work.
  • Enhances the likelihood that teams are high functioning.

FAQs

  • Assess stressors related to psychological, emotional, cognitive and physical demands at work, and make adjustments as needed/required to support worker success.
  • Develop strategies that may best support workers in a collaborative fashion, and ensure you understand their needs and preferences and the supports required.
  • Ensure workers know the workplace is committed to supporting their success through an ongoing collaborative process.
  • Set up regular, and ideally at least weekly, one-to-one check-ins to review priorities and progress, and troubleshoot challenges as they arise.

  • Develop and publicly share policies around appropriate workplace behaviour and conduct. Ensure there is clarity about the actions and behaviours that workers will be held accountable for, and what the consequences will be.
  • Identify organizational and personal barriers to taking effective action.
  • When having a conversation regarding inappropriate behaviour with a worker, inform the worker in advance that you wish to discuss something important. Schedule a private one-to-one meeting and allow for adequate time to ensure you are not rushed. To avoid unnecessary stress, avoid scheduling too far in advance.
  • When addressing an incident, focus on the specific behaviour and actions (rather than focusing on the person). Be clear, specific and objective in describing the behaviour, and avoid making assumptions or laying blame, as this can contribute to defensiveness. Be clear in terms of expectations and next steps.

  • Conduct a review of the emotional and interpersonal requirements of each job, and ensure these are described in job ads.
  • Involve potential coworkers and those currently in similar roles (as appropriate) in the selection process for new applicants. This allows an opportunity for applicants to ask questions about the role, and increases the likelihood of there being clarity around what the position requires.
  • Provide mentorship, coaching and training in interpersonal/emotional skills, particularly those required for highly demanding positions.
  • Develop a culture in which the concept of emotional intelligence is understood, valued and used as a criterion for recruitment, selection, recognition/reward and promotion.
  • Where appropriate, consider a process that allows workers to explore internal positions that may better match their interpersonal/emotional competencies (e.g. via job-shadowing or career-development discussions).

Action

Next steps: Committing to enhancing fairness and integrity as a leader

We invite you to complete the Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment (PSLA) to learn more about your current leadership skills with respect to fairness and integrity. By completing this confidential self-assessment, you can identify key areas in which you can improve your psychologically safe leadership skills.

  • Enhancing your personal resilience and emotional intelligence skills.
  • Adapting your communication style to workers’ unique learning styles.
  • Conducting productivity reviews with each direct report, and determining areas in which they need support.
  • Seeking clarity about information you can share, and when you can share it, when broader organizational changes or decisions are pending.
  • Sharing concerns being expressed by your workers with higher-ups in the organization (while maintaining appropriate privacy and confidentiality), and asking for help to manage fears when they exist.
  • Creating a framework to eliminate stigma.
  • Having regular team discussions to generate ideas about what you can do to support and enhance workers’ engagement.
  • Recognizing and rewarding workers to ensure they feel appreciated for their efforts.
  • Helping workers identify workplace issues and challenges they are facing, and supporting them in developing coping strategies.
  • Asking your team what they feel civility and respect means in your workplace, and ways it can be enhanced (both with coworkers, as well as customers and clients).
  • Helping raise awareness of the impacts of worker behaviour on others, particularly when those behaviours are uncivil or disrespectful.
  • Developing effective processes to resolve challenges and conflicts that arise, particularly between workers.
  • Being clear about what behaviours and actions workers will be held accountable for, and what the consequences will be.
  • Identifying any barriers that exist to taking effective and timely action.
  • Seeking worker opinions, input and suggestions on a regular, recurring basis.
  • Helping workers manage organizational change.
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The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace – CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-803/2013. Retrieved from: https://www.csagroup.org/article/cancsa-z1003-13-bnq-9700-803-2013-r2018/. See also Psychologically Safe Leader (Samra et al.): Retrieved from https://www.psychologicallysafeleader.com/.