Diversity Management in NHS: Project Proposal and Literature Review

This project proposal delves into the critical area of diversity management within the National Health Service (NHS). It aims to analyze the role of diversity and management in the NHS, investigate the impact of NHS policies on diversity and inclusion, and evaluate the overall impact of diversity management. The proposal includes a comprehensive literature review, discussing relevant NHS policies, diversity management strategies, and the benefits of a diverse workforce. The methodology outlines the use of secondary research, focusing on data collection procedures and analytical techniques. The expected outcomes highlight the importance of cultural diversity, leadership, and the implementation of effective guidelines to improve the NHS environment. The project emphasizes how diversity enhances the organization's productivity, fosters innovation, and improves patient care.

Running head: DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The primary aim of the research is to discuss the diversity management and the
impact of the policy on Diversity and Inclusion.
Aims and Objectives
National Health Service or the NHS is a health service center that provides treatment
for every citizen in the UK when they are injured or sick and helps them to improve
themselves. It is usually funded by the government from the taxes that are paid by UK
citizens (Alderwick and Ham 2017). They operate in different parts of the country and focus
on illness like cancer, mental health, emergency care as well as primary care. They provide
the best as well as sustainable use of the finite resources. The organisation is responsible to
people, patients as well as the community (Ham, Berwick and Dixon 2016). Therefore it is
essential to investigate on the above matter so that the importance of diversity in management
can be realized. There are certain aims as well as objectives that the research is going to
focus. Some of the aims undertaken in the research regarding NHS are as follows-
(i) To analyse the role of Diversity and Management in NHS.
(ii) To investigate the impact of NHS policy on diversity.
Some of the objectives that the research will focus on are as follows
(i) Critically investigate the concept of Diversity and Management.
(ii) What is the importance of Diversity and Management in NHS?
(iii) How the policies of NHS has had an impact on the concept of Diversity as well as
Inclusion?
(iv) To evaluate the impact of Diversity and Management in NHS.

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Literature Review
Considering Diversity and inclusion as the independent variable on the NHS policy as
dependent variable the following literature review is being conducted.
NHS Policies
Equality, diversity as well as inclusion has always been an essential criteria for NHS.
Researchers argue that being around a diverse workforce will enable the employees to deliver
efficiently and provide an inclusive service as well as improve the care of the patient. NHS
recognises the importance of having an organisation that believes in diversity which will
indirectly reflect the community that the organisation serves. When there is diversity within
the organisation then it will enable the latter to meet their objectives (Ryan et al., 2017). By
doing this the organisation will be able to deliver inclusive, accessible as well as quality care
to the patients. They are against all forms of discrimination within their organisationand
believes in working towards the efficiency of the employers to increase their productivity.
There are many policies that are adopted by NHS such as- diversity and equality policy,
learning and development policy, organizational change policy, health and safety policy,
claims handling policy and others (Rosser et al., 2017).
Diversity in Management
Diversity management is referred to organisational actions that primarily aims to
promote more inclusion of employees that come from different backgrounds and become a
part of organizational structure. However, the corporate structure may differ for different
organizations (Cho, Kim and Mor 2017). Diversity management is also a process of creating
as well as maintaining a positive working environment where the organisation values the
similarities as well as differences of their employees so that everyone can achieve their
potential and contribute to the productivity of the organisation as a whole. Diversity within

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management have now become an essential aspect of every organisation (Barak, 2016).
Therefore, organizations are now coming up with strategies regarding diversity management
so maintain a good working environment. Diversity within workplace have now become
possible due to advancements in technology which allow the companies to hire to hire as well
as manage employees coming from different places (Holck, Muhr and Villeseche 2016).
According to some authors organizations should have intranational diversity management
that aims to give employment opportunities to those who come from a minority group. This
type of diversity programs only includes recent immigrants or minority groups (Stamenkovic,
Njegovan and Vukadinovic 2018). While some argue that cross-national diversity
management should be followed where employees come from different countries. This type
of diversity management may also include the immigrants who are looking for employment.
The above workforce diversity also allows every employee irrespective of his/her caste,
culture, race and gender to bring new talents as well as skills to the organisation (Bodla et al.,
2018).
However earlier the diversity as well as concept of inclusion were not accepted by all
organizations as racial discrimination was at its peak. The leaders of earlier organisations
thought that equality as well as diversity acted as legal constraints. However, many
employees denied this argument and claimed that diversity management should be seen as a
competitive advantage (Byrd, 2018). Earlier people were also resistant towards change and
did not want to work with diverse people as they were proud of their racial superiority. Many
people also resisted against equity on wage that would be brought by diversity within the
management. The employers too earlier had many cognitive biases regarding individuals
working in the organisation (Byrd 2018).
However with time people’s views about diversity started changing and they realised
the benefits of diversity within the workplace. They realized that diversity would increase the

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overall productivity of the organisation, diverse people would bring in new innovations with
them, consumers would also connect immediately when diverse people are working in an
organisation. Organisations also realized that diversity within management would lead to
better-decision making. Diversity management has now become a key aspect to the growth of
every organisation (Bodla et al., 2018). Diversity should not only be maintained regarding
religion or ethnicity but it should also be maintained among gender that is between men as
well as women. Diversity in workplace has multiple benefits regarding personal
development. When diversity is maintained in the organisation then employees come up with
new ideas that would help the oorganisation to work efficiently. The overall perspective of
the organisation is reversed (Roberson, Ryan and Ragins 2017). People become more tolerant
towards others and helps the people of the organisation to communicate with others.
Diversity also leads to creativity as well as innovation within the workplace. Therefore, it is
essential for every organisation to maintain diversity within their workplace that will help the
organisation to retain themselves in the market (Roberson, Ryan and Ragins 2017). It further
brings cultural sensitivity as well as proper insight into the matter of the organisation.
Methodology
However, recently when a research was conducted it was found that the NHS
organisation respects values as well as differences in treating different individuals and coping
with different employees who come from different cultural background. NHS recognizes the
importance of equal opportunity among all concerning equal rights in responding the specific
needs of the people. The policy of diversity has also aimed at eliminating discrimination as
well as victimization under the ACT (McGuire et al., 2016). This policy as stated by the
organisation applies to all employees whether permanent or temporary. When an interview
was conducted among the employees of the NHS it was found that the new diversity program
replaces the previous legislation of equality and ensures a type of consistency in what is

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expected from the employers to make the environment of the workplace fair as well as just
(McGuire et al., 2016). To further maintain equality as well as diversity it was noted in one of
the documents that the organisation has also given attention to training as well as
development to maintain equality within the organisation. Through the research the gap
between diversity in workplace as well as local population and Trust leadership became quite
evident (Powell 2016).
Expected Outcome
After writing the paper it was found that NHS cultural divergence as well as beliefs
and assumptions were just a norm. Doctors, nurses as well as managers are of different views
regarding their balance between the individual patients as well as new corporate approaches.
Earlier treating with cultural diversity among patients were a challenge (Iacobucci 2019).
However, recently when a research was conducted it was found that the NHS organisation
respects values as well as differences in treating different individuals and coping with
different employees who come from different cultural background. NHS recognizes the
importance of equal opportunity among all concerning equal rights in responding the specific
needs of the people. The policy of diversity has also aimed at eliminating discrimination as
well as victimization under the ACT (McGuire et al., 2016). This policy as stated by the
organisation applies to all employees whether permanent or temporary. The new diversity
program replaces the previous legislation of equality and ensures a type of consistency in
what is expected from the employers to make the environment of the workplace fair as well
as just (McGuire et al., 2016). To further maintain equality as well as diversity it was noted in
one of the documents that the organisation has also given attention to training as well as
development to maintain equality within the organisation. Through the research the gap
between diversity in workplace as well as local population and Trust leadership became quite
evident (Powell 2016).

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Through the findings of the research it was concluded that NHS needs to accept a
radical change in its culture as well as leadership style. It was found that even after the
Commission for Racial Equality popularly known as CRE had published efficient guidelines
for the employers however, the NHS organisation is still unable to implement it (Anandaciua,
Ward and Randhawa 2018). Studies found that there is a lack of commitment of the senior
managers towards equality issues. The organisation can improve themselves by providing
services regarding quality prevention that would target better promotions of public health
(Hyde and Exworthy 2016). However, the NHS organisation realize the importance of
workforce diversity that would build trust as well as feelings of harmony among the
employers. This will further help the organisation to understand the local community as well
as the aid that they will provide to the patients to reach an outstanding patient care
(Anandaciua, Ward and Randhawa 2018). Furthermore, the organisation also believes that by
creating a cultural diversity among colleagues, patients as well as employers will help the
organisation to build an atmosphere of respect as well as diversity.
Therefore the project will help to understand the importance of diversity within a
workplace especially in NHS and how diversity helps the organisation to run smoothly.

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References
Alderwick, H. and Ham, C., 2017. Sustainability and transformation plans for the NHS in
England: what do they say and what happens next?. Bmj, 356, p.j1541.
Anandaciua, S., Ward, D. and Randhawa, M., 2018. Leadership in today's NHS. Delivering
the impossible. London: The Kings Fund and NHS Providers.
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage
Publications.
Bodla, A.A., Tang, N., Jiang, W. and Tian, L., 2018. Diversity and creativity in cross-
national teams: The role of team knowledge sharing and inclusive climate. Journal of
Management & Organization, 24(5), pp.711-729.
Byrd, M.Y., 2018. Spirituality and diversity in the workforce. In Diversity in the
Workforce (pp. 173-189). Routledge.
Cho, S., Kim, A. and Mor Barak, M.E., 2017. Does diversity matter? Exploring workforce
diversity, diversity management, and organizational performance in social enterprises. Asian
Social Work and Policy Review, 11(3), pp.193-204.
Ham, C., Berwick, D. and Dixon, J., 2016. Improving quality in the English NHS. London:
The King's Fund.
Holck, L., Muhr, S.L. and Villeseche, F., 2016. Identity, diversity and diversity management:
On theoretical connections, assumptions and implications for practice. Equality, Diversity
and Inclusion: An International Journal, 35(1), pp.48-64.
Hyde, P. and Exworthy, M., 2016. Setting the workers free? Managers in the (once again)
reformed NHS. Dismantling the NHS, pp.257-278.
Iacobucci, G., 2019. Diversity: Boards of NHS national bodies fail to reflect BME workforce.

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McGuire, C., Rankin, J., Matthews, L., Cerinus, M. and Zaveri, S., 2016. Improving the
quality of the NHS workforce through values and competency-based selection. Nursing
Management, 23(4), pp.26-33.
Powell, M., 2016. Leadership in the NHS.
Roberson, Q., Ryan, A.M. and Ragins, B.R., 2017. The evolution and future of diversity at
work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), p.483.
Rosser, E., Grey, R., Neal, D., Reeve, J., Smith, C., Valentine, J. and Brookman, K., 2017.
The consultant practitioner: an evolving role to meet changing NHS needs. British Journal of
Nursing, 26(19), pp.1065-1069.
Ryan, D., Shaw, A., Graham, S. and Mason, W., 2017. Variation in CCG policies for the
treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. The Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons of
England, 99(1), pp.28-31.
Stamenkovic, S., Njegovan, B.R. and Vukadinovic, M.S., 2018. Intra-national
diversity. Cross Cultural & Strategic Management.

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