Team justice and thriving: a dynamic approach

Abstract

Purpose Prior research has conceptualized workplace justice as a stable variable over time changing from one individual to another. However, it can be assumed that perceptions of organizational justice fluctuate within the same person over the course of a few weeks or months due to different events at work. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to suggest that transient overall team justice is predictive of employee’s transient thriving at work (i.e. the experience of vitality and learning at work). In addition, the authors examined transient self-efficacy as an underlying mechanism of this relationship. Design/methodology/approach A total of 395 individuals completed a first general questionnaire and then completed an online questionnaire over four waves of survey. Findings Results of hierarchical linear models indicated that transient overall team justice positively predicts transient individual’s self-efficacy, which, in turn, positively predicts transient individual’s thriving at work. Research limitations/implications Overall, a dynamic approach of organizational justice capturing variability in justice perceptions certainly enlarges our understanding of the concept and its outcomes. Originality/value The study contributes to understand why even employees who feel generally treated with justice by their team may experience from time to time low levels of thriving at work because of a recent unjust treatment from the team and a decrease of their subsequent self-efficacy.