Too close for comfort: The effect of relationship closeness and procedural justice on managers' experiences of layoffs

Abstract

Organizational justice is a powerful predictor of employee and survivor reactions to layoffs. However, less is known about the perspective of managers during layoffs, who often feel responsible for fairness violations. Drawing on cognitive appraisal theory, we argue that managers’ perceptions of the procedural justice of layoffs influence the extent to which they assess the task of having to lay-off people as a stressor, and that the quality of the relationship between the manager and laid-off employees attenuates the positive effect of procedural justice. We propose a serial mediation whereby managers’ exit intentions after layoffs are influenced by their well-being, which in turn is influenced by their sense of control, and, ultimately by their perceptions of procedural justice. Finally, we argue that relationship quality moderates the serial mediation such that it weakens the positive effect of procedural justice on managers’ well-being through sense of control. We test our hypotheses in a field study of 79 managers in an organization undergoing change and in a scenario study (N=302). Our results confirm the positive effects of procedural justice during layoffs on managerial well-being through sense of control. Close relationships with the affected employees weaken the positive effect of procedural justice on perceptions of control.