Impact of Age Discrimination on Employee Performance: A Study on ASDA

This research project aims to investigate the impact of age discrimination on employee performance and the challenges faced by ASDA in managing age discrimination. The study will provide insights into the concept of age discrimination, its impact on employee performance, and suggest improvements in policies to manage age discrimination in ASDA.

RESEARCH PROJECT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................7
DATA ANALYSIS..........................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION.............................................................................17
Conclusion................................................................................................................................17
Recommendation......................................................................................................................18
REFLECTION...............................................................................................................................18
Effectiveness of research methods............................................................................................18
Alternative research methods....................................................................................................19
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................20
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................21
QUESTIONNAIRE..................................................................................................................21

INTRODUCTION
For attaining success in the highly competitive world it is very important for the company
that they properly manage the equality and diversity within the workplace. This is probably due
to the fact that equality is defined as the act of company in which they provide for the equal
opportunities to each and every employee irrespective of their gender, age, income, experience
and many others (McLaughlin, 2019). Also, for getting success it is essential for the company to
be diverse that is it must have employees being recruited from different cultural backgrounds.
This is essential as equality and diversity takes the company in the direction of growth and
development.
But in this the major problem being faced is the age discrimination. This is a type of
discrimination which takes place on the basis of the age of the employees. In simpler words it
can be defined as the mistreating of the employees on the basis of their age. The current research
it based over company ASDA which is a large retailer in UK and is headquartered in Leeds. The
current research will outline the impact of high age discrimination prevailing in company and its
impact over the company and its performance.
Aim
“To investigate the impact of age discrimination with respect to workplace discrimination over
the capabilities of employees and performance of company. A study on ASDA”
Objectives
 To articulate the concept age discrimination.
 To identify the impact of age discrimination over the performance of the employees and
company.
 To evaluate the challenges being faced in managing age discrimination with respect to
ASDA.
 To suggest some improvement in policies to manage age discrimination in ASDA.
Research question
1. What is the concept of age discrimination?
2. What is the impact of age discrimination on the performance of employees?3. What are the challenges being faced by ASDA in managing age discrimination?
Rationale

For getting successful it is very essential for the business to keep the working
environment equal and diverse for all the employees. But this is not taking place and because of
this the research is directed towards the topic of age discrimination. If the age discrimination is
high within the company, then the productivity of the company will decrease. Thus, this research
will outline the ways of managing the age discrimination and its negative impact over the
productivity of company. Also, the personal and academic interest of the researcher was the
reason behind the selection of age discrimination as a topic.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theme 1: Understanding the concept of age discrimination.
As per the views of Paraskevopoulou, Drydakis and Sidiropoulou (2019) discrimination
is defined as the misbehaving or mistreating the employees on several discriminating bases like
age, gender income, experience, knowledge and other discriminating points. Among all these
different factors the most common type of discrimination is the age discrimination. This is a type
of discrimination under which the employees are mistreated on the basis of the age of the
employees. This is pertaining to the fact that when the employees become old then the
management of the company thinks that they are less competent to working as compared to the
young people. Thus, because of this reason that the old people are less competent to working
they are mistreated within the company.
On the flip side, Stokes and Moorman (2017) states that managing of age discrimination
is very important as this will increase the working capacity of the company. This is due to the
reason that if there will be no age discrimination then the employees of the company will work in
more proper and effective manner. Thus, this will increase the working efficiency of the whole
company and takes it into direction of growth and development. Also, hiring of older employees
is beneficial as they more of the experience and knowledge relating to each and every aspect
relating to business. this is due to the reason that they have worked within the company since so
long.
Theme 2: Impact of discrimination relating to age over the performance of employees and
overall productivity of company.
Button (2017) articulates that managing of age discrimination is very essential for the
success of the company. This is particularly because of the fact that if there will not be any
discriminating activity then the employees will feel motivated and satisfied with the work. Thus,

this will have a positive impact over the working of the company as if the employees will be
happy and satisfied then they will work in good and effective manner. But on the flip side when
the discrimination relating to age is more then there are many different negative impact which
the company has to face because of the fact that this decreases the working capacity of the
employees.
In the views of Rychtaříková (2019) the major impact of the high age discrimination is
the negative impact of the morale of employees. The major reason underlying this fact is that
when the old employees are mistreated then they do not like this as they are losing their respect
among the group of people. Thus, this creates a negative behaviour of old employees towards the
company and also the morale of employees within the company decreases. Also, in addition to
this the major impact of the high age discrimination is the increase in employee turnover. This is
an impact as when the discrimination is high then the employees does not like this and they try to
go to other companies. Thus, due to this reason the working of company and the employees
degrades and this creates a negative impact over working of the company.
Theme 3: Challenges faced by company in managing the discrimination relating to age.
As per the thinking of Peres (2018) there are many different challenges which are being
faced by the company at time of managing age discrimination. This is particularly because of the
reason that the age discrimination result in the creation of negative working environment and this
result in facing many challenges which result in the reduction in working of company. The major
challenge faced by the companies is the employee resistance. This is a challenge because when
the older people are working in the company and some new task or activity is being given to
them than the other employees resist. This is due to the reason that when the old people are given
some task the other people think that they will not be able to manage the work as they have
become old and they will not be able to work in proper manner.
In addition to this Perron and McCann (2018) argues that the major challenge being faced
by companies in managing the age discrimination is the communication barrier. This is a
challenge because the older people has different thinking and perception and mind level. Thus,
when it comes to taking of any decision or any other discussion there is conflict between the
thinking of young employees and the older employees. Thus, this creates a challenge in
managing age discrimination as when there is conflict of thoughts then the efficiency of
companies decreases. Adding to it Horton (2020) states that there might be resistance to adaption

of new and advance things from the side of old employees. This is particularly because of the
fact that the business exists in the environment which is dynamic and changing. Thus, the old
employees resist from adapting to the latest changes and work in the old and traditional
principles only.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research type: Research is the word which generally used to mean a conducting a study
in the organization so that the solution of the issue can be find out very easily in the market.
Qualitative and Quantitative are two different type of research which is generally conducted by
all the researcher in the industry of research (De Groot and Hagoort, eds., 2017). Qualitative
research is generally research in which in depth research is generally conducted to gather
response of participant. Quantitative research at the same time looks at understanding numerical
fact and present the outcome in numeric form. For investigating impact of age discrimination
with respect to workplace discrimination over the capabilities of employees and performance of
company scholar has gone with the alternative of Qualitative research type.
Research Approach: Research approach generally related to the plan guidelines in the
study which used to give the systematic direction to different parties in the research. This
direction generally includes a good number of assumption which has to be made in the research.
Inductive and deductive are two approach which can be used in the study (Riazi, 2016)..
Inductive research generally looks at formulating the Aim and objective and form study on the
basis of previous theories. At the same time Deductive approach generally stands for making
different hypothesis on basis of the outcome of the research. For these study scholar has selected
the deductive approach as it used to support the type of research selected.
Research Philosophy: philosophy generally deals with variety of the sources through
which different sort of the knowledge can be made in the study. Interpretivism and positivism are
two philosophy option from which researcher can select anyone in the study. positivism research
philosophy generally looks at gathering the variety of the data from the factual data which is
presented in the past. At the same time Interpretivism research philosophy looks at the different
data related to the human interest in the research. For achieving the aim and objective of the
current project of Asda, researcher has shown the trust on interpretivism research philosophy
reason behind the same is that it will help researcher in understanding the human interest involve
in the research as well.
Data Collection: Outcome of the data is generally find out on the basis of the information
or data which has been collected with the help of different data collection tool. Two different sort
of data collection tool which will be used in the organization to collect variety of different type
of data in organization. Two tool are primary data collection and secondary data collection tool.

Primary data will be collected for the very first time from the employee itself in the organization,
this will be done with the help of conducting a survey via questionnaire. At the same time
secondary data in the study will be collected by going through different article related to topic of
study.
Data Analysis: Data which will be collected with the help of primary and secondary data
collection tool in the research will be analysed with the help of thematic data analysis tool in the
study. Different data in the study will be presented with the help of different table and graph. So
that viewer of data finds it easy to interpret.
Sampling: Sampling is the process of selecting the number of respondent in the
participant from which the primary data will be collected in the research. For current project 20
employee of organization has been selected as a participant base of the company. This
participant has been selected with the help of simple random sampling in which all the employee
was given the chance to get selected in the cut of the participant pool.
Ethical Consideration: Scholar in the research has make sure that all the activity which
are being carried in the study is carried out by considering ethical issue related to the same.
Scholar has make sure to take the consent of all the individual before collecting the data. Also,
scholar has make sure that good amount of confidentiality is maintained throughout the research.
DATA ANALYSIS
Theme 1: familiar with the concept of Age Discrimination
Particular Number of respondent percentage of respondent
Yes 18 90
No 2 10
Total 20 100

Data collected through survey has provided support to scholar in understanding that there is good
sort of understanding in the context of Age Discrimination at the work place. As from the
participant pool of 20 participant, 18 participant has chosen yes as their alternative. At the same
time 2 participant has gone with the alternative of No. This is good sign for the organization
reason behind the same as these will help the company in getting the employee support at the
time of bringing any sort of the policy change in long run of the business.
Theme 2: what aspect of impact is brought by Age discrimination on employee
Particular Number of respondent percentage of respondent
Mental impact 15 75
Emotional impact 4 20
Both of Above 1 5
Total 20 100
Yes No
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
90
10
Column I

Information which is gather from small research which was organized on the basis of the survey
which was carried out. Mental health is the aspect which used to impact the employee more as
compare to the Emotional impact of the company. Data gather from participant gives clear
recommendation of the same, as data shows that out of 20 participant 15 participant has selected
the alternative of Mental health 4 participant was with the opinion of emotional impact and only
1 participant was with the option of both of the above alternative. Reason behind the same might
be the opinion which is passed on by author that is Age discrimination used to reduce the mental
morale of the employee in the long run of the business.
75
20
5
Mental impact
Emotional impact
Both of Above

Theme 3: Managing age discrimination in the organization used to help the company in
managing good work force
Particular Number of respondent percentage of respondent
Yes 16 80
No 4 20
Total 20 100
Building and retaining good amount of the human being in the organization require a good sort
of efforts to be made by the organization. One of such type of the effort may be managing age
discrimination at the workplace. As above presented information represent that managing Age
discrimination and good work force in the organization used to go hand by hand in the
organization. As collected information shows that 16 participant has chosen yes as their
alternative, at the same time 4 participant in the research has gone with the option of no in
organization. This was highlighted by the author in the LR part of the study as well.
Theme 4: impact which is brought by Age discrimination on the performance of employee
Particular Number of respondent percentage of respondent
Yes No
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Column I

Negative impact on morale of
employee 2 10
Negative working environment 1 5
Employee Turnover 16 80
All of Above 1 5
Total 20 100
As highlighted in the previous theme that managing and retaining employee function of the
organization used to be heavily depended upon the Age discrimination at the workplace. This
statement is supported by above presented data as well. As data shows out of 20 participant pool
16 participant has chosen the alternative of Employee turnover as their choice in the study. 2
participant was having the opinion toward Negative working environment and remaining 1 each
participant in the study has selected the option of Negative working environment and All of the
above option. So it is clear that Employee turnover is the biggest impact which is seen by the
researcher in the market. This result was also elaborated by the different author in the LR section
10
5
80
5
Negative impact on morale of
employee
Negative working environment
Employee Turnover
All of Above

of the study as author highlights that employee tend to change the employer if they used to not
find the suitable workplace to operate in the market.
Theme 5: Asda used to make take variety of the action to reduce the impact of Age
discrimination in an organization
Particular Number of respondent percentage of respondent
Yes 12 60
No 8 40
Total 20 100
There is good sort of confusion in the participant to presented their alternative, as collected data
with the help of survey explained that there is no clear point of the answer or conclusion which
has been drawn in the above theme. As 12 participant was with the opinion that Asda used to
bring the variety of the policy in the organization. These is very good sign for the Asda, as it
means that employee are understanding the different policy change which are generally made at
the workplace. At the same time Asda can not ignore opinion of 8 participant in the market as
well. As this is not that good sign for the organization that there is still some of the participant
Yes No
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
60
40
Column I

who are not having idea of different type of the changes which are generally brought in the
organization in context of Age discrimination.
Theme 6: challenges which is faced by the organization in managing Age discrimination
Particular Number of respondent percentage of respondent
Employee resistance 2 10
Communication barrier 14 70
Managing working environment 3 15
All of above 2 10
Total 20 100
After going through above presented information in theme 6, it can be easily interpret that
communication barrier is one of the biggest challenge which is faced by organization at the time
of managing impact of Age discrimination at the workplace. As information collected shows that
14 participant from pool of 20 participant has chosen Communication barrier as their alternative.
2, 3 and 2 participant has shown that they are having the opinion in favour of employee
Employee resistance
Communication barrier
Managing working environment
All of above
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
10
70
15 10
Column I

resistance, managing working environment and all of the above option from the survey. This
result was also interpreted by the different author in the Literature which has been pass on by
them as they used to interpreted that all the employee used to build different group which
eventually used to give rise to such type of barrier in the long run of the business.
Theme 7: Managing Age discrimination will impact the goodwill of the company in long run
Particular Number of respondent percentage of respondent
Yes 16 80
No 4 20
Total 20 100
Information gather via survey as a part of primary data collection tool has provided support in
interpenetrating that Goodwill of the company is generally enhanced in the long run if impact of
age discrimination can be maintain. As data shows that out of pool of 20 participant 16 has
chosen Yes as their alternative for the question and remaining 4 participant has gone with the
80
20
Yes
No

option of no. So from the presented it can be clearly interpret that managing Age discrimination
in the organization used to help the company in building good sort of the goodwill of the
company in the long run. This was also highlighted by the Literature review section of the study
as author also pass on the same sort of the view point at the topic.
Theme 8: best way through which impact of Age discrimination can be reduced at the workplace
Particular Number of respondent percentage of respondent
Clarity or communication 2 10
Policy changes 16 80
Training to employee in context of
new thing 1 5
All of Above 1 5
Total 20 100

Policy change is one of the best way through which organization can reduce the impact of Age
discrimination at the workplace. As different information which was gathered from primary data
collection tool elaborate that out of 20 participant pool.16 respondent has chosen the alternative
of policy change in the survey, 2 participant has chosen the option of clarity of communication
and remaining 1-1 participant in the survey has gone with the option of Training to employee in
context of new thing and All of above alternative in study. This is well supported by author as
author explain that policy change in the organization will eventually help the company in bring
good sort of the understanding to different employee that age discrimination is impacting the
efficiency of performance of employee in long run .
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion
With the evaluation of the above study it is clear that the managing of the equality and
diversity is very essential for the company and its success. This is due to the fact that if equal
opportunities will not be present in the company then employees will not work in proper and
effective manner. From the above study it is essential that managing wage discrimination is very
essential as this has a great impact over working of company. Also, it was seen that for
Clarity or communication
Policy changes
Training to employee in context of new thing
All of Above
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
10
80
5 5
Column I

conducting the research the most essential thing is the framing of the aim and objectives as this
provides direction for the research to be conducted.
Also, it was seen that defining of the research methods in advance is very helpful for the
research as this guide the researcher that in which direction they have to conduct the study. From
the above study it was concluded that the management of age discrimination is very essential but
the major challenge faced by the company was the communication barrier. This was due to the
fact that old employees and young employees have difference in the thinking and perception
relating to things.
Recommendation
From the above study it is clear that the management of the age discrimination is very
essential as this will improve the working of the company. Thus, for this purpose some of the
suggestion or recommendation for improvement and betterment of the working environment of
the company are as follows-
The major strategy recommended for the reduction of age discrimination is the changes
within the policy of the companies. This is particularly because of the fact that if the company
will give some extra benefits to the older employees then the old people can go and remain at
home and their salary or some incentive or extra amount will be paid to the employees then they
will go to home.
Another major strategy is clear communication so that there is no confusion or any of the
problem relating to the role of old employee within the company. This is a major
recommendation because of the fact that when the employees know what work they have to do
then they will not create any issue or problem in working.
REFLECTION
Effectiveness of research methods
With the present study I learnt that managing equality and diversity and particularly age
discrimination is very essential for the companies. This is due to the fact that if the environment
or working ambiance is not good for the company then the people will not work in effective
manner. In addition to this I learnt that the use of qualitative research was very helpful as here
the researcher wanted to gain knowledge of the various impact which the company faces while
managing age discrimination. Also, I learnt that the inductive approach was more effective as

this assisted the researcher in making the aim and related objectives so the study can be directed
towards successful completion. Also, the primary and secondary source of data collection was
very much effective as this provided more of reliable and valid data which was helpful for the
successful completion of the research. In the end it can be states that all the aim and objectives of
the research was successfully attained with the listed research methods.
Alternative research methods
With the analysis of the above research methods and their effectiveness it is
recommended to the researcher that instead of using the qualitative research the researcher could
have used the quantitative research. This is majorly because of the reason that the qualitative
research includes analysis of facts and figures and other numeric data and this makes the
research more scientific and reasonable. Also, in addition to this instead of using the inductive
approach the researcher could have used the deductive approach as this is more suitable. This is
particularly because of the fact that this includes the forming of hypothesis and then testing it
whether it is correct or not.
In the same manner the more preference must be given to the secondary source of data as
this provides for the more reliable and valid sources and information helpful for the research.
The major reason underlying this fact is that the secondary sources of information is already used
in other researches and due to this it is more reliable. Also for the analysis of the data instead of
using the thematic analysis the researcher can also use the SPSS tool and other mathematical and
statistical tools as these are more suitable with the quantitative research.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Button, P., 2017. Seniors for Hire? Age Discrimination,‘Sex-Plus-Age’Discrimination, and the
Effectiveness of Age Discrimination Laws. Testimony before the US Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (June 14). Washington, DC.
De Groot, A.M. and Hagoort, P. eds., 2017. Research methods in psycholinguistics and the
neurobiology of language: A practical guide. John Wiley & Sons.
Horton, R., 2020. Escribano Vindel: Age Discrimination and Judicial Independence: By Rachel
Horton, Lecturer, Reading University, The United Kingdom. International Labor Rights
Case Law. 6(1). pp.70-74.
McLaughlin, J.S., 2019. Age Discrimination Laws, Physical Challenges, and Work
Accommodations for Older Adults. Generations. 43(3). pp.59-62.
Paraskevopoulou, A., Drydakis, N. and Sidiropoulou, K., 2019. Age, gender and race in the
workplace: discrimination in recruitment.
Peres, C.V., 2018. EU Case Law Developments on Age Discrimination. Market and Competition
Law Review. 2(2). pp.151-177.
Perron, R. and McCann, L., 2018. 50 Years after ADEA: Perspectives of Age Discrimination in
the Workplace. Innovation in Aging, 2(Suppl 1), p.319.
Riazi, A.M., 2016. The Routledge encyclopedia of research methods in applied linguistics.
Routledge.
Rychtaříková, J., 2019. Perception of population ageing and age discrimination across EU
countries. Population and Economics. 3. p.1.
Stokes, J.E. and Moorman, S.M., 2017. AGE DISCRIMINATION AND HEALTH: A
LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF MIDLIFE AND OLDER ADULTS IN THE UNITED
STATES. Innovation in Aging, 1(Suppl 1), p.674.
Zhu, M., Sari, A. and Lee, M.M., 2018. A systematic review of research methods and topics of
the empirical MOOC literature (2014–2016). The Internet and Higher Education. 37.
pp.31-39.

APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name:
Age:
Contact Number:
Are you familiar with the concept of Age Discrimination?
• Yes
• No
In your thought what aspect of impact is brought by Age discrimination on employee?
• Mental impact
• Emotional impact
• Both of Above
In your thought is managing age discrimination in the organization used to help the company in
managing good work force?
• Yes
• No
In your what are the impact which is brought by Age discrimination on the performance of
employee?
• Negative impact on morale of employee
• Negative working environment
• Employee Turnover
• All of Above
Is Asda used to make take variety of the action to reduce the impact of Age discrimination in an
organization?
• Yes
• No
What are the challenges which is faced by the organization in managing Age discrimination?
• Employee resistance
• Communication barrier
• Managing working environment

• All of above
Is managing Age discrimination will impact the goodwill of the company in long run?
• Yes
• No
What is the best way through which impact of Age discrimination can be reduced at the
workplace?
• Clarity or communication
• Policy changes
• Training to employee in context of new thing