Importance of Equal Opportunities, Equality and Diversity, and Inclusion in the Workplace

This essay discusses the importance of Equal Opportunities, Equality and Diversity, and Inclusion in the workplace. It refers to the current Law of England and Wales and academic sources. Examples of organisations demonstrating Good Practice are included.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
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1) Discuss the multiple responsibilities of leaders/managers in a small to medium sized
organisation (under 250 employees), focussing on how they should incorporate HRM
strategy and good practice within their business organisation?
Leaders are an important aspect of all the organisations, whether it be small scale or
large scale enterprises. They play a significant role and perform different important functions
in the organisations. In contemporary world, the main purpose of any organisation is-
surviving and maintaining its entity by means of enhancing its performance. It is very
important for every organisations to increase their performance in order to remain
competitive in the present business market. Small and medium sized organisations play a
notable part in the overall social and economic wellbeing of a nation (Bryson 2018). Last
three years have seen the establishment of huge number of government-led initiatives and
bodies that are aimed for addressing the deficiencies in the management skills as well as the
promotion of the small and the medium sized organisation. This essay is going to elaborate
on discussing the many responsibilities of the leaders in small to medium sized organisations
by focusing on how they should incorporate the HRM strategy and good practice within their
business organisation.
Human Resource Management is all about managing the workforce of an
organisation. Management of workforce requires the presence of a workforce that calls for
the activities in the areas of appraisal, selection, compensation and recruitment (Bailey et al.
2018). With the same, it also require a well-organised workforce- determination of the tasks
and responsibilities and effective communication about them. In order to make sure that the
employees are possessing the necessary skills and knowledge, development activities and
training need to be carried out. All these activities affect the working environment within the
enterprise and led to job satisfaction and employee commitment. However, good leadership is
very necessary for both organisation as well as team performance. It is to note that leadership

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refers to the “process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a
common goal” (Reiche et al. 2016). Leadership is considered to be effective when it brings
some positive and productive efficacy of performance and this is directly relate to better
organisational performance.
Leadership in the Small and medium sized enterprise is a very tricky realm. It calls for
the leaders or the managers to play the role of leader and boss, both at the same time. The
role and responsibilities of a leader/manager in small to medium organisation is very different
from that of the large scale enterprise, big organisations or start-up businesses. The start-up
businesses require the managers and the leaders to prevail in a constant state of flux and with
the same, it also need them to execute the approach of all-hands-on-deck on regular basis
(Zaech and Baldegger 2017). Furthermore, in contrary to large scale organisations, where the
organisational leaders limit themselves to the expansion, setting the organisation direction on
the macro level, charting growth and long-term planning, the leaders in the small
organisations could be placed between the two extremes and they are required to manage
both the small and big matters. Moreover, the capability and the quality of a leader/manager
at the top level of the small scale enterprises decide the final outcome just like many other
enterprises. However, it is also to mention that in contrast to the other companies, failing is
not really an option and also hiding behind the positional authority is also not possible either.
This is due to the fact that the stakes are comparatively higher as compared to the start-ups.
The small and large scale organisations are continuously growing, tackling and
struggling the issue of employee retention and the challenges of employee engagement.
However, they have a well-established potential to innovate, sense of purpose and some
really overarching values, which could be leveraged by the organisational leaders very
effectively. Leaders in the small or medium organisations need to play the role of effective
bosses in order to ensure accountability and for establishing stability and consistency within

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the organisation. They are highly responsible for reinforcing the work values. With the same,
they also need to draw the map to many steps in future and ensure that the firm stay relevant,
agile and sustainable at the same time for longer time. Leaders in Small organisations are also
responsible for managing the finances and making well-planned and well-aware decisions
(Lewis 2016). They also allocate the resources within the organisation. They play the role of
effective bosses in order to ensure accountability and for establishing stability and
consistency within the organisation (Shah 2017). They are highly responsible for reinforcing
the work values. Moreover, the Small and middle enterprises’ leaders have a very conductive
setting in order to make sure that the employees within the workplace are at the core of the
processes of the decision making and that they are highly motivated and engaged. The
individualised consideration that aligns the goals of the company with the individual career
goals are provide severe challenging intellectual stimulation by means of building trust,
appreciating hard work and being empathetic would help the leaders of the small and middle
scale enterprises to be effective.
The concept of leadership in the small and medium sized organisations is all about
having a flexible and fluid approach for the working policies and processes in an alignment
of the development and growth of the employees and businesses (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017).
In order to incorporate HRM strategy and good practice within their business organisation,
the leaders need to know, how and when to change, assert and halt these approaches,
processes and tools, which are intended towards achieving the results. The leaders in the
small and medium sized organisations need to continuously work towards ensuring that their
actions are directly pointed towards helping the organisation and develop the knowledge,
experience and skills of their employees. Furthermore, they should provide clear and
effective messages to their followers in order to boost their morale and increase their loyalty
towards the company. They should be proactive instead of being reactive. They should plan

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and execute their plans for new opportunities and circumstances. For this purpose, SWOT
analysis is one of the most useful tools that they can use for tackling their business decisions.
Hence, it is to conclude that learning to become an effective leader is not so easy, not
matter to which scale of business he or she belongs to. This is because of the fact that it takes
a continuous and consistent effort and commitment for developing the business leadership
skills. Leaders play a significant role in the Small organisations. It needs them to play the role
of boss and leaders at the same time. Furthermore, leadership in these organisations need both
trustworthy and talented team who could believe in the organisational value and is willing to
defend them at any circumstances. The effective leadership practices in the small and
medium sized enterprises enhance the performance of the organisation. It is the capability and
the quality of a leader/manager at the top level of the small scale enterprises decide the final
outcome just like many other enterprises.

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2) 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 include examples of
organisations which demonstrate Good Practice?
In United Kingdom, the companies are legally required to stick to some practices
which make sure that discrimination is eliminated and the expectations of equality are always
met in the workplace (Simon 2017). All the employers are require to treat the employees
equally and give all of them the same set of chances and opportunities notwithstanding their
gender, race, disability, age, culture or anything, which could be discriminated against.
However, this essay is going to elaborate on assessing the terms “Equal Opportunities”
“Equality and Diversity” and “Inclusion” and their importance in the workplace. It shall also
refer to the current Law of England and Wales in this context, as well as to academic sources
and include examples of organisations which demonstrate Good Practice.
The term “Equal Opportunities” refers to the concept of treating equally to all the
people working within the organisation and ensuring that they are not disadvantaged by bias
or prejudices in any way. It simply means that the best person for the promotion or job is the
person who is earning that position on the basis of knowledge, experience and qualifications.
According to Ozrurk and Tatli (2016), equality in the workplace is breaking down the
barriers and challenges and eliminating the practice of discrimination from the workplace.
Managers in the successful organisations continuously seek for providing all their employees
with equal chances and opportunities and access for all the groups, notwithstanding to which
department they belong to. As per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that are

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adopted by the United Nations General Assembly have claimed that “All the human beings
are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. This is equality and in modern organisations, it
is very necessary to ensure that discrimination is eliminated and the expectations of equality
are always met in the workplace.
Furthermore, “Equality and Diversity” are different yet related concepts. It is to note
that the term “equality” in the workplace is all about treating all the employees equally and
ensuring that there is none who is discriminated against (Thompson 2017). With the same,
the term “diversity” in the workplace means that the organisation is actively welcoming the
people belonging from varied cultural backgrounds and it is reflecting this attitude in the
workplace culture and hiring policies. It is to mention that the Employment Law in UK
forbids the employers throughout the nation to discriminate the employees on the basis of
different factors. All these protected categories differs from one area to another. However, it
is to mention that these categories include age, gender, race, status of disability, religion,
country of origin and gender. Some of the organisations and jurisdictions also comprise of the
sexual orientation and the other related categories as well. In England, the minimum standard
of equality for the employer is to meet with all the legal requirements. However, the
companies can attract much broader range of qualified employees by means of doing more
for promoting equality and diversity.
Diversity related programs in the organisation include the training provided to the
employees for recognising the personal biases and cultural assumptions regarding the number
of qualities that a good employee should be possessing and the way of communication that is
preferable. It also include the specific policies for reducing the possibility of bias. All these
policies comprise of making the decisions related to hiring process through a committee that
is made of a good range of diverse people. It is to note that the main aim of diversity program
is to recruit a specific workforce, which reflects the diverse nature of the community and at

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the same time, manages the workforce in fair and effective manner (Cho, Kim and Mor Barak
2017). While promoting equality and diversity in workplace, the organisation gain a
significant access for a broader range of problem solving styles and the worldviews that often
led to a more adaptive and flexible corporate culture. Moreover, the companies which have
diverse workforce are regarded as highly appealing to the possible employees, particularly
the ones who are not comfortable enough for working in the homogenous working
environment. Sometimes, the diversity related issues are very complicates, particularly in the
cases where the cultural background of one person or his religious beliefs come into a
conflict with the policies of the company as well as the legal rights of the employees.
Moreover, according to Barak (2016), inclusion refers to the “achievement of a work
environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to
opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organization’s success”. It is very
necessary for establishing a clear understanding of the way the concept of inclusion differs
from that of diversity. This is due to the fact that many of the companies seem to make
diversity a priority while neglecting the inclusion (Hoel and McBride 2017). This is
automatically resulted in disappointing outcomes which have undermined the totality of the
inclusion and diversity efforts. Building inclusive and diverse workforce is very necessary to
build at every level of the company.
There are several discrimination acts in England Wales that are there for ensuring that
the companies in these region are cohering to the minimum policies and standards and the
legislation in the place is both comprehensive and wide ranging. There acts include the
Human Rights Act, Race Relations Act, the Disability Discrimination Act, Equality Act and
Sex Discrimination Act (Stephens 2018). These laws are placed for ensuring that the
recruitment procedure of the staff are always taken from widest pools of competencies,
potentials and that all the staffs, are provided equal opportunity and treatment. However, it is

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to note that at present, the Equality Act 2010 is the current Law of England and Wales that
protects the people from the practise of discrimination in the workplaces as well as in the
society (Webley et al. 2016). This law has replaced the former anti-discrimination laws in a
single Act and hence, made the law easier for understanding and strengthening the protection
of the people in some situations (Foster 2015). It has also set some different ways from which
it is illegal to discriminate someone.
Some of the organisations that demonstrate good practices include Sainsbury, Bank of
England and Unilever. These companies have made the equality and diversity policies an
important part of their business plan. All equality and diversity are foreseen as adding value
for improving both sales and the customer services of the organisations. Sainsbury has also
signed up to the National Equality Standard as well while continuously promoting diversity
and equality within the workplace. Moreover, inclusion and diversity in Unilever is all about
embracing the differences and creating new opportunities and possibilities for its employees.
It is also about progressing together for building a sustainable business environment.
Unilever, as a responsible business organisation is driving the equality of inclusion and
opportunity in both the organisation as well as all over the society. Right from the progressive
practices and policies in the workplace, Unilever is building on this foundation by means of
getting engaged with the other organisations and businesses for creating opportunities for the
females all over the extended supply chain in the customer development and sales operations
and also by means of brands and products for over 2 billion customers worldwide. With the
same, very recently, the Bank of England has incorporated new policy of inclusion and
diversity (Gabor and Brooks 2017). It promotes diverse ideas and encourages open debates
and perspectives of its employees over the prevailing wisdom. Furthermore, the bank
continuously seek for developing and empowering its people at every level for taking
initiatives and making things happen. It has a total of 10 Employee Network Groups

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including the Mental Health Network, the Disability Network, the LGBT+ and Allies
Network etc.
Hence, from the above analysis it is to conclude that the workplace that is inclusive,
encourage diversity and practise equality makes the employee feel respected and valued. All
these have a notable and positive influence on the overall job satisfaction, performance and
employee retention. Providing the employees with equal opportunities, promoting diversity
and practicing equal and ethical treatments is very necessary for every organisation to ensure
long term success and growth as well as to attract more candidates towards the organisation.
With the same, it is also to mention that the companies that have inclusive workforce and that
openly articulate the values of diversity, equality and inclusion tend to appeal to a much
wider supplier and customer base.

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References:
Bailey, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C. and Garavan, T., 2018. Strategic human resource
management. Oxford University Press.
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage
Publications.
Bryson, J.M., 2018. Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to
strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. John Wiley & Sons.
Cho, S., Kim, A. and Mor Barak, M.E., 2017. Does diversity matter? exploring workforce
diversity, diversity management, and organizational performance in social enterprises. Asian
Social Work and Policy Review, 11(3), pp.193-204.
Foster, R., 2015. Does the Equality Act 2010 ensure equality for individuals with Asperger
syndrome in the legal arena?: A survey of recent UK case law. Autonomy, the Critical
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development in the fintech era. New Political Economy, 22(4), pp.423-436.
Hoel, H. and McBride, A., 2017. ‘Getting In,’‘Staying In,’and ‘Moving On’: Using Standards
to Achieve Diversity and Inclusion. In Shaping Inclusive Workplaces Through Social
Dialogue (pp. 33-51). Springer, Cham.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

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Lewis, S., 2016. Positive Psychology and Change: How Leadership, Collaboration, and
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