Developing and Implementing Diversity Policy Report

This report delves into the development and implementation of a diversity policy, focusing on the legal framework and practical strategies for fostering diversity in the workplace. It begins by outlining the legal requirements, including key legislation such as the Sex Discrimination Act of 1984, the Public Service Act of 1999, the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992, the Privacy Act of 1988, and the Fair Work Act of 2009, which shape the diversity policy. The report then examines the principles of equity and diversity, emphasizing fairness and a diverse work environment. It explores the objectives of a diversity program, such as increasing innovation and preventing harassment and discrimination. The report further provides a diversity checklist that includes steps like identifying diverse human power, conducting diversity audits, creating a vision for diversity, and developing training programs. It also emphasizes reviewing organizational practices, creating action plans, and implementing mentoring schemes. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive guide to developing and implementing effective diversity policies within an organization.

1
Developing and implementing a diversity policy
Student’s name
Name of the university
Authors note

2
Task 1: legislation
Introduction
Organizational work environment policy (workplace diversity policy) was implemented
to enhance, promote and at the same time support diversity at the work place within an
organization. This policy is applicable to an organization’s staff members and other stake
holders. It major purpose is to clearly highlight out the key requirements regarding the
management of diversity at the work place.
Diversity is the practice by an organization to employ individuals having a variety of
differences. These may be in terms of tribal backgrounds, age, and gender and so on. Regarding
the legal requirements of equal employment opportunity and anti discrimination, organizations
are required to create discrimination free workplace environments. Employers are therefore
required under the duty to know their rights and duties. This specifically involves observing
human rights together with the anti discrimination laws. Observing and enhancing such laws
comes with benefits such as increase in efficiency and productivity.
Legislation
The workplace diversity policy is evidently provided for under clause 65 of the
agreement of 2012-2014. This agreement specifies the acceptable work conditions and this was
carried out in line with the Public Service Act of 1999, the 1988 Privacy Act, and the Fair Work
Act of 2009. Among other legal codes of practice includes the disability Discrimination act of
1992 and the sex discrimination Act of 1984.
Legislative principles of equity and diversity in an organization

3
According to the (Australian commission of safety and equality, 2014), principles such
fairness, equity and a diverse workplace environment should be enhanced. For instance, it would
be unethical to discriminate persons with disabilities provide that such people can effectively
perform their responsibilities.
Objectives of the program
The general goal of the policy is to promote diverse working environments among
organizations with in Australia. Additionally, the policy is aimed at providing further education
and at the same time prevent king of harassment, discrimination at the work place. Some of the
objectives of the equity and diversity program such as increasing innovation.
Description of the selected codes of practice
The sex discrimination act of 1984
Under the Australian law, it is highly unlawful for an organization to discriminate against
individuals depending on the sex, marital status, pregnancy or possibility of being pregnant.
Additionally it is also an illegal act to lay off a person especially a woman due to family duties.
Sexual harassment is also another offense that is against diversity policy. Since people of
different categories can be subjected to such discriminations, it is upon each and every person to
know their rights while at the work place. Different Australian states have several laws
regarding sex discrimination. For example the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1991 in Queensland,
the 1995 Equal Opportunity Act of Victoria and The New South Wales Anti- Discrimination Act
of 1997.

4
The public service act of 1999
This particular act provides for acceptable working conditions that organizations should
follow and uphold. This act mainly focuses on cases involving breach of breach of code of
conduct between the employer and or an employee (Law Council of Australia, 2019). The
breach of these requirements under this law calls for punishments such as suspensions from
work, sanctions and so many others. Therefore, this law under the organizational working
environment significantly contributes towards the development of the diversity policy
(Australian Government, 2015). This would be possibly done through practices to such as
maintaining clear employee to employer working conditions. Since each of the parties fully
understands their roles, it becomes difficult to violate the terms of working within the
organization.
The disability DISCRIMINATION ACT OF 1992
Discrimination refers to a case where an individual is not equally treated as others within
the same environment. In the Australian community this type f unlawful behavior can be
manifested in areas of public life such as employment, education, and access to public places
among others. This particular was enacted to act as a protective strategy for the disabled
individuals within the country. This law is operational under a variety of standards and these
may include access to transport facilities, education and other premises among others.

5
The Privacy act of 1988
This particular Act deals with privacy and this is provided for under section 14 of the act.
It stipulates the rights to privacy ranging from information privacy and so on. These guidelines
of the law are applicable to all government agencies private sector organizations and other
entities within the country. According to this law, an individual has the right to know why
personal is collected and only the relevant information needs to be obtained. It is such guidelines
that require the need for the thirteen Australian privacy principles of such as collection, use,
disclosure and so on (CPA Australia, 2018). The failure to observe such guidelines would imply
a breach of the legal procedures. Therefore, for the purpose of upholding such a law, an
organization should ensure privacy of all the collected information concerning its workers.
The fair work act of 2009
This act is among the major common wealth laws that govern the employment of all
workers within the country. Under this law the terms and conditions of work place together with
the responsibilities and duties of workers are specified. According to this law, workers and
employees have the right to request for flexible working conditions, rewards, notices regarding
termination of contracts and so many others (SHRM India Content Team, 2017). By providing
for such provisions, the law is applicable to all workers irrespective of their sex, age or ethnicity
and background. Such a law therefore provides for conducive working environments and at the
same time controls tendencies of exploitation of workers. Al the above laws are some of the
possible Australian national legal practices that are applicable to the development of the diversity
policy.

6
Task 2: Observation checklist
Diversity in the business and the organizational environment is increasingly becoming
very vital and important. In various countries for example, organizations are continuously
turning towards activities such as diversity audits so as to fully comply with the law. On the
other hand however, diversity within an organization requires more than just gaining access to
the available opportunities that an organization can have access to (Australian Government,
2012). One can fully claim that having a diversified organization comes with several benefits
resulting from having employees with differing backgrounds. Among other benefits that can be
obtained from diversity includes the increased staff retention possibilities, improved customer
satisfaction, possibility of new and innovative idea and concepts among others (Australian
Government, 2019).
The management of diversity includes a variety of steps and stages and it is through such
steps that dynamic work forces are created. It therefore goes further than just complying with
the law to create equal opportunities for all individuals. Processes aimed at identifying
individual differences and capabilities are continuously undertaken. All such activities are
primarily aimed at making use of such individual traits and this is done through what is known as
an organ9sational checklist. A checklist can be referred to as a tool or method that can be used in
determining the operational capacity of an organization against its structural and other processes
of obtaining effective governance. When carrying out a checklist, several steps are involved
within the process and these include the following a explained below:

7
Identifying the available diverse human power
When assessing the ability of an organization and to promote the diversity, a wide range
of individuals must be present. This therefore calls for the presence of people and workers with
different backgrounds, ethnicity, and age and so on. This is an important factor because it
provides management with a variety to select from. However, it is also imperative to note that
top level managers are very vital in the process. This is due t the fact that it is such top level
managers that make diversity a reality and strategic priority of the organization (Australian
Government, 2015).
Secondly, diversity audits have to be undertaken within the checklist.
Carrying out an effective and efficient diversity program, mangers are required to have a
clear understanding of the levels of diversity within the organization or entity. An understanding
of the different ways through which such levels of diversity can affect the organization is as well
another vital requirement (O’mara, and Richter, 2017). Whereas factors such as ethnic origins
and gender can be easily noticed, other characteristics involving religion may not be so obvious.
Therefore, this calls for activities such as planning and conducting diversity audits within the
organization. Assessments involving both the qualitative and quantitative procedures need to be
carried out to obtain reliable information. This involves interviewing all the employees within
an organization so as to generate reliable diversity levels of the entity (Barrington, 2014). Tools
that can be used here may include questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews and so
many others.

8
Creating a vision for diversity
Having a vision while conducting a checklist is important in such a way that it creates a
streamlined focus for the entire process. A streamlined aim and objective implies that managers
will stay focused on the core guiding goals and purposes for the diversity programs. However,
this vision should be in relation to the organizational mission and the general organizational
vision. Areas of diversity that will be covered must be identified whereas target objectives will
be important towards obtaining major focus. Some of the most common objectives may include
increasing the proportion of women in the workplace environment say by 50% (Martz, 2009).
Consideration diversity Training
Though the training budgets may be too tight, the training of diversity can be observed
that workers are up-to-date on the prevailing thinking about diversity and that they are able to
alter such thinking into the actions practically. For instance, such training may help managers in
coordinating the flexible working more effective. It is just paramount for the managers in
particular to get this kind of training as they make decisions about diversity on a day today basis.
It is evident that training is likely the kind of raising the awareness (Söderlund & Lenfle, 2011).
This therefore they may help the people in becoming aware of and to reconsider some of the
assumptions in order to make ingrained behavior and their customs. Furthermore, the aim of
these programs should lay various differences to be celebrated rather than just complying with
the legal frameworks.
Reviewing Organizational practices, policies and procedures

9
Systematic checking through procedures and policies especially those that are related to
the retention and recruitment as well as considering the effects being put on the diversity issues.
For instance, it is argued that the development of unpaid internships more so in some industries
have led to shortage of diversity in form of new recruits. It is evident that, only those who can be
able to stay unwaged are likely to be undertaken the unpaid positions for a stipulated time period
(Söderlund & Lenfle, 2011). Therefore, people from backgrounds that are poor are not able to
acquire experience which is required to get a paid position.
Create a practical action-plan
Having created the vision that contains the goals and objectives for diversity, then there is
need to think on how these can be raised in experimental terms. The action plan on how these
goals and objectives will be achieved is then developed (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). There is a
requirement of defining the ‘finer details’ of the project, providing specific changes in the plan
that are to be brought about (Ankita, 2014). Strength the secessions to come up with new ideas
for action, and later compile an implementation plan that coordinates all activities and creates a
timetable for implementation. Before the program begins, what is to be monitored and measured
and make sure that the collected data encloses the plan.
Create a mentoring scheme
Another method that companies use to go through and achieve their target of
management is mentoring (Ankita, 2014).. Mentoring is a kind of employee development where
one person who is presentable, having more knowledge on an activity known as a mentor
provides guidance, support and encouragement to another person known as the mentee.
Mentoring can be given to any flexible and eligible person not considering gender or age. The

10
decision whether the mentoring needs an internal or external person depends on the management
team (Henkel & Bourdeau, 2018).
Monitoring the review
The diversity of the organization will have to change mainly in case the measures taken
are effective. Therefore it is advertised not to let the diversity vision and action stay constant.
Therefore, regular diversity audit is encouraged.
Examples of periodic progress
The periodic review in management follows different steps in order to yield the targeted
goals as stipulated. In the diversity research or any other management related field, below are
questions always to be asked.
What; it is evident that a template for about 1-2-page report which summarizes the
project’s progress. The format used is ‘what we did last season’, ‘what to be done in next season’
and the issues worked on currently (Kang et al, 2012). In this context, the report is always
formatted in order to allow CEO or stakeholders as well as team members in order to assess
quickly status and the progress of the project (Engwall, 2012).
Why; several communications of the status and the issues of the project is the
fundamental part of the effective risk management in the project. In addition, the ‘what we did’
and ‘what are we going to do’ questions help in establishing the rhythm of the team in order to

11
maintain apprised management for the progress and get in touch with slip indications (Kang et al,
2012). Such issues help in exposing the areas of the project risks very early, this therefore helps
to focus on the mitigation of such issues. Also, this provides the possible communication for the
need of helping out the immediate team for the project to continue progressing.
How; in the process of communication planning, the project’s members and the
stakeholders for the purpose of deciding on the initial period for a stipulated progress of the
project in time of project front-end. This can be weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly, who to
receive it as well as the changes in the retrieval of information in the report template (Crawford
& Pollack, 2010). In the process of deciding on the appropriate definition Green, Yellow and
Red status of summary indicators. For instance, Green can term the business or the project that is
on the right track to hit the targets, and that there are minor issues. Yellow can imply early
warning of the likely risk to both schedule or required goals. Whereas, Red can term than several
issues have placed the project’s success in sorry state. Most significant is that when all these
definitions are adjusted, the success factors and goals are achieved (Crawford & Pollack, 2010).
Furthermore, the project manager or CEO can create and send such report at the
stipulated frequency to the receivers. In addition, the status reports are supposed to be sent even
before the execution stage of the project by updating the stakeholders and the entire team during
the initial stages of the project acts as the effective knowledge and in risk reduction.
Therefore, it is useful to be periodically updating the stakeholders and the entire team
through execution stage at the current (Engwall, 2013). Besides, for the reason of achieving
intense project activity, it is advisable even to change the frequencies of reports that is from bi-
weekly to weekly reports. In addition, in case when the project is going on smoothly, therefore,

12
there should be correlation that is visible between a single report’s ’Upcoming tasks in a period’
as well as next report’s ‘major accomplishments for the previous period’. It is evident that the
description of tasks should alter their actions from verb to past tense (Söderlund & Lenfle, 2011).
Also, in case there is week correlation between what its intended to be done for each week and
what is accomplished, this implies that the project is in serious dangers of inadequate resources
and unclear requirements.
Example 1
Summary Periodic Progression Report
To: [Distribution list]
From: [Project Manager]
Subject: Summary Progress Report for xxx project
Date: mm/dd/yy
Sample Progress report
Project
Name:
Report