Challenges of Equality and Diversity in Workplace

Managing a Successful
Business Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Aims and objectives of the project........................................................................................1
P2 Project Management Plan......................................................................................................3
P3 Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart...........................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P4. Small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5. Analysis of research data with the application of suitable tools and techniques..................8
P6. Communicate appropriate recommendations.....................................................................14
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................14
P7 Reflection.............................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15

TITLE: To scan the challenges linked with equality and diversity which are
faced by organization while implementing the policies related to these at
workplace.
INTRODUCTION
Equality and diversity are two elements of an organization which is found in human
resource department. Both of these have different meaning; equality refers to providing equal
opportunities to individuals or groups of individuals working in an entity (Barnham, 2015). On
the other hand, diversity is defined as to include the differences between people and groups of
people and respecting their values. These two practices go parallel and HR manager make
strategies and policies to incorporate these. Furthermore, various challenges are associated with
equality and diversity which should be face by the organisation and overcome them effectively.
In this report, Marks and Spencer has been taken which is located in United Kingdom. It is a
multinational company that is operating in number of countries in a successful manner. It deals
in clothing made of highest quality, home and food products. Furthermore, this report covers
aims and objectives, project management plan, work breakdown structure, Gantt chart, research
by applying variety of its methods followed by the analysis of information so gathered. In
addition to this, appropriate recommendation and reflection on the performance.
TASK 1
P1. Aims and objectives of the project
Equality and diversity have the common aim or motive which to enable workforce have
access to the same opportunities and fair treatment. These emphasize on making a working
environment suitable for all the employees by removing elements of discrimination, harassment,
victimisation and similar situations. Human resource department should be make policies which
respect different beliefs, sexual orientation, religion, background, etc. There should be sufficient
protection to the staff from any such kinds of incidents (Boekhorst, 2015). Equality and diversity
are two significant factors which contribute to job satisfaction and attract large number of
potential candidates to work in the company. Individuals look for companies who are fair and
unbiased to its employees as it shows the ethical conduct of the entity. The main contribution of
including equality and diversity at workplace is to avoid any discrimination between men and
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women. In the context of Marks and Spencer, the management should understand the importance
of such elements which have direct impact on the profitability and productivity. Furthermore,
UK government has also enacted strong statues for regulating the matters related Equality and
Diversity and to ensure that every person is provided equal opportunities without any
discrimination and by maintaining fairness.
Research aim:
“To scan the challenges linked with equality and diversity which are faced by organization
while implementing the policies related to these at workplace.” A case study on Marks and
Spencer.
Research Objectives:
 To understand the meaning and contribution of equality and diversity.
 To assess the issues connected with equality and diversity policies and practices at
workplace.
 To determine the ways for mitigating the issues and improve efficiency of the
organisation.
Research Question:
 What is the meaning of equality and diversity and their contribution in the entity?
 What are the various issues and challenges faced by organisation regarding equality and
diversity at workplace?
 How these problems can be overcome and improve productivity?
LITERATURE REVIEW
Meaning and contribution of equality and diversity
Equality and diversity are the two different words but the aim is common. These are
significant for an organisation especially, the ones operating at international level. Companies
include these factors in strategies and policies which in order to promote the practices related to
equality and diversity. HR managers use this way to motivate the employees and make them feel
secured and safe within the organisation (Cottrill, Denise Lopez and Hoffman, 2014). These
prevent any sort of discrimination against the employees on the basis of gender, age, religion,
colour etc. in addition to this, equality is beneficial for bringing an environment in which
workforce is treated fairly and equally. These two factors help in providing same opportunities to
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all the staff member without making difference between them. An organisation is incomplete
without including such practices. It helps in building a strong base for attracting new candidates
who can serve the company with their unique ideas and skills. Also, existing employees can be
retained for a long time with such practices.
Issues and challenges of equality and diversity at workplace
As per the view of (Boekhorst, 2015), it can be said that implementation of policies
related to equality and diversity may bring number of problems and issues within the
organisation. These may be directly linked to both equality and diversity. Furthermore, the
impact of such problems can be adverse to the profitability and performance of the company
which is not good for the employees. These may be related to resistance of staff to change their
pattern of working according to diverse culture, increase in costs, more disputes etc. Hence, it
becomes imperative for the entity to find solution which can help mitigating the impact of such
issues on the working of organisation. It should be done with the objective to create positive
results which may improve the condition of the entity. Therefore, it is responsibility to
investigate the work environment frequently with a view to identify the issues. This should be
done to get all the challenges resolved in order to improve efficiency and increase profitability.
Furthermore, it is beneficial in providing competitive edge to the company as employees get high
job satisfaction.
Ways in which these issues can overcome
According to the view of (Cacchione, 2016), the issues occurred due to the
implementation of practices related to diversity and equality should be overcome with the help of
different methods. It is the responsibility of the manager to consider the important information
with a view to notify the staff about the same. This should be done in an effective manner for
removing any ambiguity so that performance and productivity can be improved. Furthermore,
there should be training and development sessions for the staff in and sufficient freedom should
be given for enabling them to share their views and ideas. It is useful in reducing the doubts and
helping the organisation overcome the issues. These are beneficial for maintaining the quality of
products and services. This ultimately leads to higher satisfaction of the employees.
P2 Project Management Plan
Project management plan is regarded as the vital written documents which is also called
blue print that facilitates optimistic help to entities for performing the research in efficacious and
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effectual way. Moreover, this particular plans involves several strategies, plan of action, policies
and many others which basically assists to perform overall practices of business at stipulated
time duration. Few of the aspects are discussed underneath:
 Cost: This is regarded as the whole number of amount which is utilised through
organisation in order to produce standard quality of goods as well as services for
satisfying the requirements of clients. In context to recent investigation, this has been
stated that investigator required appropriate amount of finances in order to perform its
research positively and produce needed results effectually (Drews and Van den Bergh,
2016). Moreover, there are basically 3 kinds of costing techniques that are cost
breakdown, cash flow statement and budgeting. In respect of recent investigation,
researcher needs around £100 for performing their research appropriately.
◦ Budgeting- It is the activity of finance department which is related with the
estimation of funds required to carry the activities involved in a specific project. It is
based on a plan as planning is an important part of it.
Budget of Current Project Plan
Identify and developing the topic £30.00
Do a preliminary search for information £10.00
Locate materials online £5.00
Make notes £5.00
Clarify the Problem £10.00
Review the Literature £12.00
Develop the Instrumentation Plan £18.00
Collect Data. £10.00
Total £100.00
 Cash flow statement- It is one of the financial statements which depicts the inflow
and outflow of the cash. In includes cash and cash equivalents which are categorised
into operating, financial and investigating activities.
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