Equity as a value can change an architecture or design firm for the better. When firms promote diversity and equity in their organizational culture, they attract and retain better talent, improve performance, and create a work environment where everyone feels like they have a voice.
What Is Equity?
Equity is the state of being fair and just. In relation to work culture, equity involves creating a system comprised of policies, resources, hiring practices, and behaviors that allow everyone to reach their potential regardless of their race, gender, or background. It is about making sure circumstances are fair so that everyone has the ability to perform their work effectively and advance their skills and careers.
Everyone Has Different Challenges
One reason equity is so important is that all of your employees are unique in the challenges and skills that they have. Having an equitable organizational culture is the only way for your team to reach peak performance because it gives you the means to identify what challenges each of your team members has, eliminate barriers to success, and provide them with the tools they need to overcome challenges and improve their performance. The key is understanding that everyone’s challenges are different so one-size-fits-all solutions don’t work.
Equity Encourages Engagement
Promoting equity helps reduce harassment, bullying, discrimination, and other negative behaviors that can make a work environment toxic. When firms place an emphasis on justness and fairness, they can build a culture where everyone feels comfortable and supported. This lessens workplace tension and allows employees to feel more connected to their work and to their team members, improving engagement and team morale.
Job Satisfaction and Retention
There are lot of discrepancies between the experiences of men and women in the workplace. Ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion, and other factors can also affect the employee experience. For example, an employee’s background can influence work-life balance, career development, or even whether the employee has a mentor. At an inequitable firm, it is likely that white, able-bodied men have a higher job satisfaction than women or other minority groups. This is a problem because you want all of your employees to enjoy their work, otherwise you can end up losing out on exceptional talent.
It is important to have an equitable firm because you want all of your employees to live up to their potential. Architecture firms that exemplify fairness experience higher engagement, improved retention, and higher performance. Equity as a value can also help your firm attract better talent.
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