Selection Processes
Human resource leaders play a vital role in designing selection processes for the downsizing initiative. From a business, ethical and legal perspective, HR must ensure that justification exists for each and every selection choice in the affected group. The perception of "justice" by the employee is an important factor in this process. Procedural justice theorists state that the perception of organizational justice is linked to how the decision is made rather than what the decision actually is (Greenberg, 1990). The premise of procedural justice is the perceived fairness of the procedures used and rules followed in making decisions. These procedural rules suggest that "decisions should be made consistently, without personal biases, with as much accurate information as possible, with interests of affected individuals represented in a way that is compatible with their ethical values and with an outcome that could be modified" (Gilliland, 1993, p. 695). By following the procedural rules, survivors will perceive the layoffs as being handled fairly and they will more readily trust the organization and commit to it (Greenberg, 1990).
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Figure 2
Selection decisions include both identifying the "at risk" employees and selecting employees to fill essential positions left vacant in the new organization. Human resource leaders must ensure that both processes have clear and appropriate criteria, which is communicated to all employees. For example, a manufacturing firm implementing a downsizing initiative held employee informational meetings to explain the selection processes and the criteria to be used for these processes. Employees were given the opportunity to ask questions and to fully understand the basis for selection. The organization did not treat the selection processes with secrecy, and the employees were able to discern the justice and fairness of the selection processes.