Creating equity

- Once you understand the difference between creating equality and equity. It's time to start trying to put equitable policies in place. Let's start with a common example, expense policies. Many companies have expense policies that are equal across the board, or maybe they're department or level-specific. Let's take home internet reimbursements as an example. Imagine that your company allows all sales employees and executives to expense $50 a month in home internet bills. That seems like a fairly equal policy across the board as far as department and level goes. But think about this a little more. Most people in the corporate world have internet access at home, and the two groups that are able to expense this $50 a month are likely the two highest earnings groups at the company. So, is that really an inclusive policy? Probably not. It seems like a policy that benefits those who are the least likely to actually need it. Maybe you decide to create an equal policy that lets every employee expense $50 a month for home internet, but maybe your company gets too big in a few years and this expense becomes too high of a cost for the company, and it gets taken away altogether. If you wanted to make this policy equitable, you would instead provide this monthly stipend just to the people who need the boost to be able to do their jobs successfully. Maybe you have employees who work remotely from home, but their internet bandwidth isn't strong and they aren't able to do their job as well because of runtime issues. If they can't afford to increase their internet package, give them that $50 a month. To create this kind of equity in your company, you need to build a foundation of trust and safety where your employees feel comfortable having these conversations with their manager to get the resources they need to be successful. You'll be making a larger impact in that employee's engagement and allow them to focus their energy on doing their job well instead of having to worry about their ability to just dial into a meeting. And by not allocating this money more broadly, you'll be able to create equity for more employees that don't have the same jumpstart based on their privilege, and sustain that budget for longer. Let's look at an example that doesn't cost any money, but still creates an equitable workplace. Think about the presenters at your company's all-hands meetings, your team meetings, or your external panel events. Do you notice any patterns? There are probably a lot of white male voices being given the stage. Next time that you're invited to speak at one of these events, check to make sure individuals from an underrepresented group are being invited to speak. The more often this happens, the more these moments will come to mind when managers look at promotion and performance review time. The same thing goes for mentoring. Connect people from underrepresented groups with mentors within the company. If you can, give people that boost that your privilege afforded you when you got a job because of someone you went to college with or your family knew or you were connected with at a social event. Using your exercise file, take a look at your network and their diversity dimensions. Challenge yourself to connect with someone outside of that group the next time you're at an event. Equity can be approached from a number of different angles, whether through budgeted programs and policies or through consciously including people in higher-visibility meetings and events, but only if you're willing to examine your privilege, have these open conversations, and put in the work.