Procedural Fairness in Restructuring and Layoffs measure

Description

This measure, (Procedural Fairness in Restructuring and Layoffs) developed by Mansour-Cole and Scott (l 998), describes the fairness of the procedures used in an organization during company restruc­ turing and associated layoffs. It also describes the respect and consideration shown to employees during the implementation of these procedures. The measure uses 14 items to assess employee perceptions of the way they are treated by management from both an interactive and a procedural stand­ point. The items were originally selected in anticipation of two subscales, one for procedures and one for quality of interactions. An exploratory factor analysis showed that several items cross-loaded, and the two resulting sub­ scales were highly correlated. Thus, the items were combined into a single measure.

Reliability 

Coefficient alpha for the measure was .88 (Mansour-Cole & Scott, 1998).

Validity

Procedural fairness correlated positively with distributive fairness, employ­ ees having heard about a layoff from their manager (vs. other sources), leader-member exchange (LMX) with their manager, receiving personal benefit from the layoff, legitimacy of the account for the layoff, and organi­ zational commitment. Procedural fairness correlated negatively with an employee having a closer relationship with layoff victims (Mansour-Cole & Scott, 1998).

Source

Items

Responses are obtained using a 5-point Likert-type scale where l = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.

 

1. When decisions are made about job reductions and reassignments, management treated me with kindness and respect
2. Management made sure that all employee concerns were heard before job changes and elimination decisions were made
3. When making decisions about job changes and eliminations, management offered explanations that made sense to me
4. When decisions are made about my job, management was sensitive to my personal needs
5. To make this decision, management collected all the necessary information
6. Management explained very clearly all the decisions made about the restructuring
7. When decisions were made about job changes and eliminations, my manager and others in management treated me with respect and dignity
8. When decisions were made about the restructuring, management dealt with me in a truthful manner
9. Management clarified decisions and provided additional information when requested by employees
10. When decisions were made about job changes and eliminations, management showed concern for my rights as an employee
11. All job decisions were applied consistently across all affected employees
12. Employees were allowed to challenge or appeal job decisions made by management
13. People at my job level had adequate input in to the restructuring decision process
14. Procedures were put in place to provide the employees with timely information about the restructuring and its implementation