The difference between treating people equally and treating people equitably

Example 1

Equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful. Equality is treating everyone the

same (Cole & Kelly, 2015). Consider two organizations and both obtain 50% of a resource

that may be deemed equivalent, but may not be equitable. There are 70 individuals from one

organisation and there are 30 individuals from the other. It would be equitable to provide the

larger community with 70% of the income and the lower one with 30 percent

Example 2

For a physically disabled individual at an organisation with no arms, it would be senseless to

provide him/her with the equal number of tasks as his/her peers. Instead, it would be fairer or

equitable if the individual is provided with some kind of an external adaptive equipment that

would assist him/her to carry out the tasks more efficiently.

Example 3

Consider in an organisation there are 50 employees, 5 of which are performing exceptionally

well and raising the company’s profits. However, the perks and benefits of the rising sales

being received by the all the team members as a whole would make it unfair for those 5 five

employees. It is more equitable/fair in this situation to provide additional benefits/rewards to

those performing out of the expectations.

References

Cole, G., & Kelly, P. (2015). Management Theory and Practice. Andover, Hampshire:

CENGAGE Learning.