Equity: Same Amount or Fair Share?

The story: The Q2 strategy was equity. Sounds great. Then at the closing meeting: Q2 bonuses will be the same for everyone. He pushed back immediately — hold on, what about individual contribution? She meant equal distribution. He heard a system that ignored performance. The word "equity" had been on the screen for a quarter. Neither had ever asked what it meant in practice.

What it means for organisations: Equity is one of the most contested words in organisational life precisely because it carries two legitimate but opposing definitions — equal treatment and proportional fairness. When organisations adopt it as a principle without defining which version they mean, they build compensation structures, promotion criteria, and resource allocation decisions on a foundation that different people are standing on from completely opposite sides.