How it works

Effective communication and engagement strategies employ Fair Process research, which shows that people care not only about an initiative’s outcomes but also about the decision-making process that produces these outcomes. People are most likely to trust and embrace change initiatives—whether they themselves win or lose from those initiatives—when Fair Process is observed. 

Fair process responds to a basic human need. All employees, whatever their role in a company, want to be valued as human beings and not as “personnel” or “human assets.” They want to be respected, have their ideas taken seriously, and understand the rationale behind decisions. People are sensitive to the signals conveyed through a company’s decision-making processes. Such processes can reveal a company’s willingness to trust people and seek their ideas—or they can signal the opposite.