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The present study aims to apply the construct of microaggressions to organizational contexts by examining perceptions of discrimination in ambiguous interactions between White supervisors and Black subordinates and their impact on work outcomes under varying conditions of leader fairness.

US participants (N=387) responded to scenarios describing supervisor‐subordinate interactions involving subtle to blatant discrimination, after being told either that the supervisor had a history of fair, equitable treatment of subordinates or that the supervisor had a history of unfairness and inequity.

Leader equity impacted discrimination perceptions, affording leaders greater benefit of the doubt in ambiguous interracial interactions. For all levels of microaggression severity, microaggressions were perceived less when the supervisor had a reputation for equity and fairness; expected work outcomes were also better when the supervisor had a reputation for equity and fairness at all levels of microaggression severity.

As blatant discrimination grows more and more unacceptable, examining the subtle and sometimes unintended aspects of workplace discrimination is increasingly important. The authors’ results suggest that a leader's reputation for equity and fairness may mitigate the effects of racial slights.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the impact of leader equity on microaggressions and the first to empirically explore the impact of microaggressions on work outcomes. Their results suggest the importance of establishing leader reputations of fairness and training staff to recognize even subtle forms of discrimination and exclusion.

This study aims to examine the effects of diversity-oriented leadership and strategic internal communication on employees’ knowledge-sharing behavior during a crisis situation, coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in particular. Integrating knowledge sharing research with internal crisis communication literature as well as self-determination theory, the mediating roles of employees’ intrinsic needs satisfaction are also identified.

An online survey was conducted with 490 full-time employees in the USA across industry sectors during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Results suggest that diversity-oriented leadership contributes to transparent internal communication during a crisis and increases employees’ satisfaction of autonomy, competence and relatedness needs. Transparent internal communication also increases employees’ intrinsic needs satisfaction, which in turn fosters their job engagement and knowledge-sharing behavior during the crisis.

This study is one of the earliest studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of diversity-oriented leadership and strategic internal crisis communication in enhancing employees’ knowledge-sharing behavior, especially in the context of COVID-19.

The purpose of the paper is to investigate how human resource professionals (HRPs), in a variety of organizations, responded to the crisis brought about by the event of COVID-19. In particular, it aims to show how organizations, across all sectors, in Western Australia responded with urgency and flexibility to the crisis and showed “resilience in practice”.

The study is based on 136 questionnaire responses, 32 interviews and 25 managerial narratives. The mixed qualitative methodology was designed to enable an investigation of the impact of COVID-19 and the response of HRPs.

HRPs have responded with agility and flexibility to the impact of COVID-19. They have done so through extensive trial and error, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. They have not simply activated a preconceived continuity plan.

The research indicates that resilience is an ongoing accomplishment of organizations and the people in them. The objective was description rather than prescription, and the research does not offer solutions to future pandemic-like situations.

The research suggests that, given the impact of COVID-19 on organizations, HR practices, processes and policies will need to be thoroughly reconsidered for relevance in the post-COVID world. Possible future directions are highlighted.

The research considers the actions of HRPs as they responded to a global crisis as the crisis unfolded.