Analyzing Challenges of Equality and Diversity in the Workplace

This report examines the challenges related to equality and diversity faced by organizations, focusing on Marks and Spencer as a case study. It begins with an introduction to the concepts of equality and diversity, emphasizing their importance in human resource management and organizational success. The report outlines the aims, objectives, and research questions, followed by a comprehensive literature review. It delves into the issues and challenges associated with implementing equality and diversity policies, including resistance to change, increased costs, and potential disputes. The report also presents a project management plan, including cost analysis, scope definition, and time management strategies. Furthermore, it describes the research methodology, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The findings are then analyzed using suitable tools and techniques, culminating in recommendations for mitigating the identified challenges and improving organizational efficiency. The report concludes with a reflection on the research process and its implications.

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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 Cost breakdown structure- This approach is about breaking the elements by
considering a comparison of actual costs with the budget in order to combined them
with cost control system.
 Scope: This is regarded as the other aspect that involves exact scope of recent research in
terms of entities and real life. In relation to recent research, the scope of this particular
investigation is quite board in respect of Marks and Spencer and to whole multinational
companies that basically operate its activities into similar industry. At the end of this
investigation, researcher may able to obtain various opportunities at market that is
fulfilled through Marks and Spencer.
◦ Product scope- The scope is focused on equality and diversity at the workplace of
Marks & Spencer which is an effective measure for bringing motivation to the
employees for making them focused on attaining the goals and objectives in a timely
manner.
◦ Project deliverables- This research is being conducted for extracting the information
by using which effective strategies can be formulated for helping Marks & Spencer in
encouraging diversity and equality.
◦ Project boundaries- With the limited time for this research, therefore, some of the
components are not going to be included such as different opinions of consumers,
current strategies etc. which have been adopted to sustain in the industry.
◦ Justification- The main motive to carry this research is to find out the reasons for
problems due to equality and diversity in Marks & Spencer. Furthermore, to help the
organisation in developing strategies for managing such issues in an effective way so
that no related problems can be created in future.
 Time: This is regarded as the aspects vital aspect of project management plan as it is
needed to accomplish the overall investigation in efficacious way. This have been
examined that research time is decided through group members before initiating the
investigation so that whole work will be accomplished at stipulated time duration. In
respect of recent research, for completing it the overall time taken through investigator is
about 7 months. It will assists in obtaining optimistic outcomes at provided time period.
 Organisational structure: The researcher has opted for functions structure for effective
execution of this project. In the context of Marks & Spencer, this structure is going to
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help the organisation in formulating strategies which are effective in executing equality
and diversity in Marks & Spencer.
 Quality: This is also regarded as the crucial aspects as it is important for all to maintain
the quality of overall accumulated data in order to obtain optimistic results. All these
information is accumulated from several relevant source (Durlak, J. A. ed., 2015). This is
vital for investigator to keep whole data confidential so that any one can not able to get
that easily as well as no one get harmed through any types of results. To achieve the
quality and have control on the whole research, there are numerous techniques which can
be used by the researcher for attaining the same. Furthermore, there are control chart for
controlling the quality, flow chart etc. Control chart is about graphical representation
which can be used by researcher to ascertain the effectiveness of transformation occurred
during a particular span of time. The data are presented in an orderly manner according to
the time. Whereas, Flow chart includes diagrams which are used for depicting the
workflow of one specific project. In addition to this, there are number of steps are
included in this for making it easy to execute the whole project in the appropriate way. In
addition to this, quality control chart refers to chart to find out the fulfilment of the
expectations and quality of the sample by measuring it against the particular
specifications. If the expectations are met then nothing to be changed but if there is any
variance, then such gap can be used fulfilled by other specifications.
In the current scenario, quality control chart is considered which will assist the
investigator to achieved the highest quality standards without any delay from the time-frame
assigned for each topic. In the context of this file, to scan the challenges linked with equality and
diversity which are faced by organization while implementing the policies related to these at
workplace.
 Resources: The recent research is performed for the organisation Marks and Spencer
upon board topic that is equality and diversity that required several resources for
accomplishing the investigation. This includes few resources like funds, staff and many
others. So, the availability of whole these assists in performing their overall task in
efficacious and proper way.
 Risk: The one of the major risk that is related with this particular investigation is whole
data data that is accumulated through investigator is not relevant as well as impact the
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overall investigation. It will affects the whole organisational image and performance at
market area. Therefore, this is needed for investigators to perform overall research in
effective way.
 Communication: This is also regarded as the essential aspect of project management
plan as it is the procedures of conveying information as well as understanding form one
individuals to other. So, while performing the research in effective way this is crucial to
convey the information to their team members. In respect to recent investigation, this is
needed through investigator to utilise appropriate techniques so that essential data will be
delivered efficaciously. For instance, regular meetings, e-mails, mobile phones and so on.
With the assistance of it, investigator will be able to convey overall plan of action with its
group members in effectual way.
Communication Matrix-
Communication Purpose Medium Frequency Audience
Determining the
topic which is
related to the
main interest of
the research.
Proceeding with
the introduction
of the project.
In person Twice The members
who are involved
in the project
team.
Team meetings Overseeing the
status of the
project by
monitoring the
completion.
Face to face Once a day Project manager
and team
members.
P3 Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart
Work-breakdown structure- It is a tool which helps in breaking complex and large
projects into smaller sets in order to complete it within the deadline. It is advantageous to the
organisation as it helps in managing the work effectively by reducing difficulties and issues.
Since, it involves breaking the project into small chunks, each member of project team can
achieve their tasks and targets without any delay (Flick, 2015). It helps in reducing risks which
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are associated with the whole project and may have potential impact on the business. Therefore,
dividing the whole project in different divisions, it become beneficial for the team to work
effectively and attain the goals within the time frame.
Gantt chart- This tool is used for presenting activities in a graphical form along with
time scale which is given for the completion of tasks. The activities are reflected in a visual
presentation. This tool is used by the researcher for assigning the tasks to each and every
member working in the team as per their capacity and skills. It helps in executing the project in a
systematic manner for accomplishing goals and objectives (Galpin, 2014). It comprises of date
on which the project is going to start as well as date by which it has to be completed.
Furthermore, it also highlight the connection of different activities with the status of plan.
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TASK 2
P4. Small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods
Research methods are used in research for extracting information and data from variety
of sources which are authentic and reliable so that desired outcomes can be produced. There
should be effective results gained from extensive examination and investigation of available
data. It can be done with the help of research methods which have been categorised into two
categories such as quantitative and qualitative methods. These have been elaborated underneath:
Qualitative method- This method is used to have in-depth understanding of social
phenomena by asking questions from chosen respondents. It is done to find out underlying facts,
reasons, ideas etc. Which may be included in decision making. It include open ended
communication between the researcher and respondents (Glatthorn, A. A., and et. al., 2018).
Some of the methods of qualitative research have been evaluated below:
Interactive methods- This method is helpful in ascertaining important information which
can be developed as theory and procedures. These are used in designing, interpretation and
analysis of data along with its rationale.
Interview- In this technique, respondents are asked different types of questions based on
the main topic for which research is being conducted. The answers obtained from the individuals
are treated as data which are used to understand a specific idea.
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Interviewing as a method is useful in determining the logic and perception of different
groups of people so that these can be included in forming a better decision. On the contrary, it
can take considerable time which is a disadvantage as well as increased costs are involved.
Quantitative method- This method comprises of several tools and techniques developed
on mathematical calculations and equations. Such techniques are used for collecting, analysing
the data in order to obtain the results (Harland, 2014). Kinds of quantitative methods which can
be used in a research, are as follows:
Structured observation- This method allows researcher to extract data in such a manner
which does not involve the respondents directly. It is presented in an organised manner which
reduce all the hassles and issues.
Questionnaire survey- In this, number of questions are framed on the basis of the main
topic which can be asked to individuals so that authentic information can be gathered. It is one of
the easiest methods to be used in research.
Sample size- It refers to the selection of number of individual among the total population
which is about 30 respondents belonging to general public so that honest opinions and answers
can be gathered.
In this report, questionnaire is the tool used for obtaining data from the participants which
can be used for drawing useful conclusion. The main advantage of this method is that it is cost-
effective and sample size of population is large. Whereas, respondents may have biased thoughts
and opinions which may add difficulties in using this method.
Questionnaire
Q1. What does equality and diversity at workplace mean? Frequency
a) Equal opportunities 5
b) Accepting diverse beliefs 5
c) Both of these 20
Q2. Does implementation of policies related to diversity and equality give
rise to the challenges at workplace?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
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