You treated me unfairly.” I was stunned. As a health care manager, I’d just completed performance appraisals for my employees. One employee, Ramona, had held her tongue during our formal conversation about her job performance and merit increase. But later, she visited my office again. “You gave the other people higher pay raises,” she announced, in an accusatory tone. “You treated me unfairly.”

I didn’t know what to say.

As I sat at my desk after Ramona briskly left my office, I felt my face grow hot with anger and embarrassment while my abdomen twisted into a painful knot. I agonized over her allegation that I was unfair. How could she possibly think this? I had made every effort to do what was right, make meaningful distinctions among employees’ performances and clearly communicate the information to each employee. Of course I was fair!

But after a while (OK, after a long time) it occurred to me that, if I wanted to resolve this issue, I needed to try to see the situation from Ramona’s perspective.

That’s what fairness is all about–perceptions. You may feel certain you’re being fair to your employees. But fairness isn’t about you. However, some of the most intelligent and savvy managers have difficulty seeing “fairness” from their employees’ perspectives.

It appears many people don’t see their workplace as fair. One in five employees feels his employer treats employees unfairly, according to The 2000 Global Employee Relationship Report by Walker Information Global Network and the Hudson Institute.