Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace

Equal opportunity means that all people should be treated the same, without judgement. Organisations that appreciate and understand the different skills available within its workforce can become employers of choice. A diverse and inclusive workplace is one that makes everyone, regardless of who they are or what they do for the business, feel equally involved in and supported in all areas of the workplace.  A workplace encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion can help: make it more successful. keep employees happy and motivated. prevent serious or legal issues arising, such as bullying, harassment and discrimination. Get the below given document to know all about Equal Opportunities Equality and Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace.

Running head: PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT
People and Organizational Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Question 1
Explain what is meant by the terms “Equal Opportunities” “Equality and Diversity” and
“Inclusion” in the workplace. You should refer to current Law of England and Wales in
this context, as well as to academic sources and includes examples of organizations which
demonstrate Good Practice.
The above question deals with the concept of the equal opportunities at the workplace.
This question arises since the modern workforce in the multinational organizations has tended to
recruit the people from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds and the language barriers are
also present there as well (Gov.uk 2019). The issue of the equality, diversity and inclusion has
been treated as very important issues within the organizations. The perspective of religion can
also be added in this section as well. Therefore it is very much important for the organizations to
include the policies of workplace diversity within their rules and regulations. The management of
the organizations must ensure the discrimination practices are not there within the organizations.
According to this practice, the workers have to be treated in the same ways since they serve in
the same ways like others.
The discriminations should not be made on the basis of the ethnic backgrounds and the
color of skin (Gov.uk 2019). This is why it is extremely important for the organizations to
maintain this discipline and present the equal opportunities in front of all the people within the
organization (Elwér et al. 2013). The equal opportunities should be presented to all the people
regardless of their age, gender, race, sexual orientation or the physical disabilities. The
legislation of England and Wales also supports this view as well. The Equality Act 2010 is also a
very important legislation in United Kingdom to prevent the discrimination at the workplace.
There are other legislations in this regard as well. These are the Human Rights Act, Sex

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Discrimination Act, Disability Discrimination Act and Race Relations Act. The only factor that
should be looked at within this matter is that of the potential skills and capabilities of the
employees. These legislations are there at place to make sure that the employees should be hired
by the organizations on the basis of their talent pools from the widest possible ranges (Gov.uk
2019). The employees should be treated in the same ways and the same facilities should be given
to them. The companies should always adhere to the minimum standards and the employees
should not feel to be at risk when they undertake any projects with the colleagues from different
ethnic and racial backgrounds (Elwér et al. 2013).
As per the legislation of the United Kingdom, the organizations must provide an
inclusive working environment for the employees. The managers of the organization should
ensure that the employees should not face any kind of challenges and barriers so their career
progression might be in danger (Elwér et al. 2013). The higher management should not make any
decision that is wrong for the success of the employees in their professional fields. The
employers should look at the wider pool of talents when they would recruit the people. It is the
responsibility of the employers to implement the diversity management because the employees
would be deprived of their facilities if they are treated with the discrimination within their
organizations only. In this way the managers will be able to have a better influence on their
employees by effectively managing the diversity issues (Sharma and Sharma 2012).
The balanced workforce from different sections of the society would be able to deal with
their works in an effective manner. Thus the organizational culture would be able to make a
difference in the minds of the employees. However, the payment and promotion of the
employees should not be restricted according to their caste, race, ethnicity and gender as well.
The career development of the employees should also be directed by the equal opportunities. The

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people should be promoted based on their talents and working capacities only. This is why it has
been much important for the companies to promote the slogan of workplace equality (Sharma
and Sharma 2012). The proper training should be provided to all the employees who need it
irrespective of the race and religion. The effective diversity programs would surely have better
positive effects on the society and the psychology of the customers. The customers would be sure
that the company will not make discriminations among their customers as well. This will create a
sense of respect among the customers indeed (Canas and Sondak 2013). The employees will also
have the confidence within them that they would be allowed to use the proper tools within their
work effectively and no amount of barriers would be created upon them. The proper
communication would surely be there among all the people within the organization so that the
works can be carried out properly (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2015).
According to the legislation of England and Wales, there are some areas in which the
nine protected characteristics would have to be underlined. These are the age, disability, sexual
orientation, gender, marriage or civil partnership, race, religion or belief and gender
reassignment. These areas should be protected by the legal procedures if the employees do not
get their privileges within the organization (Canas and Sondak 2013). On the other hand, it must
be clarified that there are generally four types of discrimination. These are direct discrimination,
indirect discrimination, victimization and harassment (Martin 2014). The organizations must
look after the issues where the employers have to make some reasonable adjustments since they
have to provide the equal opportunities to all the employees. The ethnic minorities should be
saved from bullying. If an employee is discriminated on the grounds of his age, being younger or
older the steps should be taken by the concerned organizations (Alvesson 2012).

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Some of the employees might be suffering from several physical ailments and mental
impairments that can have a long term negative impact on their capacity to carry out the day to
day activities. The employees should not be bullied by the others when he or she might have
some physical disabilities. The proper working environment should be provided to the
individuals who are going through some or the other physical and mental impairments (Martin
2014). The impact should be minimized on the psychology of the employees. The individuals
who might be facing some difficulties in these segments are free to apply to the British Court
with the evidence. Only then the proper actions would be taken against the concerned persons.
The human rights of all the individuals should be implemented properly (Rice 2015). When a
transsexual employee has been treated with discrimination because of he or she has been absent
from work because of going through some gender reassignment programs, it is a punishable
offence indeed (Barak 2016).
The Equality Act (2010) would protect the employees from the evils of direct
discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimization because of the marriage and civil
partnership. It can also be said that same-sex marriages have been legalized in England and
Wales on 29th of March in the year 2014. So, the same sex married couples cannot be
discriminated as per the British Law. If a pregnant woman seeks to take the maternity leave she
has the right to do so. The woman employees should not be treated less favorably because of the
maternity leave (Rice 2015). The ethnic origin or nationality of the employees should not be
treated as a bar for getting the facilities within the organization. The Equality Act says that the
employees might belong to the different religions. This should not be treated as a source for
treating the employees belonging to different religions unfavorably (Riccucci 2018). Thus the

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legislation of the United Kingdom should prevent the individual employees on different grounds
and ensure the diversity programs within the workplace are properly followed.
Question 2
Discuss the multiple responsibilities of leaders/managers in a small to medium sized
organization (under 250 employees), focusing on how they should incorporate HRM
strategy and good practice within their business organization.
The Human Resource Management practices are very important for the organizations to
work effectively. This is the reason the organizations can thrive in the competitive business
environment. It becomes very challenging when the issue comes within the small and medium
sized companies (Crawshaw and Game 2015). The human resource managers might have a less
workforce to handle but they surely will have a very tough job in their hands. It is because they
have to deal with a number of complicated matters to increase the workforce. Two of the most
significant issues in this scenario are the recruitment and selection of the employees and their
proper selection. The main factors that the human resource managers will have to handle are the
employee compensation and benefits, staffing and designing the work properly. This is why the
organizations need a lot of support from the HR department to flourish and gain the competitive
advantage (Crawshaw and Game 2015). The challenge in the leadership is very significant
indeed. The leaders have to manage several issues and incorporate the proper HRM strategies so
they can survive in the business environment.
In the contemporary organizations it is inevitable that the employees will belong to the
different backgrounds and cultures. When the number of the employees is under 250, they have
to give attention to all of them in an individual manner (Goetsch and Davis 2014). All the issues

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should be discussed with them since they belong to the company because of their skills and
capacities only. The leaders should posses that capacity that would influence the employees in
the positive manner (Goetsch and Davis 2014). If the management wants the teams to perform
better they must be the good leaders and take their decisions by keeping the well being of the
employees in mind. The leaders should not exert their decisions on the employees as it might
demoralize the employees. This is why the consultation with the employees should be an
effective way to engage the employees in the decision making process. As the number of
employees is 250 and it is a meager one, the managers would be able to analyze their
performance and motivate them to perform better. The attitude of the employees plays a very
significant issue in this matter. The employees must feel the job satisfaction or else the employee
turnover rate will decrease. That will be considered as a failure for the efforts of the leaders
(Yukl 2013).
The small and medium sized companies are considered as the backbone of the
organizations. The economy of the society and the progress of professional careers of the
individuals within the society depend a lot on these SMEs. The role of leadership becomes more
effective when the leaders have to arrange for the training of the employees so they can improve
their performance (Yukl 2013). The changing situations in the business environment can pose
several challenges especially in the survival of the employees. The leaders must possess the
knowledge of how to develop the personnel and adapt to the changing attitudes. It has been
acknowledged by many that some of the SMEs have gained a position in the globalized world.
The role of the leaders is to expand it further (Bolden 2016). This is why the organizational
managers would need to manipulate all these issues in the perfect ways so they can strive hard to
make it to the top. The HRM strategies like the training programs should be arranged by the

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leaders so the employees can adjust to the challenging situations within the business
environment. Apart from that the leaders should focus on building the high performance teams
that would lead to the overall success of the organization amidst the challenges (Bolden 2016).
If the business organizations will need to make the good practice they should always opt
for motivating the employees in the right ways. The performance analysis of the employees
would be much helpful for the employees to be aware of their capabilities. In the current times
the individuals are taken as the human capital and they are the vehicles of the organizational
success. The autocracy of the leaders will destroy their mindset for contributing their best efforts
towards the success (Chemers 2014). The skills of the people should be the key for the success of
the organizations. In this scenario, the leaders should look to make the best out of the employees.
The leaders can also make the employees perform at their best by the reward system as a part of
the employee benefits system of the HR system. The leaders should give rewards and monetary
benefits to the employees who would put up an outstanding performance. The effective team
management has been considered as one of the most important responsibilities of the leaders as
well.
In order to gain the competitive advantage for the SMEs the leaders must be looking to
fix a mission and vision for the company. The employees should be working hard enough to
achieve the desired goals (Chemers 2014). The success of the SMEs plays a vital role in the
growth of the economy of the countries. This is why the leaders and managers should look to
interpret the issues in the positive ways. The SMEs are considered as the basic identities for
entrepreneurs (Day et al. 2014). This is why the companies must look to grow and expand their
business to get the desired recognition in the world of business. The leaders must encourage the
employees and create an organizational culture where the employees work very freely. The

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SMEs are liable for the economic growth for the regions they are operating their business. The
leaders also should learn to allow the changes indeed (Rice 2013).
The leaders might face some challenges when they would feel it difficult in engaging
with the employees. The cultural issues might arise within the organizations as the number of
employees is not so huge. In this scenario, the leaders should be able to deal with the situation
minutely. The organizational culture should be put in a way that the employees can voice their
opinions freely (Lussier and Achua 2015). The leaders should consider the fact that the
employees should have a say in the decision making. The leaders should listen to their opinions
and viewpoints and take the decision accordingly.
The organizing of the plans effectively is a very important factor for the leaders to
exercise their influence on the employees. The leadership skills of the managers is tested when
the difficult situations within the business environment. Another role of the leaders in the HRM
strategies is the employee development (Donate and de Pablo 2015). The leaders should also
teach the employees that the Code of Ethics in the organization should be maintained by the
employees. If they do not maintain these norms they should be given the proper training to
improve their employability skills. The values and culture of the organization should always be
kept alive in the SMEs. Only then the brand reputation of the companies can effectively increase
(Wagner 2016). The development programs are very much important for the organizational
managers. The leaders should engage in developing the dedication and commitment of the
employees to the fullest.

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