This article looks at what impact treating groups of people differently in an organisation can have. It specifically focusses on how treating employees in management roles differently and how that impact affects organisations. It relates this information back to scientific findings on differential treatment of employees according to their role, level of responsibility and hierarchy.
“All animals are equal. But some are more equal than others.”
A quote from George Orwell’s Animal Farm that I find as pertinent here, as when looking at how different cultures treat hierarchy. It works in both contexts because how we treat hierarchy can be affected by our culture of origin as well as the culture of our organisation.
Some may argue that certain levels of responsibility justify different levels of benefits. What is considered fair and equal will also vary depending on the context worked in, working conditions, etc…
Treating everyone identically is not always the fair and equal way to do things. However, treating a certain group of people preferentially over others in a way not fitting to the organisation will have repercussions. Recognising it is impossible to treat everyone exactly the same, the fact that people have different roles, responsibilities, needs and working conditions needs to be taken into account.
If the balance between how an organisation treats its management team versus its other employees is skewed, this will have a significant impact on the business.
Let’s make it more concrete in some examples:
- it’s your workforce requesting more holidays, only to be told no, while your management team gets extra days.
- or an arbitrary cap on coaching for employees while managers are provided it without any upper limit.
- it’s giving giving management significant salary bumps and small salary increases to employees, referencing a financially difficult time.
- it’s providing professional development budgets for management including soft skills, but not for employees.
- Or demanding initiative from employees while either the freedom to take action for an employee is so small there is no possibility to do so, or management steps in and takes over when an employee does show initiative.
Studies have shown that perceived workplace inequality creates measurable negative effects in an organisation such undermining core organisational outcomes and triggering psychological distress. Sainz et al.’s work (2023) documented that inequal and unfair work conditions significantly decrease employees’ job satisfaction and dignity perceptions. These effects have effects further downstream on retention success and performance.
In an environment where employees perceive unequal treatment based on hierarchy rather than merit, trust in leadership is eroded and commitment to the organisation is weakened.
Is this always easy? No. It requires a balance between what is needed and what is required. But it’s worth the effort. Research has shown that ensuring fairness across hierarchies has tangible effects on business performance. Schmitt et al.’s (2014) meta-analysis showed a strong correlation between perceived differential treatment and a reduction in psychological wellbeing and increases in stress levels and burnout.
Employees in environments with hierarchical inequity are less engaged and demonstrate decreased organisational citizenship.
Both of these affect team effectiveness.
Specifically injustice on a procedural and interpersonal level damage relationships between leaders and their teams. Ma et al. (2025) studied the effect of inconsistencies in leadership behaviour and found that it created psychological strain by undermining employees’ sense of workplace control. In turn, this strain manifests in reduced productivity and higher turnover intention.
So how can you go about providing fairness across all levels ? Thinking about the requirements in each role and position is a good start. Cross-checking benefits across the whole organisation another. Trusting your intuitive measure of a good balance of give and take is always worthwhile here. If your business is just going through a financially challenging time, that may not be the time to promote management team members or elevate management titles.
Involving everyone in some level of organisational design, benefit design, etc… can also be a good way to avoid an imbalance and increase engagement at all levels. Is it worth it? Definitely.
Businesses with a fair approach across all levels have healthier work environments, higher motivation and improved task performance.
Favouring management teams when thinking about work benefits comes at a cost that dramatically outweighs any perceived advantages.
Do you want to have a closer look at this topic with me as your business coach, sparring partner and trainer? Get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you.
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