Equity - ‘Humans Are Hardwired To Seek Equity & Recognise Its Absence’
“I learned early on about the real meaning of equity and inclusion, and that when those guiding principles are not met, they can have devastating effects on individuals, families, and communities…” goes a quote by Lori Lightfoot, the first LGBTQ mayor and third African-American female mayor of Chicago.?
People frequently mix up equity and equality. While equality means having the same privileges, equity means having fair and equal benefits. While equality entails having the same things for everyone, equity entails giving more to those who need it to have equal access to the same opportunities. And so, many argue that Equity > Equality. Some go to the extent of even saying that equity is the core need and precedes diversity.
Few examples to understand EQUITY
In 2014, Hewlett-Packard conducted a study. According to that, women applied for roles where they met 100% of the criteria, whereas men were content if they met 60% of the requirements. This is an example of inequity in your application process.?
?A good solution in a situation like this would be to standardise job descriptions and clearly define the scope of work to broaden the talent pool for qualified applicants who may or may not be as experienced.?Instead of saying: "Desk editors with 4-6 years of experience," say, "Looking for candidates with impeccable command of the English language and good editing skills. Experience is preferred but not a must-have for qualified candidates."
Paloma Medina, a management coach, TEDx speaker, and entrepreneur, discussed a two-monkey study in one of her TEDx talks (Let's stop talking about diversity and start working towards equity).?
They were placed in a test chamber and asked to complete a simple task. They were given cucumbers as a reward for completing the task. They carried out the task 25 times in a row. However, when the researchers began to reward one of them with a grape for correctly completing the task, the dynamics in the cages changed. The monkey who did not receive grapes took note of the reward given to the other monkey. Gradually, the injustice became too much for him, and he began revolting by throwing away the cucumbers he received as a reward.?
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This is precisely what happens when two people doing the same job are paid differently. Like all other creatures on the planet, humans are hardwired to seek out equity and recognise its absence. At such times, our brains go into a state of stress, which triggers many mental and physical ailments. This is why we must focus on equity first, then diversity.
TACTICS FOR INCREASING EQUITY IN YOUR TEAM
The foremost thing is to get data by conducting regular surveys to gauge your employees' pulse.?Employee performance is directly proportional to equity. Engage external partners to measure equity in promotion, and compensation. Examine how your biases influence team decisions. Is one gender compensated better than the other? Do you prefer a particular race/caste at work? Are your policies just and equitable for everyone? Are your appraisals fair and square??Use mindfulness or carefully selected cognitive and communication techniques to introduce bias interventions.
The following are some strategies that businesses can use to improve equity:?
Equity in the workplace refers to promoting impartiality and fairness throughout the organisation so that employees have equal opportunities.?This is especially true for those who are underrepresented or have marginal identities. People go to work because they want to be fairly compensated for their efforts, many choose their employers based on the equity practices of an organisation.