Strategies to Avoid Workplace Discrimination

PROJECT RESEARCH

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This research has been focused on the topic equality and diversity with in the
organization in order to maintain better practices with in the various work practices. The main
objective that has been considered in this research project is work Place discrimination which is
major problem in highly diverse organization. Different type of work place discrimination has
been studied in the report. The impact of discrimination on individual and team performance also
had been included in the study. Different strategies that can be used by the organization to
address issue of work place discrimination also has been discussed and analysed in this research
project.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.........................................................................................................2
P 2 Research Methodology................................................................................................4
P 3 Literature Review.........................................................................................................6
P4........................................................................................................................................9
P5 Research findings........................................................................................................16
P 6 REFLECTION...........................................................................................................22
P 7 ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGIES FOR RESEARCH WORK.........................23
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................25
APPENDIX................................................................................................................................26

P 2 Research Methodology
Research Philosophy-
Research philosophy can be defined as a kind of belief about the way in which
information or data about any kind of phenomena is gathered, analysed and used. It is one of the
most important components of a research that helps the researcher in dealing with the source,
nature and development of knowledge. This aspect is based on the framework of the research. It
helps to communicate the way and the purpose of conducting a research. Researcher has many
options to choose from different philosophies but most commonly used methods of research
philosophies are pragmatism, positivism, realism, interpretivism etc. the study of pragmatism is
based on the concepts which are relevant. The approach of realism is based on the study of
scientific aspects which helps to develop and increase the knowledge. Positivism research
philosophy is based upon adherence to the view that only “factual” knowledge gained
through observation. On the other hand, the interpretivism is used for conducting the study and
analyse of both qualitative and quantitative data so that reality of the topic can be assessed. The
approach taken by the researcher is positivism in order to test the benefits and drawbacks of
workplace discrimination and its impact. Positivism research philosophy will also help the
researcher in generating and analysing knowledge in a precise manner. (Polonsky and Waller,
2018).
Research Approach-
Research approach can be defined as assumption steps of detailed methods of data
collection, analysis, and interpretation. This aspect is concerned with planning and procedure of
the way in which data will be collected and analysed. This aspect helps the researcher to conduct
the study by following all the required details with the interpretation of data. There are various
approaches such as deductive, inductive and abductive method. Deductive method is based on
the questions of the research and the hypothesis of it either needs to be confirmed or rejected.
Inductive theory is based on the observation of the data that are proposed at the end of the
research and abductive research is based on the empirical phenomena. Abductive approach is a
set- in order to address weaknesses associated with deductive and inductive approach. It is
mostly used for incomplete observations so that best possible predictions can be done. For this
report research has taken deductive approach so that impact of discrimination in the company.
Deductive approach will also help the researcher to conduct quantitative research by analysing
numerical data that has been collected by the researcher.
Research Type-
Research is a systematic and logical ordered search for finding or analysing new and
useful information on a particular research area or topic. In order to conduct a research, it is

extremely important for researcher to select research type on the basis of which whole research
will be completed. It is considered as the base of the study and it links to collection of data. The
information which is collected by the researcher has been useful as it has helped to get the
relatable and relevant results. The type of research helps to get the description of the data and the
details regarding which type of data it is and which data is suitable according to the report.
There are two types of collecting data that is qualitative and quantitative research type.
Qualitative research type is a kind of research type in which collection and analysis of theoretical
or non- numerical data is done in order to answer the research question in an appropriate manner.
and quantitative data is concerned with the numerical aspects of the data in which collection and
analysis of numerical data is done in order to reach to a conclusion. For this report researcher has
taken quantitative data so that all the numerical data collected by the researcher can be analysed
in an appropriate and effective manner in order to reach to a conclusion (Dawson, 2019)
Collection of Data-
Data collection can be defined as a kind of method or process with the help of which
required data or information can be gathered and measured in an appropriate manner. This aspect
is concerned with the process of collecting the data. This is an important aspect as the results of
the research is based on this aspect. The data is collected from the sources which are reliable and
authentic and after that it is analysed. There are two types of collection of data that is primary
and secondary method of data. Primary data is a kind of data which is collected by the research
itself for the first time and has various methods of collecting the data such as interview, survey,
questionnaire etc. on the other hand secondary method of data is concerned with the collection
through already existing and published sources such as journals, articles, newspapers etc. for this
report researcher has taken primary data and the method used by the researcher is questionnaire
method (Boudah, 2019). Questionnaire was distributed to the selected sample respondents so that
required data can be collected and analysed in a proper manner.
Sampling-
This aspect is concerned with the collection of data by selecting a sample of population
as it is not possible to go to everyone directly. This is known as the process of sampling. It is
another important method which is required to be focused upon by the researcher because of
various reasons such as: it helps in making a research manageable, helps in reducing overall cost
and time associated with collection and analysis of primary data. It further helps in increasing
accuracy of the results of the research in a. easy and better manner. It further helps in increasing
overall speed of primary data collection. Different types of techniques of sampling are there such
as technique of probability and non- probability and even after that they are further classified in
ways such as random, stratified and cluster etc. Probability sampling is a kind of method in

which each member of the population has a non- zero chance of participating within the study,
whereas in non- probability sampling only few selected members have a certain chance of
participating within the study. For this report researcher has taken the method of Simple random
sampling of probability sampling method as it takes less time and are easily selected. Total
sample size was 25 employees were chosen (Quinlan and et.al., 2019).
Analysis of Data-
Data analysis can be defined as a kind of process with the help of which inspecting,
cleansing, transforming and modelling of data can be done in order to discover useful and
important information for appropriate decision making. This aspect is concerned with
interpreting the data so that information which is relatable with the aims and objectives of the
data can be achieved. In order to get good results, it is necessary that the data must be analysed
by following all the steps and not missing out on anything. This will help them to get the
accurate data in a precise manner. Researcher must be aware of the tools which will be necessary
in interpretation of the data. There are two types of data analysis methods: first is statistical data
analysis method and second is thematic data analysis method. Statistical data analysis is a kind
of method which is used for performing various statistical operations upon numerical data
collected. This method is mostly used in quantitative type of research papers, Whereas, thematic
data analysis is a kind of method which is used for analysis of non- numerical data collected by
the researcher such as text, interview scripts etc. This method is mostly used in qualitative type
of research paper. For this report researcher has used the method of Statistical analysis method.
For doing statistical analysis of data collected by the researcher SPSS tool was used so that it
becomes easy to analyse the data and reach to a conclusion.
P 3 Literature Review
Different types of discrimination and their impact in workplace
According to the view of Thomas, (2017), Discrimination is a simple means of
treating a person unfairly and illustrating prejudice. It is extremely important for organization to
built a strong and effective discrimination practise so that discrimination among workplace can
be reduced, this is majorly because discrimination impacts overall working of a team. Employee
or team members with whom discrimination is being done. As it impacts those team members in
many ways because of which they might suffer from depression, feel less motivated, feel dis-
satisfied and many more because of which overall performance of the team can get impacted.
Various research has been conducted that clearly explains that unlawful discrimination within an
organization with an employee has negative consequences for both employee and employer. It
can also impact commercial reputation of the organization, affect productivity of the
organization, decrease employee morale. Not only this, because of which unlawful

discrimination employee turnover within the organization can increase drastically. It is extremely
important for organizations to focusing on adhering laws against discrimination, develop policies
and practises to reduce discrimination and if any kind of discrimination is found the taken
appropriate and required action against it in order to increase employee morale.
In accordance with (McNiff, 2016) There are different type of discrimination in
companies which affect their growth and reputation in the eyes of employees as well as in the
market. There are various discrimination such as issue of age. Many companies imply this
discrimination when they take decisions on the basis of stereotypes or the condition which is
beneficial for them over merit. Many of the companies who deals in the sector of sales hires
employees who are young as they believe that they are more efficient and can handle the
pressure of sales target. Another discrimination is regarding the race of the candidate but civil
rights act 1964 puts a break on this measure and companies such as ALDI Supermarket does not
discriminate on the basis of race and treat everyone in the company in a fair manner irrespective
of their colour. If the company do not follow this act then there are many charges and allegations
such as harassment and segregation. In order to fight with the discrimination of disability
company is providing them with accommodation so that they keep the employees of the
company encouraged. This will help the company to use their talent and retain them, with this
the employees will also feel valuable. Some of the companies also discriminate on the basis of
nationality of people but the managers of ALDI Supermarket is opposed to this aspect and they
focus on inviting more people who are eligible according to the working of the company. This
also helps them to know about other nationalities and gain the insight of that market. Other than
this there are many types of discrimination but ALDI Supermarket makes it sure to that no type
of discrimination is there in the company.
Impact of discrimination on the working of the team
As per the view of (Thomas, 2017) after home place of work is where people spends
more time. All employees want to achieve success and they work hard for it. If the company
discriminates its employees on different factors then they then it will leave an impact on their
performance and career. The stress which is caused by discrimination held by the company will
affect the physical as well as the mental health of employee which leads to another situation. It
has proven in many studies that company who discriminates is creating a negative environment
of work which is because it is an aspect of harassment. Those employees who faces or suffers
from this aspect suffers from high level of stress psychologically and it leads to problems in
health of the employees as compared to those who do not have faced it. Impact of this aspect can
be adverse as some people starts smoking. On the other hand, sexual harassment and bullying
other people in the office can lead the employees to start drinking alcohol heavily in order to

cope up with the work conditions and situations at the office. There are some physical effects of
these causes such as pains and aches and it has been noticed that there are several cases of this
which leads to diseases such as breast cancer, illness of cardiovascular, obesity and increase in
the blood pressure of an individual. These issues are not only limited to physical state of the
body in fact it also affects the mental health of an individual which includes depression,
disorders related to anxiety, loss of self control which makes the employees hostile and cannot
work with the other members of the team. Sometimes situation is too critical which forces them
to attempt suicide.
Strategies to avoid discrimination in the workplace
According to (O'Leary, 2017) companies need to make the rules and write them down
strictly so that they can prevent those employees who suffer from discrimination at the place of
work. If the policies made by the companies are strict then people won't be able to attempt these
type of measures. Company need to conduct meetings or at the time of orientation state the
threats of attempting these measures as this will help them to reduce the impact of these
measures. There are various issues of this aspect such as gender, age, religion and citizenship.
Company needs to make policies which covers the employees from all of these aspects so that
they can make the environment of the company discrimination free. The policy set by the
company needs to follow the protocol. Other than that, they need to set up a team for this aspect
which handles all the queries and complaints related to it so that investigation can be done for the
whole scene and justice can be done. Company needs to take more precautionary measures as
just drafting policies won't be enough. They need to provide their employees with proper training
which guides them that what is acceptable and what is not. There must be a specific session
which is based on the issues of harassment and discrimination. Strategies such as exercises for
building teams need to be implemented. This will increase the interaction between the employees
of the company and make their understanding better which will decrease the discrimination on
the basis of these specific issues. Company must conduct and review the issue on a continuous
basis as it will help them to know the whereabouts of the employees so that they can effectively
handle the issue. They need to address all the complaints by listening to them by using the
language in non-accusatory way.
According to the view of McNiff, (2016) it is extremely important for an organization to
work upon their policies so that employee satisfaction and morale can be increased and chances
of discrimination within an organization can be decreased. There are various strategies with the
help of which discrimination within a workplace or working environment can be reduced. One of
the most common strategy that can be used by organizations for reducing discrimination chances
within workplace is provision of training to all the employers. So that employees can be