Equality vs Equity: Strategies to Build a More Equitable Organization

If you want to build a more equitable organization, your first step is to understand the difference between equality and equity.

Simply put, equality means ensuring everyone has the same thing.

Let us say, my team and I are taking part in a race, and I am the one responsible for ensuring my teammates have the right shoes.

Because I wear 7.5, everyone in my team receives a pair of 7.5 shoes. In essence, they all receive the same thing.

Equity, on the other hand, means providing individuals with what they need so they can perform at their best.

For me to ensure my team performs well at the race, I will have to gather everyone’s shoe size and ascertain their exact needs in terms of width, arch support, etc.

In increasingly diverse organizations, the days of “one-size-fits-all” (aka, equality) are long gone. 

You also need to dispel the myth of meritocracy.

In most workplaces, the assumption is that success, promotion, and advancement depend solely on skills, hard work, and experience.

The problem with this type of thinking is that it does not take into account all the societal factors that have contributed to the inequities that are in place today.

Take for example our educational system. Students attending schools in low-income areas are being taught by teachers who lack adequate preparation and with limited access to technology or other innovative pedagogical resources. These schools are often overcrowded, in disrepair, and unsafe.

And we wonder why so many students today are not prepared for the rigors of college.

The reality is that we cannot achieve equity without addressing the systemic imbalances that are still in place.

Treating everyone the same (equality) assumes everyone is standing on equal footing when the reality is that there are systems, policies, and practices that must be changed first so we can achieve a fair, equitable, and inclusive society. 

How Companies Can Start Infusing Equity into What They Do

The Exeter Group, a healthcare consulting firm, has done an excellent job in this area.

One of the many steps they took in order to ensure equity within the organization was to create an equitable employee handbook emphasizing the equitable focus of their policies. For them, equity means:

• Providing individuals with opportunities and tools to succeed that meet them where they are.
• Not assuming that everyone has the same background or skill set and being willing to develop individuals to create a more level playing field.
• Making space for those who are not usually heard and taking the steps necessary to invite them in and help them overcome the obstacles in their path. In other words, providing support instead of assuming folks will find their own way.
• Having flexible policies and practices so they can be adjusted to meet employees’ unique needs. 

Three Ways to Ensure Equity in Your Organization

Start by reviewing your organization’s policies and practices with an equity lens. This will open the way for you to make the necessary adjustments and ensure you are taking a step in the right direction. Below are a few examples. 

1)   Adopt a gender-neutral paid family leave policy

This policy should provide equal leave time for parents and employees of any gender who are caretakers of family members such as spouses, parents, and significant others. Such a policy recognizes that

1. Family norms are evolving.
2. We can no longer assume who the primary caregiver is for children or immediate family members. And
3. Allowing more leave for mothers than to fathers only contributes to widening the gender pay gap.

Please note that

despite strong public support and equally compelling evidence of its physical and mental health benefits, the United States is one of the six countries worldwide that does not offer paid parental leave.

Because of that, it is largely up to individual companies to set their own policies.

In fact, in 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that only 17% of companies offered paid parental leave while 89% offered unpaid leave.

It is no surprise that loss of income is the most common reason people do not take leave or go back to work sooner than the available time.

2)   Adopt a floating holiday policy

Why not offer employees three floating holidays of their choice? Exeter and other progressive organizations are already doing it.

This allows all employees to celebrate holidays that are important to them besides the traditional federal holidays.

This policy recognizes the religious and cultural diversity of team members and ensures they have access to the celebrations and traditions that are important to them without needing to use vacation or paid time off. 

3)   Ensure a gender-inclusive language

Language can be an immensely powerful tool for equity and inclusion. 

Using gender-inclusive language ensures that men, women, individuals who are non-binary, and everyone who falls anywhere else on the gender spectrum feels included. 

In addition, you need to ensure that all company policies, procedures, communications, handbooks, etc., use gender-inclusive pronouns. 

For additional information on the use of pronouns, see the DEI Minute, Why Add Pronouns to Your Signature Line.

The bottom line is that when organizations see equity as a core value and take steps to adopt equitable policies and practices, it shows employees and clients that they care, which ultimately increases their competitive edge as an employer.