So, what actions can agencies take to foster a fair environment in which employees can and want to do their best work? Here’s a brief overview of some of the necessary steps.

1. Conduct a thorough workforce analysis. This analysis should identify workforce requirements, including identifying where representation lags behind the available workforce and possible barriers to a fully representative workforce.
2.  Ensure that human resources policies and practices do not create barriers to merit-based selection, recognition, advancement, and retention. For example, agencies should use a balanced set of recruitment strategies and hiring authorities. Selection criteria should be clearly job-related, with assessment strategies that are well-designed and carefully implemented. Additionally, the diversity and depth of the resulting candidate pool should be examined at each stage of the process to identify any unintentional impacts.
3. Select supervisors with care and assure that they exercise their authority in a fair and transparent manner. Agencies must recognize that the supervisor employee interface represents one of the most critical points at which employees can experience fair—or unfair—treatment. Therefore, supervisory selection and accountability are critical. Supervisors may also need training, as well as the time, to fairly and effectively manage their employees.
4. Earn the confidence of employees through daily decisions and routine interactions. It isn’t sufficient for supervisors to feel that they are treating employees fairly. They must earn employee confidence through their actions—whether giving assignments, constructive feedback, training opportunities, performance ratings, awards, and pay raises. All workforce decisions should be based on merit factors—matching individual abilities and performance to organizational requirements. Relying upon less rigorous assessments that can’t hold up to external scrutiny has the potential to seriously undermine employee engagement and subsequently, organizational performance.
5. Ensure employees have knowledge of and access to effectual redress procedures, such as grievance and EEO complaint processes. Although these procedures serve as a safety net to guard against misuse of authority or mistreatment of employees, agencies should work to avoid getting to this stage by maintaining high standards as discussed in the points above.

Reprinted from Issues of Merit, a publication of the Office of Policy and Evaluation , U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. More details can be found in the report, Fair and Equitable Treatment: Progress Made and Challenges Remaining, found at www.mspb.gov/studies.

What do you think? Are there other actions that agencies should take so that employees can do their best work?