Equality and Diversity in the Workplace

Equality and Diversity in the
Workplace

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Title..............................................................................................................................................3
Background..................................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1. Setting aims and objectives...................................................................................................3
P2. Project management plan.......................................................................................................4
P3. Prepare Gantt Chart and Work Breakdown Structure...........................................................4
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
P4. Research Methodologies........................................................................................................6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................9
P5 Data analysis...........................................................................................................................9
P6 Recommendations.................................................................................................................21
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................21
P7 Reflection..............................................................................................................................21
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................22
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................23

INTRODUCTION
Title
“ Equity and diversity in workplace”
Background
Equality and diversity states that equal opportunities to all the people and groups and they
are protected against the discrimination related to their age, gender, colour etc. The individual
and groups of people treated equally in the organisation so that they could contributed towards
the goals of the business. This file includes the determination of equality and diversity in the
workplace of the H&M which is the largest retail company of clothing. It is famous for its fast
fashion cloths for women, men and children of the world (Benschop, 2016). Headquarter of the
H&M is at the Stockholm, Sweden. This report have the various aims and objectives of the
equality and diversity in the H&M. For the completion of this task on time there is the Gantt
chart and breakdown structure involves in this file. Primary and secondary method is used to
meet the aims and objectives of the H&M on the basis of the equality and diversity (Fesenko,
Shahov and Fesenko, 2017). There is the reflection of this task which determine the performance
and personal learning.
LO 1
P1. Setting aims and objectives.
To increases the sales and productivity of the business there is need to maintain the
equality and diversity in the business of H&M. There are various aims and objectives in the
business of H&M to protect all the employees from the discrimination against the colour, race,
gender etc. These aims and objectives are discussed below:
Aims:
“To analysis various importance and values of the equality and diversity in the workplace
of the H&M which helps to increases the productivity of the business and maintain the good
working environment.”
Objectives:
 To assess the impacts of the equality and diversity in the workplaces of the H&M.
 To identify the challenges faced by the organisation managing the equality and diversity
in the workplace
 To analysis the strategies adopted by the H&M in managing the equality and diversity

 To evaluate lots of training and policies in the business which helps to maintain the
equality between the employees of the H&M.
P2. Project management plan.
Project management plan is used to evaluate every stage of the projects. Lots of factors
which included in this are planning, initiating, executing, controlling, monitoring and closing of
the task. The plan of project management includes various factors which are described below:
Scope: There is the wide scope of the quality and diversity to achieve the profits of the
business. To improve the performance of the employees by providing the equal opportunities to
the employees in the workplace. With the helps of this project the business increases the image
of the company.
Resources: For managing the plan of this project there is the need of new and advanced
technology for the completion of this task effectively. Use of the internet for acquiring the
knowledge and understanding of this project. Specialist and experts are effective resources in the
research
Communication: There must be two way communication between the employees and
manager for the successfully completion of the task. Effective communication is necessary in
this project.
Quality: The research must be of high quality because it is very important project. There
is the need of the effective quality of the project which helps to achieve the targets of research.
Cost: The research required 5000 £ for proper and effective completion.
Risk: There is the limited period of time for completing this research so it creates the
risk. Lack of knowledge and lack of resources are the biggest risk factor for this project.
Time:
P3. Prepare Gantt Chart and Work Breakdown Structure.
Gantt Chart: The use of the Gantt chart is in the management of the project is the most useful
way of showing the task against the time. It is used to plan the project of all the size and effective
way of describing the what kind of work is schedule is on the specific time bound.

Work Breakdown Structure: It is the process and techniques used for organising and
completing the work in the research. The focus of Work Breakdown Structure is to make the
efforts of everyone towards the common goals.

LO 2
P4. Research Methodologies.
1. Research philosophy:
It is the effective way through which the data and information on the basis of
phenomenon is collected, evaluated and analysed and used in the process of research. The
dealing of the research philosophy is with the nature, knowledge development (Quinlan and
et.al., 2019). There are three types of philosophies in the research which are describe below:
Positivism: The focus of this type research philosophy is on the whatever exist is verified
with the help of observations, experiments and proof of mathematical. In this philosophy the
knowledge and understanding is gained with the help observations. The researcher plays the role
to collect and interpret the data.
Interpretivism: It refers to the natural approach of collecting the data like interviews and
observations. The focus of this approach is to increase the understanding and knowledge and it
does not promote and undermine the beliefs of religious. Interpretivism is the qualitative analysis
of the research
Realism: For the development of the knowledge and understanding this research
philosophy is based on the assumption of scientific approach. In includes the idea of
independence of reality in the human mind.
In this research we are going to take the Interpretivism philosophy of research because it
gives the qualitative information and data of the project. For understanding the actions of the

human in this project the researcher have to see the world with the eyes of the actors when they
doing acting (Kumar, 2019). It can be functions with the helps of social action theory so we used
Interpretivism in the research of the equality and diversity.
2. Research approach:
It is the effective plan and procedure which includes various steps of broad assumptions
of collection of data, interpretation and analysis. There are two types of approaches of research
inductive and deductive which are discussed below:
Inductive: In this approach there is the use of research question which narrow the scope
of the study in the research. It is the qualitative research of the task.
Deductive: It starts with the development of the hypothesis and then it design the
strategy of research for testing the hypothesis. It is the quantitative research by the researchers.
This report used the inductive approach of research so the researcher starts the research
by collecting and analysing the data and information because it gives the relevant information
about the topic of the project. The focus of this approach is on the qualitative research of the
project.
3. Research type: It refers to the searching will be logical and systematic to gain the fresh and
effective information and data of the related topics. There are two types of research such as
qualitative and quantitative which are describe below:
Qualitative: The aim of this research is to get the data and information with the help of
conversational and open ended communication. It is the research of the market which is designed
in such a manner which determine the perception and behaviour of the people of the topic of the
project (Silverman, ed., 2016). There are various types of methods which is includes in the
qualitative research such as group focus, ethnographic research, research of case study, content
analysis.
Quantitative: It refers to the investigation of collecting the data and information which is
quantifiable and performs various techniques of statistical, mathematical and computational. It
collects the information from then old and new customer by the methods of sampling,
questionnaire, online polls etc. and it gives the results in the form of the numbers.
This report uses the qualitative method for research on the topic of the equality and
diversity because it involves the open minded communication between the employees and
manager which clears all the aspects of the projects. It evaluated the behaviour and the

perception of the employees in the business of the H&M. The information and the data which is
taken from this method of the research is qualitative and is very useful for the project.
4. Sampling:
It refers to the process and the practices which is used in the analysis of the statistics
which gives the predetermined number of observations from the large number of populations.
This method uses the sample from the large number of populations and it is depended on the
performed analysis (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault, 2015). With the helps of sampling the
researcher make the interferences of the statistics on the basis of the populations. In this research
researcher has chosen 10 managers of different department of H&M.
Probability: This techniques of sampling refers to all the units people from the
populations which is larger than then the probability of zero to get selected into the sample. In
this type of method there is the equal chance is given to all the people to get selected.
Non probability: It refers to the techniques of sampling which includes the is no
probability of the some units of the people from the population to get selected into the sample. In
this type of techniques the research does not know which people he is selected for the sampling
This report of the H&M uses the non probability techniques of sampling in which they
uses the random techniques of selecting the people from the large number of populations. Use of
this method gives the biased results by using the subjective methods. It gives the real picture of
the research to the researcher of the H&M.
5. Data collection: It refers to the process of collection and measurement of the information for
research by using the techniques of standard validated. With the help of the collection of the data
the researcher will identify and evaluated their hypothesis. It is very essential steps in the process
of research.
Primary: It is the techniques of collecting the information with the help of surveys,
interviews, and experiments. The information which is gathered from this method have quality
standard, power of statistics and availability of the specific questions of the research.
Secondary: It includes the information and data are collected from the people which is
different the researcher of the project. There are the internal and external sources in the company
from which the data is collected by the researchers.
In this file it have the primary method of data collection which is used to gather the
information related to the task and project of the equality and diversity in the business of the

H&M. The researcher uses the primary method in this file because it gives the fresh information
by personal experiments, observation and surveys. This method will records the natural
behaviour of the group.
6. Data analysis:
It is the procedure of cleaning and transforming the information to make the effective
information for the decision-making of the business. The main aim of data analysis is to identify
the information which is useful to take the decision which is based on the data analysis
(McCusker and Gunaydin, 2015). There are two types of data analysis such as thematic and
statistical analysis which are explained below:
Thematic analysis: It is very famous techniques used for analysing the data and information in
different fields and it is applicable in different ways to identify different questions on the
research. This analysis of information is applied on the various sets of the texts like transcripts of
the interview.
Statistical analysis: it involves the collection, exploring and presentation of the large amount of
information to identify the effects of the equality and diversity in the business of the H&M. It
will helps in identifying the trends of the people.
There is the use of thematic data analysis in the process of researching which gives the
qualitative information to the researcher of the H&M to maintain the equality and diversity in the
workplace (Walliman, 2017Smith, ed., 2015). This approach is used in this report because it is
based on the concepts.
7. Ethical considerations: This is the most important and essential part of the research in which
the members of the research does not harm in any ways (Glesne, 2016). The researcher have to
maintain the privacy of the information and data of the research and gives respect to all the
employees of the H&M.
LO 3
P5 Data analysis
Theme 1: Awareness of equality and diversity within the workplace.
Q: 1. Are you aware of the concept of diversity and equality in the
workplace of H&M?
Frequency
Yes. 6

No. 3
Not Sure. 1
Total 10
Yes. No. Not Sure.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Frequency
Interpretation: It can be interpreted from the above table that out of 10 respondents 6 have
replied that they are aware of concept of diversity and equality in a workplace. The reason
behind this is that H&M is the diverse organisation and focuses on its diversity. Also, 3
participants have replied that they are not aware of the concept of equality and diversity within
the workplace as they have newly promoted in the organisation due to which they they are not
familiar with the concept of diversity and equality in workplace. Only one respondent is not sure
of the fact.
Theme 2: Effective strategies of diversity and equality in the organisation.
Q: 2. There exists a proper strategies for managing diversity and equality
in H&M.
Frequency
SA 1

A 5
N 1
DA 3
SDA 0
Total 10
SA
A
N
DA
SDA
Interpretation: From the above table it can be concluded that out of 10 participants 5 are agreed
that in the business of the H&M have the effective strategies to mange the diversity and equality.
This is because H&M provide the equal opportunities to all the employees. There are 3 people
which is disagree with this statement because they did not involve in the working of the H&M. 1
person is neutral on this point if he is new joining of the H&M business and did not know about
the strategies and policies.
Theme 3: All the employees are treated in the proper and fair manner.
Q: 3. Is proper and fair treatment is given to all employees in an
organisation?
Frequency
Yes. 8

No. 0
Not Sure. 2
Total 10
Yes.
No.
Not Sure.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Frequency
Interpretation: From the above chart it can be interpreted that from the total of 10 managers 8
people are agree with this statement because proper and fair treatment to the employees improve
the level of the performance and it gives benefits to the business of H&M. Treating the
employees equally increase the motivation and morale of the employees in the workplace. But
two people are not sure about this because their thinking is two treat the employees on the basis
of their post.
Theme 4: For hiring the skilled and talented employees effective strategies are applied by the
organisation.
Q: 4. H&M applies effective strategies for attracting and hiring diverse
employees in a workplace.
Frequency

SA 2
A 4
N 0
DA 3
SDA 1
Total 10
SA A N DA SDA
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Frequency
Interpretation: It can be interpreted that 2 manager are strongly agree and 4 manager are only
agree to apply the effective policies and strategies in the business of H&M for attracting the
skilled candidates out of 10 people. These are the senior manager of the H&M which agree on
this topic and 3 people are disagree because they are not the senior manager and they do not have
much experience. 1 person is strongly disagree because he does not have any kind of experience
in this field because he belongs to another field.
Theme 5: Effective programmes of training and development to increases the value of equality
and diversity in the working environment.
Q: 5 Training and development programs have enhanced the value of Frequency

diversity and equality in a workplace?
Yes. 7
No. 2
Not Sure. 1
Total 10
Yes.
No.
Not Sure.
Interpretation: It can be concluded from the above table that 7 participants are agree with the
training and development increases the value and importance out of 10 participants. The reason
behind these people are agree because they are belongs to the department of the human
resources. But 2 people are not agree on this topic because they are think equality and diversity
did not affects on the business.
Theme 6: Employees with disability working in the organisation.
Q: 6 Are there employees with any kind of disability working in
organisation?
Frequency
Yes. 4

No. 3
Not Sure. 3
Total 10
Yes.
No.
Not Sure.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Frequency
Interpretation: From the above chart it can be concluded that 4 people are agree out of 10
members that the employees with disability gives the equal opportunities to maintain the equality
and diversity in the business of H&M. But 3 members are not agree because they did not have
the proper understanding of the equality and diversity in the organisation.
Theme 7: Adjustment of the disable employees in the workplace.
Q: 7 Does disabled employee requires to adjust in the workplace as per
the employer?
Frequency
Yes. 4
No. 3
Not Sure. 3
Total 10

Yes. No. Not Sure.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Frequency
Interpretation: From the above chart it can be concluded that 4 respondent out of 10 agree that
disable employees are adjust in the working environment of the H&M by giving them good
working conditions on the basis of equality and diversity. On the other and 3 people are not agree
because they know they faces lots problem in the business by the other employees. 3 people are
not sure about this because they are new employees of the H&M
Theme 8: Involvement of women and disable employees in the process of decision-making.
Q: 8 Women and disabled people are involved in decision making as
much as men and normal people.
Frequency
SA 3
A 2
N 1
DA 3
SDA 1
Total 10

SA
A
N
DA
SDA
Interpretation: It can be interpreted that 3 participant are strongly agree and 2 people are only
agree to give the equal opportunities to women and disable employees in the process of decision
making as per the principles of the equality and diversity in the business. 3 participants are
disagree and 1 participants are strongly disagree because they are narrow minded and did not
have any kind of knowledge about the equality and diversity in the workplace.
Theme 9: Challenges faces by organisation in developing the policies of diversity and equality.
Q: 9. Is company facing challenging in development of effective policies
for enhancing equality and diversity?
Frequency
Yes. 5
No. 2
Not Sure. 3
Total 10

Yes.
No.
Not Sure.
Interpretation: It can be concluded that out of 10 respondent 5 people says that yes H&M have
to face lots of challenges in developing the effective and efficient policies of the equality and
diversity in the business because to change the existing policies creates difficulty. But 2 people
replies no because making changes in the polices does increases the value and 3 people are not
sure because they did not experience
Theme 10: Effective current policies to maintain the diversity in the company.
Q: 10. Is current policies related to equality and diversity relevant towards
the effective diversity management of the company?
Frequency
Yes. 4
No. 4
Not Sure. 2
Total 10

Yes.
No.
Not Sure.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Frequency
Interpretation: From the above table it can be interpreted that 4 managers agreed that current
policies for managing equality and diversity is effective for the organisation. The reason behind
this is that the company has been able to avoid conflicts within the organisation. 4 out of 10
managers do not agree with the fact.
Theme 11: Improvement in the performance of the employees by equality and diversity.
Q: 11. Equality and diversity has enhanced the performance of employees
in a workplace
Frequency
SA 3
A 6
N 0
DA 1
SDA 0
Total 10

SA
A
N
DA
SDA
Interpretation: It can be interpreted that 6 managers are agree that equality and diversity
increase the level of performance of the employees. As they believe that diversity and equality
increases the work collaboration in an organisation. Out of 10 participant 1 people is not
agreeing with the fact.
Theme 12: Improved strategies of equality and diversity for future.
Q: 12. Is there need of improvement in the polices and strategies related
to equality and diversity in the future?
Frequency
Yes. 3
No. 3
Not Sure. 4
Total 10
Interpretation: From the above table it can be analysed that majority of candidates are not sure
with the fact that whether there is need of making improvements in the policies and strategies
related to equality and diversity in a company. Out 10 participants 3 have replied that there is

need and 3 have replied there is not need of development or improvement in policies and
strategies in relation to equality and diversity.
Yes.
No.
Not Sure.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Frequency
P6 Recommendations
 It is recommended to H&M that company needs to further enhance its policies and
strategies related to successful management of equality and diversity in a workplace.
 Also, company should devise the proper strategies for disabled people in an organisation.
 There is a need for making some changes in the current polices and strategies of the
company in order to increase the value of equality and diversity.
 Also, proper training and development programs should conduct within the workplace
which will help in effective management of diverse culture.
 It is also recommended that company should focus on hiring diverse employees in the
future which will enhance the performance of the organisation.
LO 4
P7 Reflection
Conducting this research has been valuable for me in various aspects as I have learnt lots
of things from this research. As I learnt how I developed a project plan and are the things which
are kept in to consideration while developing an project plan. Project planning is really important

task before conducting as it provides the guidelines for conducting a research. Conducting a
research has been a positive experience for me and I came to know about lots of things during
the process of research. I learnt the importance of equality and diversity for the organisation and
how can it have an impact on the performance of the employees in an organisation. I also learnt
how develop a Gantt chart and work break down structure for this project. I was also surprised
with the outcome of the project as it helped me to develop personally and professionally. I
realised the importance of time management how important it is for an individual to complete
task on time. Another professional attribute which is I developed was that I could prioritise the
tasks in an effective manner which could help me in my career. Personally I also learnt various
things like patience is key to success and it has developed in me a sense of achievement and also
personally I feel development in my character. As it was my first attempt to conduct a research
and I believe that I performed very well. I was focused and put my extra efforts in order to
complete the tasks on time. I was also quite successful in achieving my project objectives which
I set before conducting a research. During the research I also faced various obstacles like
developing a questionnaire based in the topic was a challenging task for me but with the help of
guidance from my colleagues and tutors I was able to overcome this task. During the research
there were lots of things which worked well like I was easily to frame aims and objectives of the
research and thing which did not go well was that I has limited period of time for this research. I
future if I get the same opportunity I would conduct secondary research in order to further
increase my understanding of the research topic.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above study is equality and diversity increases the morale of
the employees and motivates to achieve the goals and objectives of the business. Every
organisation have to maintain the diversity and equality in the business which improves the
performance of the employees and leads the business to the success and growth in the future.
Equality and diversity in the organisation protect the employees from any kind of discrimination
against their colour, race, age etc. The employees of the organisation get protected from the
discrimination and focused in their working.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Benschop, Y., 2016. The dubious power of diversity management. In Diversity in the Workplace
(pp. 35-48). Routledge.
Fesenko, T., Shahov, A. and Fesenko, G., 2017. Modeling of maturity of gender-oriented project
management office. Eastern-European Journal of Interiorise Technologies. 5(3 (89)).
Glesne, C., 2016. Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction. Pearson. One Lake Street,
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458.
Kumar, R., 2019. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage Publications
Limited.
McCusker, K. and Gunaydin, S., 2015. Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed
methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion. 30(7). pp.537-542.
Quinlan, C and et.al., 2019. Business research methods. South Western Cengage.
Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.
Smith, J.A. ed., 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Walliman, N., 2017. Research methods: The basics. Routledge.

APPENDIX
Questionnaire
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Post:
Q: 1. Are you aware of the concept of diversity and equality in the workplace of H&M?
 Yes.
 No.
 Not Sure.
Q: 2. There exists a proper strategies for managing diversity and equality in H&M.
 SA
 A
 N
 DA
 SDA
Q: 3. Is proper and fair treatment is given to all employees in an organisation?
 Yes.
 No.
 Not Sure.
Q: 4. H&M applies effective strategies for attracting and hiring diverse employees in a
workplace.
 SA
 A
 N
 DA
 SDA

Q: 5. Training and development programs have enhanced the value of diversity and equality in
a workplace?
 Yes.
 No.
 Not Sure.
Q: 6. Are there employees with any kind of disability working in organisation?
 Yes.
 No.
 Not Sure.
Q: 7. Does disabled employee requires to adjust in the workplace as per the employer?
 Yes.
 No.
 Not Sure.
Q: 8. Women and disabled people are involved in decision making as much as men and normal
people.
 SA
 A
 N
 DA
 SDA
Q: 9. Is company facing challenging in development of effective policies for enhancing equality
and diversity?
 Yes.
 No.
 Not Sure.
Q: 10. Is current policies related to equality and diversity relevant towards the effective

diversity management of the company?
 Yes.
 No.
 Not Sure.
Q: 11. Equality and diversity has enhanced the performance of employees in a workplace.
 SA
 A
 N
 DA
 SDA
Q: 12. Is there need of improvement in the polices and strategies related to equality and
diversity in the future?
 Yes.
 No.
 Not Sure.
(SA; Strongly Agree, A; Agree, N; Neutral, D; Disagree, SDA; Strongly Disagree)