A fair process is a decision-making process that is transparent and in which people affected by a decision have the opportunity to provide input to management, and, thereby, the possibility to influence the decision.
A fair process makes employees to trust management even if they disagree with the decisions.
A fair process is not decision-making process aiming at consensus, that is, it is not about to win people’s support through compromises.
Research has shown that employees care not only about outcomes, but also about the process that produces these outcomes.
This contrafict some assumptions made by economist which claim that people focus only on outcomes - as well as ideas in traditional management.
Research has also shown that a fair process enhances both employee motivation and performance.
Employees want to understand the rational behind decisions and want their ideas to be considered and taken seriously.
Knowledge-based organizations are dependent on knowledge creation and knowledge sharing among their employees.
Knowledge creation and knowledge sharing cannot be forced on the employees — they happen when employees cooperate volontarily.
This is a challenging task for management in knowledge-based organizations, and fair process is a useful management tool to support this since it create trust and commitment.
Moreover, innovation is a key challenge in the knowledge-based economy, and innovation requires the knowledge creation and knowledge sharing, which, in turn, depends on trust.