Critically Analyzing The Equity Theory In Human Resource Management

Theory of Human Resource Management in terms of its capacity to establish the conditions for a fair and equitable workplace

Human resource management is an approach that is used for managing the effectiveness in an organisation. It is designed to maximize the performance and resolve all the conflicts that arise due to discrimination or other issues (Lazaroiu, 2015). The duty of human resource management is look at employee benefits; training and development also take care of the organisational fairness.

The purpose of human resource is to ensure that organisational success is met by managing human capital along with implementing various policies so that fairness is met. Some of the policies that are designed for maintaining the effectiveness and fairness in an organisation are discussed below (Kiruja & Mukuru, 2018).

Adams equality theory is used for motivation and it offers number of advantage in terms of equality. This policy assures that equality is obtained by the employees and extra benefits are equally distributed. This theory has proved to be beneficial for the mangers as they make them realize the trends in an organisation and motivates people (Lazaroiu, 2015). This theory is capable of contributing to both theory and practice of motivation.

The basic proposition of equality theory is to maximize the outcomes this could be done by apportioning rewards and costing system. Unlike many theories using equality theory is simple and the sole objective is offer justice and offer equal opportunity to all the employees (Gemeda & Tynjälä, 2015).

Effective management of employees is a key objective of human resource management (HRM) theories which are targeted towards addressing various issues relating to management of human capital in organisations. Maintaining fairness and equality among employees has become crucial for corporations to ensure that they are able to avoid discrimination in the workplace which leads to conflict among employees and the management (Hassan, 2013). Lack of fairness and equality also resulted in negatively affecting the performance of employees since they find it difficult to ensure that they are unable to perform at their highest capability in the hostile working environment. The equity theory developed by John Stacey Adams can assist corporations in ensuring that fairness and equality are maintained between employees which resulted in motivating employees to improve their performance as well. This is a relevant HRM theory which is used by companies in order to improve motivation among employees (Gemeda & Tynjälä, 2015). This theory also complies with various principles of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg Two-Factor theory. This theory focuses on subtle and variable factors which affect employee’s assessment and perception regarding their relationship with their work and the employer (Tseng & Kuo, 2014). As per this theory, the employees become demotivated from their work and employer if they feel that their inputs are greater than their outputs.

Employees expect greater outcomes if they put their hard work in order to achieve common  organisational goals. In case they did not receive appropriate outcomes, then they get demotivated from their work and the organisation. This theory provides that all employees should receive equal treatment and rewards for similar work. Discrimination leads to inequality among employees, and they find it difficult to work effectively in the company. In order to apply this theory, it is important that the employer focuses on understanding the perspective of employees regarding the disparities between the inputs and outputs. This theory assists the management in maintaining a fair relationship between the performance and rewards in comparison to other (Al-Zawahreh & Al-Madi, 2012). As per this theory, fairness and equality can be maintained when an individual perceives that his/her outcomes are greater than his/her inputs. It is referred as underpaid inequality which creates an imbalance between the rewards and inputs of employees which leads to discrimination in the workplace. In the case of overpaid inequality, the inputs of an employee are greater than compared to his/her outcomes which resulted in demotivating the employees.

Recommendations for implementing equity theory in the workplace

Employees who did not receive equal outcomes as per their inputs feel like they are being mistreated in the workplace. Therefore, the management is required to avoid both overpaid and underpaid inequality and focus on implementing equity in the workplace. As per the equity theory, an employee’s inputs are equal to his/her outcomes which eliminate the issue of discrimination in the workplace (Ryan, 2016). Employees who receive equal treatment in the workplace are more likely to be motivated to achieve their goals in the workplace. For example, if an employee is working hard to achieve his/her targets, then such employee should receive appropriate reward and recognition for the same hard work. If another employee is also working hard and not receiving equal rewards or recognition, then it creates the issue of unfairness which resulted in demotivating the second employee (Kiruja & Mukuru, 2018). It also resulted in negatively affecting the performance of other employees who see this mistreatment because they started to believe that they will face similar consequences (Morand & Merriman, 2012). Therefore, it creates a negative working environment in the workplace. It is important to understand that only monetary rewards are not considered as appropriate outcomes for an employee’s inputs. Employees should receive equal recognition and appropriation from the top level management which assists them in ensuring that they are not demotivated from the policies of the corporation (Hirano & Kasatani, 2017).

In order to implement equity theory in the workplace, the management can comply with following recommendations. The senior-level executives should implement a monitoring program which assists them in determining who is working effectively in the organisation to ensure that they reward them for their hard work. An employee who is working harder than others should receive appropriate rewards and recognition for such hard work (Gelens, Dries, Hofmans & Pepermans, 2013). The principal object of any organization is equity or fairness. Every employee of an administration expects that he should be treated with justice. There is nothing wrong in this expectation by the employees. This theory proposes that the employee evaluates the outcomes from the job in terms of  salary, fringe benefits, promotion, recognition etc. against the inputs he is contributing in the form of education, knowledge, skill, experience etc (Hirano & Kasatani, 2017).

 Another step is that the management should establish a rewards or incentives program in which all employees should receive equal incentives or rewards for their extra work which they put in their job. This will motivate other employees to improve their performance as well in order to receive those rewards. Moreover, the management should actively engagement with employees to ensure that they did not feel discriminated in the organisation (Buzea, 2014). It will assist in motivating employees which will result in improving the performance of the company by ensuring that employees are working at their highest capacity. Therefore, compliance with fairness and equality principles assist corporations in sustaining their future growth in their respective industry. Maslow’s hierarchy is the theory that is used for motivation for the employees and make sure that needs are fulfilled of all the employees.

Conclusion

Theses theory makes sure that all the discrimination should be avoided and all the employees should be treated equally rather than giving extra privilege. The Maslow’s theory assures that all the basic needs are fulfilled in an organisation like safety and physiological needs (Olafsen, Halvari, Forest & Deci, 2015). Some of the policies are designed for maintaining justice and fairness in an organisation is achieved by staring the reward system and optimizing the result in terms of productivity. The basic concept of theory is focus on fairness and makes fairness clear. Employees should feel their importance and benefits should be offered in term of payments, opportunities and promotion.

References

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Kiruja, E. K., & Mukuru, E. (2018). Effect of motivation on employee performance in public middle level Technical Training Institutions in Kenya. IJAME.

Lazaroiu, G. (2015). Employee motivation and job performance. Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, 14, 97.

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Olafsen, A. H., Halvari, H., Forest, J., & Deci, E. L. (2015). Show them the money? The role of pay, managerial need support, and justice in a self?determination theory model of intrinsic work motivation. Scandinavian journal of psychology, 56(4), 447-457.

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Tseng, L. M., & Kuo, C. L. (2014). Customers’ attitudes toward insurance frauds: an application of Adams’ equity theory. International Journal of Social Economics, 41(11), 1038-1054.