Work is a Verb

A newsletter by

You know what ruins a board game?

House rules that only one person knows.

“Oh, we don’t do it that way.”
“No, you can’t buy that yet.”
“Actually, you owe me rent twice.”

Most workplaces run the same way: pay bands no one can explain, promotions that feel mystical, flexibility that’s technically allowed but quietly punished.

When the rules aren’t explicit, proximity to authority becomes a cheat code.

Equity is simply this: everyone gets the same rulebook and the rules are worth defending.

This week: Equity — the final piece of the REMOTE Score framework, and the one that determines whether everything else actually works for everyone.

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1. Pay Transparency and Fair Compensation

Here’s the problem with secret pay systems: people don’t assume neutrality. They assume favoritism.

One 2025 survey found 62% of employees don’t know how their compensation is calculated and only 54% say they’re paid fairly (49% for women vs. 59% for men).

When the rules are invisible, trust becomes impossible.

Pay transparency isn’t just “posting ranges.” It’s making pay legible:

• What’s the compensation philosophy?
• How do levels work?
• What drives increases (performance, market movement, promotions, whoever asks the loudest)?

Geographic pay adds another layer. Some companies pay the same everywhere. Others localize by cost of living. Either can be defensible, but only if employees understand the policy.

Because the equity failure isn’t “which approach.” It’s surprise.

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2. Access Equity

Who gets access to the things that actually drive careers?

Information. Context. Mentorship. Decision making.

Remote work makes this brutally visible. In-office employees pick up context by proximity hallway conversations, impromptu meetings, lunch with the boss. Remote employees only get what’s explicitly shared.

But access inequity isn’t just about where you sit. It’s about the shadow org chart:

• Who gets invited early?
• Who gets the “interesting” work?
• Who doesn't get work but gets that promotion anyway?
• Who gets visibility with leadership?

Companies that leave access to chance create a two-tier system: the connected and the overlooked.

Equitable companies systematize access: documented decisions, rotating visibility, structured mentorship, and clear pathways to high-impact work.

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3. Flexibility Equity

Most companies have flexible work policies.

The question is: who can use them without paying a career tax?

​McKinsey’s 2025 Women in the Workplace research found women who work remotely three or more days per week are less likely to be promoted than men in similar arrangements.

And preferences aren’t evenly distributed. One Future Forum analysis found only 3% of Black employees wanted to return full-time to the office, compared to 21% of white employees with remote work often reported as a healthier day-to-day experience.

So when companies mandate rigid RTO policies and call them “culture,” it’s worth asking: culture for who?

Flexibility Equity means the policy isn’t just available, it’s usable for all.

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4. Recognition Equity

How is contribution acknowledged and whose contribution gets seen?

This is where “fairness” quietly breaks.

There’s the obvious issue: proximity bias. One Envoy survey found 96% of executives said they notice in-office employees’ contributions more than remote employees.

And then there’s the quieter issue: glue work. The coordination, documentation, mentoring, onboarding, unblocking, keeping things from falling apart.

Glue work is essential, but it’s often invisible in performance systems because it doesn’t ship as a feature or close as a deal. Research on “non-promotable work” repeatedly shows it’s disproportionately carried by women and underrepresented groups.

Recognition equity means:

• You can’t win by self-promotion alone.
• You can’t lose by doing the work that makes everyone else successful.
• Contribution, not location or loudness, drives rewards.

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5. Ownership and Stake

The latest available national estimate (based on 2022 data) suggests about 18% of U.S. employees have some ownership stake in their employer.

Employee ownership isn’t charity. It’s alignment.

And it can perform. In late 2025, Stout released an ESOP index showing ESOP-owned companies in its portfolio delivered 17.3% average annual returns (2021–2024), outperforming major public benchmarks over the same period.

When companies say “we’re all in this together” but only leadership shares the upside, that’s not equity.

What Actually Works

Literal equity is not the only way to provide Equity in the REMOTE score sense either. Profit sharing, generous 401k matching, transparent bonus programs... anything that translates an employees work into a better life for themselves, not just someone else.
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Equity is the capstone of REMOTE Score because it reveals whether your other investments compound… or cancel out.

Retention without equity just means people stay stuck.

Engagement without equity burns out into resentment.

Morale without equity is not evenly distributed.

Onboarding without equity becomes a fast tour of “how things really work here.”

and Technology without equity turns into surveillance.

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That concludes our walk through the REMOTE Score methodology. Next week we'll be back to your regularly scheduled remote programming!

If you know someone that would enjoy Work is a Verb, forward this their way and receive a tiny trumpet fanfare you can hear only in your heart. 🎺

Working remotely—but never alone,

Jim

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