How Companies Respond to Equality and Diversity in the Workplace

This document discusses how companies, specifically Aston Martin Lagonda, are responding to current issues of equality and diversity in the workplace. It explores the aims, objectives, project management plan, qualitative and quantitative research methods, and data analysis. The document provides insights into the challenges and recommendations for implementing equality and diversity practices.

HOW HAVE COMPANIES
RESPONDED TO
CURRENT ISSUES OF
EQUALITY AND
DIVERSITY IN THE
WORKPLACE?

Table of Contents
TOPIC..............................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
P1 Aims and objectives...............................................................................................................3
P2 Producing the project management plan................................................................................4
P3 WBS and Gantt Chart.............................................................................................................6
P4 Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods....................................................................8
P5 Data Analysis........................................................................................................................11
P6 Recommendations................................................................................................................19
P7 Reflection.............................................................................................................................19
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1
APPENDIX 1...................................................................................................................................2
APPENDIX 2...................................................................................................................................4

TOPIC
How companies are responding to current issues of equality and diversity in the workplace? A
case study on Aston Martin Lagonda.
INTRODUCTION
The concept of equality and diversity in the workplace is associated with the norms and
rules that are implied at the workplace upon the employees and how equivalent are the
opportunities for growth and promotion that is given to the employees of the company (Palinkas
and et. al., 2015). This concept encourages the employees to achieve their full potential by
making the work culture unprejudiced and free from bias. Aston Martin, which is a global
manufacturer of luxury cars is a British company and has been operating in the industry for more
than 100 years (Aston Martin, 2019). Throughout this period, they have tried to maintain the
work place ethics and culture where they have hired people from all backgrounds and classes and
given them equal opportunities to grow and prosper. There are a variety of issues that are
covered under the term equality and diversity such as the gender pay gap, cultural background
etc. and these need to be regularly evaluated at the work place. In order to study how well Aston
martin incorporates these factors, a small scale research can be conducted and this project will
highlight the role of equality and diversity in the company.
MAIN BODY
P1 Aims and objectives
Project Aim: The research carried out in this report will mainly aim at determining what are the
issues that are currently rising in the workplace of Aston Martin, such as, the gap in the salary of
male and female employees, the growth opportunities given to employees with different cultural
backgrounds etc. The research will then identify what are the possible solutions or strategies that
can be used to manage the workplace equality and diversity.
Project Objectives:
 To analyse the concept of equality and diversity in the workplace understanding the
current environment in Aston Martin.
 To identify the different issues under quality and diversity implementation in workplace.
 To determine the challenges arising in integration of equality and diversity in Aston
Marin.
 To recommend appropriate solutions for implementing equality and diversity practices.

P2 Producing the project management plan
The project management plan is that representation which is utilized by the project
manager in state to describe every phase of the project (Heagney, 2016). Such that it includes
range, plan, cost, attribute, human resource, communication, risk and procurement etc. in the
same way, in order to attain the aim i.e. to determine the issues which are raise in Aston martin,
researcher uses all the key elements which are as mention below:
Scope: When researcher perform this study, then it will be more beneficial to determine
the issues which is faced by Aston martin. Therefore, by study on this particular topic will help
to provide ways through which the company may easily overcome the issues such that gap in the
salary of male and female employees, the growth opportunities given to their employees who
belongs to different cultural background etc (Lientz and Rea, 2016). Further, another scope of
this study is such that researcher may gain knowledge related to the topic and as a result, it will
be helpful to apply the same in their future project as well.
Project cost: It is another important element of project management plan in which,
project manager describe how the money is assigned to complete the entire plan. Further,
researcher is also responsible for scatter all the material within their team in effective way.
Therefore, to attain the defined aim, the budget allocation is as mention below:
Cost breakdown Amount in GBP (£)
Expenditure of information
assemblage
25
Expenditure of travelling 36
Expenditure of information analysis
resources
80
Expenditure of communication of
results with stakeholders
90
Other cost 69
Total 300

Time: Every project is conjugate to a specific time limit and that is why, in order to
complete the task, the investigator requires 10 weeks to complete the project and it is further
elaborated in the Gantt chart in which every task is describe in detailed manner.
Quality: It plays an essential part in the success because when the task produces a
deliverable there are always a quality standards and also have a several aspect of quality
management (Wroblewski and De Micheli, 2017). Further, researcher should make sure that the
selected resources should be good in quality so that it will be easily meet the standards and helps
to attain the defined aim and objectives as well. Further, to measure the standard of quality,
researcher may also use the quality control techniques so that they will easily measure the
progress of the project too.
Communication: Another important part of the project management plan in which
researcher should make sure that there should be proper communication with the stakeholder so
that they also provide suggestion ti improve the quality of resources which are used in the
research. While on the other side, due to having poor communication with the stakeholder, it
makes the situation worse and lack of communication is consider the biggest reason to arise
issues (Chen, Kang and Lee, 2017). For instance, researcher may involve all the stakeholder in
order to check the progress report in every month by using email as a communication method in
which the entire description of the aim and research is written in detail manner. Moreover, every
project has a regular communication needs and it is further address within a project management
plan and the communication method involves project updates, investor circulars, progress report
and many more.
Risk: while performing a research, project manager may faces different types of risk and
they should make sure that risk register should be properly maintained in order to attain defined
aim and objectives. Further, for the current project, lack of funding is consider a risk, not having
efficient human resources and as a result, the project got affected In opposite way. That is why,
ensure that risk register should be updated in order to identify the ways through which the risk in
minimized.
Resources: It is another key element which is consider an important part of the project
management plan such that having a good resources will help the investigation to fitting the
defined aim and goal (Harding, Nelson and Glover, 2016). In the same way, for the current
project, researcher opt human resource who have good potential to complete the project and

leads it towards further level of success. Also, fire those person who have enough knowledge and
through their expertise, risk are minimized On the other side, resources also includes the
equipment which are linked with advance technology that helps the researcher to complete the
project and also uses financial resources and without it, project is next to be possible.
P3 WBS and Gantt Chart
Work Breakdown Structure can be defined as a tool that helps in segregating the entire
project into smaller tasks that are grouped under different classifications so that the task becomes
more manageable and process gets simplified (Mohammad and et. al., 2016).
Gantt Chart specifies the time that it will take to complete the different activities and the
stipulated time that will be taken for the completion of that activity.
Task/ Weeks Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Problem
Identification
Aims and
Objectives
Developing
research
methodology
Developing
questionnaire
Selection of
sample
Primary data
collection
Secondary data
collection
Interpretation of
data
Conclusion and
recommendation
Report
completion and
submission
Feedback from
teacher
Modified report
submission
P4 Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods
Research, specifically business research can be defined as a process through which all
the detailed information regarding the business practices is acquired and such information that is

collected is analysed and evaluated to develop the major solutions and implement them in the
company. The data can be collected using different techniques and tools that have been
illustrated below:
Primary Research: Primary research involves collection of data on a first hand basis i.e. the
researcher himself collects all the data and uses different methods to collect data from
appropriate samples by adopting different methods (Jahagirdar and et. al., 2015). These method
can be qualitative or quantitative i.e. the data can be collected in the numerical manner or in
theoretical manner. In the current report, primary research will be done by collecting the
opinions and facts associated with the company by selecting a sample of employees working in
Aston Martin and obtaining their view.
Secondary Research: This involves collection of data that is relevant to the research in
secondary manner i.e. taking reference from the already published literature, journals, articles
and other case studies or research that was conducted earlier and has already been published
(Pieterse, 2019). In the current research, the researched has taken reference from the secondary
literature which was the journal articles and case studies related to Aston Martin that was
published earlier and other research articles related to the working environment which will be
used and cited wherever , the researcher finds them relevant in the research.
Quantitative Research: Quantitative research on the other hand helps in collection of numerical
data and figures that are associated with the research and the analysis is also done in quantifiable
manner addressing the “how much” aspect (Fletcher, 2017). Questionnaire is one method of
collecting the data where a selected number of respondents answer a particular set of questions
that is common for everyone. Sampling can be done in random or non-random manner where,
random sampling involves selecting of respondents without any particular criteria and under non-
random sampling, there is a particular selection criteria. In the current research, researcher will
use questionnaire method in order to collect the primary data from the 30 employees working in
Aston Martin Company that will be selected on the basis of simple random method.
Qualitative Research: The qualitative research involves collection of data through methods
which help in gathering the facts and theories that are related to the research topic and helps in
understanding the social phenomena focusing on the “what” aspect. Interview method is used
under qualitative research where the interviewer obtains the view point of interviewee. Purposive
sampling helps in selecting samples who meet a pre-formulated criteria (Crane and et. al., 2019).

In this research, researcher will use qualitative analysis by using the interview method where the
scholar will be able to collect what different employees and experts, who have been selected
using purposive sampling, think about the workplace of Aston Martin and therefore analysed the
viewpoints presented thus drawing appropriate conclusions.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Address:
Mail ID:
Q1. For how long have you been working in this company?
 0-6 years
 6-11 years
 11-16 years
 More than 16 years
Q2. Are you aware with the concept of equality and diversity in the workplace?
 Yes
 No
Q3. According to you, which are the prominent issues that your company is facing currently?
 Gender Pay gap
 Unjustified working hours
 Biasness between rules for male and female employees
 Biasness on the basis of cultural background
 All of the above
Q4. Do you think that equality and diversity in workplace will resolve these issues?
 Agree
 Strongly Agree
 Neutral
 Disagree
 Strongly Disagree

Q5. According to you, how can equality and diversity be encouraged in the company?
 Giving equal growth opportunities
 Developing appropriate payment strategies
 Hiring employees belonging to different cultural backgrounds
 Maintaining equal balance between male-female employee ratio
 All of above
Q6. Will implementation of equality and diversity help in motivating the employees of the
company?
 Yes
 No
Q7. What will be the major advantages of incorporating equality and diversity in Aston Martin?
 Increase employee motivation
 Improve the work culture
 Enhance productivity
 All of above
Q8. What will be the major challenges in implementing equality and diversity practices in Aston
Martin?
 Change in the current working policies
 Protests from certain employee segment
 Rigidity from management
 All of the above
Q9. Are you satisfied with the current working practices in Aston Martin?
 Yes
 No
 Neutral/ Doesn’t Matter to me
Q10. What would you recommend or suggest for the company
________________________________________________________
P5 Data Analysis
Data analysis and interpretation involves analysing the data that has been collected
using certain tools and models which are different for both qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Coding analysis is a technique which can be used in both qualitative or quantitative analysis and
helps in analysing the data by categorising these themes in different headings so that analysis is
facilitated (Bryman, 2017). In the current research, qualitative analysis was done by
identification of key factors and then explaining the relevance of these factors. Under
quantitative analysis, questionnaire method has been used to collect data and then analyse it
accordingly.
Quantitative Analysis: A sample of 30 employees working in the Aston Martin was selected
using simple random sampling technique and they were then given questionnaire to fill.
Theme 1: Duration of Work
Q1) For how long have you been working in this company? Frequency
 0-6 years 8
 6-11 years 5
 11-16 years 12
 More than 16 years 5
Total 30
It can be interpreted that majority of the people i.e. 40% have been working for a long time
period of 11 to 16 years and this is followed by and this shows that the employee retention
capacity of Aston Martin is high and despite adversity in the workplace, employees are satisfied.
Theme 2: Awareness of the concept of equality and diversity
Q2. Are you aware with the concept of equality and diversity in the Frequency

workplace?
 Yes 19
 No 11
Total 30
The majority of the people depicted that they were aware of the concept of equality and diversity
and could identify when it was being implemented in the work place therefore being depicted in
the results that will show that the employees are ready for change.
Theme 3: Prominent issues in the company
Q3. According to you, which are the prominent issues that your company
is facing currently?
Frequency
 Gender Pay gap 8
 Unjustified working hours 5
 Biasness between rules for male and female employees 10
 Biasness on the basis of cultural background 2
 All of the above 5
Total 30

10 out of 30 employees stated that biasness between the rules for male-female employees is the
most persisitent issue in the company and this was required to be sorted immediately so that the
workplace ethics could be modifed.
Theme 4: Impact of equality and diversity in workplace
Q4. Do you think that equality and diversity in workplace will resolve
these issues?
Frequency
 Agree 10
 Strongly Agree 11
 Neutral 7
 Disagree 2
 Strongly Disagree 0
Total 30

Majority of the people i.e. 37% are in strong agreement that when equality and diversity would
be incorporated in the workplace ethics, it would help in addressing the persistent issues in the
company and this has been depicted in the further research that has been conducted as well.
Theme 5: How is equality and diversity encouraged?
Q5. According to you, how can equality and diversity be encouraged in
the company?
Frequency
 Giving equal growth opportunities 7
 Developing appropriate payment strategies 9
 Hiring employees belonging to different cultural backgrounds 5
 Maintaining equal balance between male-female employee ratio 8
 All of above 1
Total 30

It can be clearly ascertained that 9 out of 30 employees think that equal payment is the best
option for addressing the issue followed by 8 out 30 stating that maintaining equal male-female
ratio is the best strategy that can be adopted in Aston Martin.
Theme 6: Motivating the employees
Q6. Will implementation of equality and diversity help in motivating the
employees of the company?
Frequency
 Yes 18
 No 12
Total 30

There are majority of employees that are in the favour that equality and diversity of the
workplace will helps in increasing the motivation level of employees and this can be well
justified from the research that will be conducted further.
Theme 7: Advantages of incorporating equality and diversity
Q7. What will be the major advantages of incorporating equality and
diversity in Aston Martin?
Frequency
 Increase employee motivation 11
 Improve the work culture 9
 Enhance productivity 8
 All of above 2
Total 30
This theme also helps in justifying that majority of the employees i.e. 36% think that
employee force would be highly motivated and this is closely followed by 30% thinking that
work culture can be improved.
Theme 8: Challenges in implementing equality and diversity
Q8. What will be the major challenges in implementing equality and
diversity practices in Aston Martin?
Frequency
 Change in the current working policies 13
 Protests from certain employee segment 10
 Rigidity from management 7

 All of the above 0
Total 30
44% of the employees think that while incorporating equality and diversity in the work place the
major challenge that they will face is that the current working culture and habits would have to
be changed and also there is zero resistance from the management of the company which is
evident from the research.
Theme 9: Satisfaction with the current working practices
Q9. Are you satisfied with the current working practices in Aston
Martin?
Frequency
 Yes 16
 No 8
 Neutral/ Doesn’t Matter to me 6
Total 30

More than half of the employees think that they are satisfied with the current working
practices and do not want any major changes in the company, which shows that the work culture
of company is not too rigid in terms of workplace diversity.
Qualitative data analysis: There are some of the key factors that were identified in the research
that was undertaken:
Factors Explanation in the present context
Equal growth opportunities The growth opportunities for male and female in Aston
Martin is not equivalent i.e. promotions and raise are given
much slower to female employees.
Equal male-female employee ratio The male female ratio is also not equivalent since there
were 65% male respondents out of the 30 employees that
were selected randomly.
Gender pay gap This factor is not much prevalent in the company because
pay is given on the basis of position in the company rather
than gender.
Diverse cultural employee
background
There is not much importance given to hiring employees
from different cultural backgrounds and skills are rather
more important in Aston Martin.
Employee policies The policies implemented are employee friendly and yet
this is because majority is male employees and therefore

they find policies acceptable and good.
It can therefore be interpreted that the current employees are satisfied with the work
culture because majority of them are males and the policies are in favour of males and they do
not find anything amiss. Additionally, the practice of giving salary as per the position of
employee is a better approach and avoids unnecessary biasness but the growth opportunities are
still very complicated and unequal for male and female employees.
P6 Recommendations
On the basis of research that was conducted, various recommendations can be drawn and
concluded which will help in resolving the current issues that have been identified in the
company. The company should develop equal growth chances for both male and female
employees where preference should be on their quality of work (Wren, 2015). Additionally,
employees should be hired on the basis of their capability to perform different tasks rather than
hiring males just because there is requirement of field work in the company.
The selection process of the company should be modified where it is ensured that no
biasness takes place when hiring employees belonging to different cultural backgrounds so that a
diverse and yet unified workforce can be hired in the company (Bell, Bryman and Harley, 2018).
Also, current working policies need to be modified and made more equivalent where the talent is
supported rather than the gender.
Therefore, it can be concluded that there are many changes that need to be implemented
in the company including the hiring and growth opportunities so that employees can move
forward in their career path in a synchronised manner and the equality and diversity gets
promoted in the company thus improving their workforce culture.
P7 Reflection
In the research that I conducted, there were some key points that had a significant impact
on me and from which I learnt a lot. Time management was the most important skill that I learnt
and I identified that I was rather weak with managing the tasks within the allotted time frame. I
also identified that my analytical skills were extremely well developed and I was able to interpret
the data that I had collected very quickly and in a relevant manner.
The research that was conducted helped in determining that despite the glamorous image
of the companies, the employees are the ones who present a truer outlook and I was able to
determine that Aston Martin also fail in implementing equality and diversity in the workplace.

The research recommends the measures through which the equality and diversity could be
implemented and these practices can be used by other companies as well who are operating at a
wider scale.
The research helped in developing my research skills and I was able to learn the method
of data identification and collection and I learnt how a research is conducted.
CONCLUSION
The research helped in concluding that it is extremely important to incorporate equality
and diversity in the practices that are adopted at the workplace and the equality between the male
and female employees that are hired in the company is also of relevance and importance. The
research was undertaken on Aston Martin using both qualitative and quantitative methods and
the data was collected through primary and secondary measures. The research also helped in
determining the different aspects such as cost, time resources etc. that were important in
completing the project successfully.

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