Sage bliss: The question of employee equity

Workplace equity is an organizational process that insists on treating every employee equally. A workplace does not rely solely on one employee for its success, and employees need to be treated equally. Although the words equity and equality look similar, both are distinct concepts. Equality seeks to provide equal access to resources and opportunities, while equity refers to the relationship between intrinsic workplace behaviour and extrinsic reward for employee behaviour. Equity is distinct as each employee may not be given equal access to all the organizations resources. Stacy J. Adams (1965) emphasized that people are motivated to act in a given situation based on their perceived equity and fairness. She claimed that when employees perceive inequity in an organization, it has significant implications for organizational success and business outcomes. This case study aims to understand the significance of employee equity and apply Adams' equity theory of motivation through a hypothetical hospitality organization called Sage Bliss. The case will help learners comprehend the problems related to perceived employee inequity in an organization and their consequences, and differentiate between the symptoms, surface causes and underlying causes in order to develop strategies to manage inequity effectively.