Fairness is an essential aspect of good management. That is, a good manager is fair. But what does fairness mean in this context? For the gist of it, let’s consider fairness as being “consistent with rules and logic”.

In a survey of 2200 people, almost all of the subjects stated that they would want to work for a boss who has fairness as one of their main character traits. Why is that? If you are fair as a boss, your employees won’t have to worry so much about who’s getting an unfair share. There won’t be a need for them to exert much effort to increase what they will get. Your employees aren’t likely to look for another job, but instead do their best for their work and get it done.

If you treat your employees fairly, you will be trusted and respected as a manager. You get what you give as well. Just as you are fair to your people, your people will be fair to you, too. Your personnel tends to be more cooperative which makes yours and their jobs easier. Here are some tips on how to be a fair manager.

Tips On How To Be A Fair Manager:

• Fairness in management means you, as a manager treats your superiors, your peers and subordinates reasonably. In this case, you have to practice the golden rule. Treat others in a manner that you would want to be treated.
• Don’t play favorites. Don’t delegate all good jobs to anyone, and all the good jobs to someone based on how you feel about them.
• Don’t take advantage of your employees because of your position. Don’t abuse others just because you think you can and can get away with it.
• As a fair manager, you have to know how to follow the rules and apply them justly to yourself and everyone.
• Change rules when necessary, especially if they are unfair. Make sure, however, that modifications you implement promote more fairness and not to cater to your personal interest or biases.
• Delegate work fairly to your subordinates. Consider how everyone would feel if you assign certain tasks. For instance, if you create a rule that everyone has to pay $20 a month for common coffee in the lunch room, think about the stock clerk to whom $20 is a big expense. What about the accountant who doesn’t take coffee?
• Be honest to your personnel. Explain to them why things in the company operate the way they do and why this and that procedure is necessary. Your employees deserve to get due information about the company. Just as you are honest with your staff, be honest to yourself, too. Why are you doing the things you do?

It’s not easy to be fair and reasonable as a manager. It takes careful planning and a lot of perceptiveness. But a fair manager finds a good place in the motivations of their employees, and it’s worth the effort to be so.