Equality and Diversity in the Workplace

This document explores the concept of equality and diversity in the workplace, focusing on the gender pay gap and measures to improve equality. It discusses the case of Sainsbury and its efforts to maintain equality and diversity. The document also provides insights into research methodology and data analysis.

EQUALITY AND
DIVERSITY IN THE
WORKPLACE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P 1 Aims and objectives.........................................................................................................3
P 2 Project management plan.................................................................................................4
P 3 Gantt chart and WBS........................................................................................................6
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................8
P 4 Research methodology.....................................................................................................8
LO 3...............................................................................................................................................10
P 5 Data analysis and interpretation.....................................................................................10
P 6 Recommendations..........................................................................................................18
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................19
P 7 Reflection on own learning and performance................................................................19
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................21
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................22
Questionnaire........................................................................................................................22

INTRODUCTION
Background
Equality is defined as the ability of the person to provide equal opportunities for all the
employees within the company (Thompson, 2016). It is very necessary for the company to
maintain equality and diversity at the workplace as it will increase the morale of the employees
and they will work harder. On the other hand, gender pay gap is defined as the discrimination
which is done on basis of the pay given to employees on basis of gender.
The present research is based on Sainsbury which is a chain of supermarket founded in
the year 1869 within the retail industry. The present research will work in direction of finding
reason behind the increase in the pay gap on basis of gender. Also, this research will discuss
some of the measures which Sainsbury can use in order to improve equality and diversity at the
workplace.
LO 1
P 1 Aims and objectives
Aim
“To investigate the main reason for the gap between the pay of the employee in basis of gender
within the company. A study on Sainsbury.”
Objectives
 To understand the concept of gender, pay gap within the business organization.
 To analyse the different reason for the increasing gap among the salaries and wages of
employees on basis of gender.
 To evaluate the different challenges which the company face at time of implementing the
strategies for maintaining equality and diversity.
 To suggest some strategies and measures of improving the equality among the company.
Research questions
1) What do you understand by gender pay gap?
2) What are the reasons behind the increase in the gap among males and females relating to
the wages and salaries?
3) What are the challenges faced by company in implementing equality and diversity
challenges?
4) Recommend some measures of improving equality and diversity?

Rationale
The main reason behind this research topic is to find different measures of reducing the
pay gap among the males as compared to the females within the corporate world. This is because
in this highly competitive world there is huge difference in between the males and females in
terms of the pay which they get (Ogbonna, 2015). Another reason of choosing this as a research
topic is the personal interest of the researcher. This is so because of the fact that the scholar
wants to enhance their knowledge relating to measures which can improve equality and diversity
at the workplace.
P 2 Project management plan
The project management plan is a document which outlines all the steps which are taken for the
completion of a project. This includes different phases like project initiation, planning,
execution, monitoring and controlling and in the end closure of the project. The different
elements of project management plan are as follows-
 Scope- The scope of the project is very wide as it will help the company in identifying
different ways in which it can improve the equality and diversity at the workplace. Also,
this will help other similar companies to find the different measures of reducing the
gender pay gap in the company.
 Time- This is the most essential aspect of the project management plan because of the
fact that the research needs to be completed on time (Chen, Kang and Lee, 2017). The
time required for the completion of the project and its different phases is around 11 to 12
weeks.
 Cost- This includes all the necessary expenses which are levied at time of the completion
of the project. In the project completion there occur many different expenses which
involves some or the other cost which the researcher ha to pay. For this project
completion the cost involves is approximately £1200.
 Quality- This is the most essential aspect of the completion of the project because the
research needs to be of good quality and standard. For maintaining the quality, the
researcher needs to abide by all the different laws and standards of the phases of the
project. For this the most important thing the researcher can do is to use all the reliable
and authentic sources of data (Eskerod and Jepsen, 2016).

 Communication- This is also an important part of the project management plan. This is
mainly because of the fact that only researching is not enough till the result of the
research are not communicated with the intended audience. The communication is also
required at time of collecting the information from the respondents. This can be done
with the help of different communication tools like questionnaire, face- to- face
communication, messages and many other different measures.
 Resources- Also, for carrying out the research there are many different types of resources
and materials used which makes the research more useful (Wroblewski and De Micheli,
2017). The resources involved at time of project making are like human resource,
technology and related equipment, data, financial resources and many others.
 Risk- this is also an important factor of the project management plan which outlines all
the possible risk which the researcher may face in completion of the research. These risks
can be like limitation of resources, time limitation, threat of unauthentic data, security of
data and many other risks associated at time of completion of research.
Milestone schedule
Milestone Due date Justification
Identification of aim and
objectives
30/12/2019 The aims and objective will be
prepared one day in advance so
that it can be checked by the
tutor.
Research methodology 06/01/2020 This will be executed three
days before as this will help
researcher in cross checking
that whether all the research
method used are correct or not.
Data analysis 03/02/2020 The collected data will be
interpreted two days in
advance so that if there are any
loop hole they can be met
before the deadline.

P 3 Gantt chart and WBS
Gantt chart
Task Mode Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Auto
Schedule
d
Formulation of research aim
and objective 2 days Mon 12/30/19 Tue 12/31/19
Auto
Schedule
d
Project management plan 3 days Wed 1/1/20 Fri 1/3/20 1
Auto
Schedule
d
Research methods selection 4 days Mon 1/6/20 Thu 1/9/20 2
Auto
Schedule
d
Formulation of questionnaire 6 days Fri 1/10/20 Fri 1/17/20 3
Auto
Schedule
d
Sending questionnaire for data
collection 2 days Mon 1/20/20 Tue 1/21/20 2,4
Auto
Schedule
d
Recording data set in a
structured format 5 days Wed 1/22/20 Tue 1/28/20 5
Auto
Schedule
d
Interpreting gathered data set 6 days Wed 1/29/20 Wed 2/5/20 6
Auto
Schedule
d
Concluding findings and
recommending solutions 2 days Thu 2/6/20 Fri 2/7/20 7
Auto
Schedule
d
Formatting 3 days Mon 2/10/20 Wed 2/12/20 8
Auto
Schedule
d
Taking feedback 2 days Thu 2/13/20 Fri 2/14/20 9
Auto
Schedule
d
Doing changes as per the
feedback provided 4 days Mon 2/17/20 Thu 2/20/20 10
Auto
Schedule
d
Final submission 1 day Fri 2/21/20 Fri 2/21/20 11

Work breakdown structure

LO 2
P 4 Research methodology
Literature review
In words of Graf, Brown and Patten, (2018) gender pay gap is defined as the
discrimination done by paying less salaries and wages on the basis of the gender. In simple terms
the differences made in between the male and female by paying less to the females in
comparison with the males. This gap is increasing to a great extent in this highly competitive
world. But Auspurg, Hinz and Sauer, (2017) state that the major reason behind the high gender
pay gap is the mentality or the thinking of the people that women are less competent in
comparison with the males and are treated as weaker then males.
In contrast to this Fortin, Bell and Böhm, (2017) argues that the major reason behind this
inequality is the different culture and the socio- economic factors. This is majorly because of the
fact that people of different culture have different opinions relating to the working women and
this also causes discrimination among the employees on basis of pay and gender. But Gürerk,
Irlenbusch and Rockenbach, (2018) articulate that the major challenge faced by the companies in
maintaining the equality and diversity at the workplace is that diversity at the workplace. This is
a challenge for the companies as the employees comes from different and diverse culture and it is
very difficult for the company to cater to the needs of all the employees.

Research methodology
 Research type- The research can be carried on in two different manner that is the
qualitative research and the quantitative research. For the present study that is
identification of reason behind the high gender pay gap the researcher has used the
qualitative research (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault, 2015). This has been selected by the
researcher because of the fact that researcher need to find the theoretical aspect of the
research topic and for it the qualitative research is suitable.
 Research approach- This is defined as the different set of assumptions in relation with all
the steps in the research. These are of two different type that is deductive and inductive.
For the current research the approach used is the inductive as in this no hypothesis are
formulated and the sole aim is to achieve the aims and objectives of the research. Research philosophy- It is the beliefs about the way in which the data is gathered and
tested. It is of two type that is positivism and interpretivism. For the execution of the
current research the interpretivism is used by the scholar as it is best suited with the
qualitative research.
 Data collection- This is defined as the collection of data and this is the most crucial step
as if data will not be there then how the research will be carried on. The data is collected
by two different sources that is primary and secondary. For present research combination
of both primary and secondary is used. For primary the questionnaire is used and for
secondary the views of different authors relating to the research topic is used.
 Sampling- This is defined as the studying of the sample in order to study and
generalising all the conclusion for the whole population. In sampling out of the whole
population some of the samples are selected and are tested and conclusion are drawn for
whole population. For current study the sample is the 25 employees of Sainsbury.
 Data analysis- This is the most crucial part of the research because only collection of
data is not enough rather it need to have some meaning from the collected data
(Clandinin, Cave and Berendonk, 2017). Thus, for this the researcher uses the thematic
analysis because of the fact that under this method the data is displayed with help of
tables and chart and this makes it clearer and more attractive as well.

 Ethical consideration- This is the most essential part of the research because if this is not
considered then the research will not be reliable and valid. Thus, it is very necessary for
the researcher to use all the authentic and valid sources for the data collection (Caillaud,
Rose and Goepp, 2016). Also, for asking the question form the participant it is the duty of
the researcher to get the ethical form signed by the respondent.
LO 3
P 5 Data analysis and interpretation
Theme 1: Yes, awareness relating to equality and diversity is there in employees
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Yes 15 60
No 10 40
Total 25 100
Interpretation: From the data of the above question it is analysed that all the employees within
the company are aware of the equality and diversity to be maintained by the company for
efficient working. This is majorly because of the fact that this fosters the working and motivation
level of the employees. His is agreed upon by 60 % of the respondents. However, rest of the 40
% didn’t agreed to this fact. This is because of the fact that they think company is not doing
anything for promotion of the equality and diversity at the workplace.

Theme 2: Strongly agree the company promotes equality and diversity at workplace
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Strongly agree 10 40
Agree 2 8
Neutral 5 20
Disagree 4 16
Strongly disagree 4 16
Total 25 100
Interpretation: With the help of the analysis of the data collected for this question it is concluded
that maximum of the respondent that is 40 % of them strongly agrees that the company promotes
the practices which brings equality and diversity at the workplace. But 20 % of them are neutral
to the fact that whether the company do anything in favour of promoting the equal opportunities
for all the employees. However, the rest of the participants either disagree or strongly disagree to
the fact that company uses strategies of reducing discrimination and promoting equality and
diversity.
Theme 3: Yes, equality and diversity enhance the productivity and profitability of the company
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Yes 22 88
No 3 12
Total 25 100

Interpretation: From the analysis of the above information it is inferred that yes is the equality
and diversity enhance the productivity and profitability of the company. This is agreed upon by
88 % of the participants. This is pertaining to the fact that if all the practices of company provide
equal opportunity to all the employees then they will work with full motivation and energy.
Hence, the profitability and productivity of the company will increase. But 12 % of the
respondent do not agree that the equality and diversity increase the productivity and profitability
of the company.
Theme 4: Yes, gender pay gap impact the efficiency of the company
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Yes 20 80
No 5 20
Total 25 100

Interpretation: From the analysis of the data it can be inferred that the majority of the
respondent that is 80 % of them states that yes gender pay gap impacts the efficiency of the
company. This is majorly pertaining to the fact that if there is high gap then in the pay of females
as compared to the males then this will reduce the efficiency of the employees as there is
discrimination among males and females. However, rest of the participants that is 20 % of them
articulates that this does not impact the efficiency of the company and employees.
Theme 5: All of the above are the major reason behind high gender pay gap
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Women has less knowledge
of market condition 4 16
Mentality and thinking of
the employees 4 16
Cultural differences 5 20
All of the above 12 48
Total 25 100

Interpretation: With the help of the analysis of the data it is interpreted that there are many
different factors which are the reason behind the high gap in the pay of females and the males.
This is assented by 48 % of the participants that that the reason behind this high gap is that they
have less knowledge of the market, cultural differences, thinking or mentality of the employees
and many others. However, rest of the participants agrees to all these reasons individually like 20
% to cultural difference, 16 % and 16 % with other two remaining options.
Theme 6: Yes, reducing the gender pay gap will build inclusive workforce
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Yes 19 76
No 6 24
Total 25 100

Interpretation: With the help of the above collected data it is analysed and interpreted that
maximum of the respondent that is 76 % of the employees agrees that the reduction in the high
gender pay gap among the employees will build up an inclusive workforce. This is majorly
because of the reason that if the gap between the pay will be low then the motivation of the
employees will be high and this will foster their working. However, rest of the 24 % of the
participants disagrees to this.
Theme 7: Resistance of employees is the major challenge for the company at time of
implementing the strategies of equality and diversity
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Status and socio- economic
factors 5 20
Diverse culture 5 20
Resistance of employees 10 40
Generation gap 5 20
Total 25 100

Interpretation: From the evaluation of the above data it is inferred that there are many
challenges which the company faces while implementing the equal and diverse work practices.
The major challenge faced by the company as agreed upon by 40 % of the respondent is
resistance of employees because they do not want to adopt to new and different practices. But
another 20 % states that status and socio- economic factors are the one which is the reason
behind the implementing of the equality practices. This is majorly because of the reason that all
the diverse culture has different thinking and mentality relating to the pay of females and males.
However, rest of the participants state that either diverse culture or the generation gap is the
challenge faced by the company at time of implementing the strategies of equality and diversity.
Theme 8: Yes, company follow laws relating to equality and diversity
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Yes 18 72
No 7 28
Total 25 100

Interpretation: With the help of the above data and its analysis the interpretation drawn is that
yes, the company follows all the different laws relating to maintenance of equality and diversity.
This is agreed on by 72 % of the participants because they feel that abiding by the laws and rules
and regulations the equality is maintained in the company. On the contrary, 28 % of the
participants states that the company do not abide by the rules and regulations relating to the
equality and diversity of the company.
Theme 9: Positive impact is on the working of the company when they comply with different
laws
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Positive 16 64
Negative 9 36
Total 25 100

Interpretation: From the analysis of the above data it is concluded that the use of the laws has
positive impact over the working within the company. This is assented by 64 % of the
participants because these laws provide with some guidelines or specification which the
company need to follow and this improves the working ability of the company. However, rest of
the 36 % of the employee’s states that the impact of these compliance is negative over the
company. This is because of the fact that too much guideline will restrict the employees to work
in effective manner.
Theme 10: Some different ways of improving challenges of equality and diversity
Interpretation: For the improvement of the company in respect of implementing equality and
diversity at the workplace is providing of equal opportunities for both males and females. This
will increase the morale and motivation level of the employees and this in turn will enhance the
productivity of the employees. Some other respondent states that recruiting of employees of
diverse culture as this will increase the people of different culture and will enhance the use of
different practices within the business.
P 6 Recommendations
With the help of the research it was found that maintaining equality and diversity is very
necessary for the effective and efficient working of the company. This is pertaining to the fact
that if there will be equality and diversity then the employees will work with more efficiency and

this will increase the productivity of the company. thus, for this there are some of the
recommendations for the improvement of equality and diversity within the workplace which are
listed below-
 One of the best recommendations for Sainsbury is to have salary transparency which
means that every employee must have clear information relating to the salary of their as
well as their co-workers. This is necessary as every employee will have clear information
as what are the salary and is it equally distributed or not.
 Another recommendation is to try to change the thinking or the mentality of the
employees who feel that females are less competent and knowledgeable in comparison
with males. This is because of the fact that females are also intelligent and efficient in
comparison with the males and are more competent. One more recommendation for Sainsbury is to train the employees not to discriminate on
basis of the pay difference or any other basis. This is because of the fact that if the
employees will have proper knowledge then the discrimination will not take place and
this will increase the efficiency of the employees.
LO 4
P 7 Reflection on own learning and performance
With the help of the research I learnt that it is very important to find the different
measures of improving equality and diversity at the workplace. I learnt that gender pay gap is
referred to as the difference between the pay of a female as compared to the male in corporate
world. With the help of this research I learnt that it is very necessary to establish the aims and
objectives first and then to go further with the research. The aim is the ultimate goal to which the
researcher needs to go and the objectives are short term goals which help the researcher in
reaching to the aim. Earlier I had great difficulty in formulating the aims at last it was made with
help of tutor.
Further I gathered knowledge that making a project management plan is also very
necessary. This is because of the fact that this outlines all the cost, time, resource involved in
accomplishing the research. Next, I learnt that outlining all the methods used in research is very
helpful like research type, research approach, research philosophy, data collection, sampling and
other. This is necessary because of the fact that this outlines all the methods which will be used
by the researcher in carrying on with the research. Further I learnt that thematic analysis for the

evaluation and analysis of the data is very good. This is because of the fact that this provides
charts and diagram for the data and is very presentable.
With the help of this research I learnt many different types of skills and attributes which
are helpful in further life. These skills and capabilities are like time management skill, ability to
work with limited resources, communication skills, interpersonal skills, researching skills and
many other skills. All these skills are helpful for me in simplifying my work like with
researching skill I learnt easily to research on even hard topics in very less time. Also, with help
of meeting the deadline of completion of the research my skill of working on time increased. In
same way other skills will also help me in enhancing my knowledge and capability.
CONCLUSION
From the above conducted study, it has been summarized that, Equality and diversity
helps in ensuring that, every individual in the organization is considered to be one of the most
effective measure in order to provide fair treatment and opportunity to the employees within the
organization. Furthermore, it has been evaluated that, gender pay gap is referred to as the
discrimination done by paying lower salaries and wages on the basis of gender. It has been
concluded that, equality and diversity tend to enhance the performance and productivity of the
organization. It has been summarized that, gender pay gap tends to largely impact the skilfulness
of the organization.
It has been determined that, females are paid lower than the men which in turn impacts
the performance of employees within the organisational sector. It has been concluded that, lower
market knowledge of the women, mentality of the management and cultural differences are
considered to be the key reason behind high gender pay gap. It has been investigated that,
reduction in the gender pay gap will tend to build an inclusive workforce which results in high
degree of motivation to the employees. It has been summarized that, Resistance of employees is
considered to be the key challenge for the organization while implementing the strategies
associated with equality and diversity. Increasing the morale and motivation level of the
employees helps in enhancing the productivity of the employees.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Auspurg, K., Hinz, T. and Sauer, C., 2017. Why should women get less? Evidence on the gender
pay gap from multifactorial survey experiments. American Sociological Review. 82(1).
pp.179-210.
Caillaud, E., Rose, B. and Goepp, V., 2016. Research methodology for systems engineering:
some recommendations. IFAC-PapersOnLine. 49(12). pp.1567-1572.
Chen, H., Kang, H.Y. and Lee, A., 2017. A project management plan to reach sustainable
competitive advantage for a photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer. Sustainability. 9(9). p.1496.
Clandinin, D.J., Cave, M.T. and Berendonk, C., 2017. Narrative inquiry: a relational research
methodology for medical education. Medical education. 51(1). pp.89-96.
Eskerod, P. and Jepsen, A.L., 2016. Project stakeholder management. Routledge.
Fortin, N.M., Bell, B. and Böhm, M., 2017. Top earnings inequality and the gender pay gap:
Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Labour Economics. 47. pp.107-123.
Graf, N., Brown, A. and Patten, E., 2018. The narrowing, but persistent, gender gap in pay. Pew
Research Center, April, 9.
Gürerk, Ö., Irlenbusch, B. and Rockenbach, B., 2018. Endogenously Emerging Gender Pay Gap
in an Experimental Teamwork Setting. Games. 9(4). p.98.
Ogbonna, E., 2015. Organizational Culture and Equality/Diversity: A Minority Ethnic (ME)
Perspective.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Thompson, N., 2016. Anti-discriminatory practice: Equality, diversity and social justice.
Macmillan International Higher Education.
Wroblewski, A. and De Micheli, B., 2017. TARGET. D 7.1-Project Management Plan.

APPENDIX
Questionnaire
Questionnaire
Name:
Age:
Gender:
1. Are you aware of the concept of equality and diversity?
 Yes
 No
2. Do your company promotes equality and diversity at workplace?
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Neutral
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree
3. Do you think equality and diversity at workplace increases productivity and profitability of
company?
 Yes
 No
4. Does gender pay gap impact the working efficiency of the company?
 Yes
 No
5. From the following what are the major reason for high gender pay gap?
 Women has less knowledge of market condition
 Mentality and thinking of the employees
 Cultural differences
 All of the above
6. Will reducing the gender pay gap will help company in building inclusive workforce?
 Yes
 No
7. What are the major challenges which company faces at time of implementing strategies for

maintaining equality and diversity?
 Status and socio- economic factors
 Diverse culture
 Resistance of employees
 Generation gap
8. Do company follow any of the laws relating to equality?
 Yes
 No
9. What is the impact of the compliance with these equality laws?
 Positive
 Negative
10. What are the different ways through which the company can overcome the challenges?