Emerging Themes, Technology, and Innovation Case Study Report

This report critically analyzes emerging themes related to diversity and inclusion in the workplace, drawing insights from a CIPD case study. It explores the slow progress despite equality legislation, highlighting the importance of top-down management commitment. The report examines diversity outcomes, implications for professionals, inequality factors, and drivers for inclusion, including political, technological, demographic, social, and economic forces. It emphasizes the need for diversity and inclusion to be embedded as a cultural value driven by leadership, fostering better decision-making, innovation, and employer branding. Recommendations focus on strategic leadership roles and cultural changes to nurture diversity and inclusion.

Running Head: Emerging themes, technology and Innovation
Case Study
Emerging themes technology and Innovation
Report

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Table of Content
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Finding and Analysis of the Case study..................................................................................................3
Findings of the Case Study.................................................................................................................3
Diversity outcomes............................................................................................................................3
Implication of Diversity for the Professional People at Workplace....................................................4
Inequality Factors at Work................................................................................................................4
Factors in Favour of Diversity and Inclusion at the workplace...........................................................4
Future of Diversity and Inclusion at the Workplace...............................................................................5
Focus area for diversity and inclusion at the workplace........................................................................5
Political Environment.........................................................................................................................5
Technological Environment...............................................................................................................6
Demographic Environment................................................................................................................6
Social Trends & Shifts........................................................................................................................6
Industry Globalization........................................................................................................................6
Global Economic Issues.....................................................................................................................7
Recommendation..................................................................................................................................7
Strategic role of the Leadership.........................................................................................................7
Change in Culture..............................................................................................................................7
References.............................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Inclusion at work can be understood as the best practice which ensures that every person in the
organization is given equal opportunity, equal treatment, and justice and is treated with utmost
respect. A level of compassion has to be shown towards the knowledge, work, perspective and
approach of the employee as a way to bring inclusion at the workplace. A lot of discussion has been
going around the topic of inclusion at the workplace and efforts have been taken in the direction of
equality legislation and recognition for diversity at workplace (CIPD, 2018). However, not a lot of
success has been achieved in this area. Inequality in the workplace can be seen in many areas such
as Pay gap, gender gap, lack of senior role model in females, less flexible working hours and plethora
of other factors. Despite numerous reports, articles and discussion on the benefits of diversity and
inclusion at workplace, there is a significant scope of improvement in business organization (CIPD,
2018).
The underlying purpose or the idea of the report here is to comprehend the emerging themes in
relation to inclusion and diversity at the workplace. A major part of the report will focus on the
critical analysis of the evolving trends in the business management which will be of use in providing
robust strategic business solution to the organization. Towards the end a set of recommendation will
be provided to the management and leadership to harbour and nurture the diversity and inclusion at
workplace. The discussion will revolve around various forces such as environmental, social,
technological, legal, political and global issues. Thus, the report will help in identifying the emerging
themes related to inclusion and diversity at workplace with a thorough understanding of its benefits
in the organization.

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Finding and Analysis of the Case study
CIPD is a professional body of HR and the people development. This not for profit organization
creates champions at work and has been setting benchmark for excellence of people and
organizational development for over 100 years. This section here will focus on the key finding and
analysis about diversity and inclusion at the workplace.
Findings of the Case Study
The report by CIPD highlights the problem which the UK has been fighting for quite some time, the
problem of diversity and inclusion at the workplace. Despite innumerable efforts of the government
in the form of government legislation the improvement can be seen as excessively slow. There is still
a significant scope of improvement in the current practices to allow for better diversity and inclusion
at the workplace. It has been mentioned in the case study that the efforts in the organization has to
be top down, that is the management has to put pressure on bringing better practices of inclusion at
workplace, only then the situation in the organization will be on a upward trajectory(Nishi, 2013).
The moral case of diversity and inclusion at workplace states that it is the right of every employee to
receive equal treatment, equal opportunities to learn, grow and develop, and giving them a sense of
dignity in the work environment. The case reflects that diversity and inclusion at workplace leads to
numerous benefits for the organization in the form of fast decision making, better and more
productive ideas and a high sense of ownership towards the work and the workplace (Joshi & Roh,
2009).

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Diversity outcomes
Diversity in the organization has to be seen from the holistic point of view as different aspects of
diversity and several outcomes in the organization. For example, it has been mentioned that the
tenure of the team can be seen as a factor of efficiency from the point of view of the organization,
whereas cultural diversity can be seen as a strong factor towards creativity.
 It has been cited that impact of diversity on the performance of the employees is boiled
down due to multiple aspects of organizational context.
 One major aspect demonstrated in the case study is that UK is the land of many diversities,
therefore the organization can benefit immensely from allowing diversity and inclusion at
the workplace in the country. According to Parker, the recent emphasis on gender diversity
has been of some use; however, not a lot of benefits were passed to the women belonging
to the minorities of other colour (Parker, 2016).
Implication of Diversity for the Professional People at Workplace
 An important finding of the case study suggests that an individual has to focus on the type of
industry, as a male dominated industry will have more males than females. Thus, all the
males will be provided with the same rights (Barak, 2016).
 Diversity in the workplace is a qualifying criterion for enhanced employer brand,
contribution to the society and corporate benefits, at the same time giving numerous
benefits to the employees in the organization.
 The team leader of the group has to ensure that his focus is towards all the members of the
group, as this way he will be in a position to give equal attention to all the team members
while ensuring equality as the order of the day. In other case, the group synergy will not
yield in better team outcome, thus it is advised that the team leader gives equal focus and
attention to all the team members.
Inequality Factors at Work
 Inequality in the workplace occurs during the time of performance evaluation and
assessment of the employees. Managers tend to favour one group over the other, as they
are of the opinion that diverse group are not cohesive in nature, thus not beneficial for the
organization.

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 Prejudice and biasedness are still the main reasons for inequality at the workplace which
results in high turnover and demotivation for the employees.
 There are inequality issues in the organization pertaining to the roles of women in the
position of leadership, and the role and position of disabled candidates.
 The bias towards an employee starts right from the time of his recruitment, he is been asked
to join the organization at a very short notice, and clear biasedness is shown towards the
employee while introducing him to various employees in the organization (Page, 2017).
Factors in Favour of Diversity and Inclusion at the workplace
 The government has taken a lot of initiative to improve the condition of diversity and
inclusion in the workplace. It has also facilitated aide towards the disabled candidates, but as
most of the employers are unaware of the aide packages, they fail to take advantage of the
same.
 Training and acceptance towards diversity and inclusion at workplace will help in developing
a better and accepting environment towards diversity issues.
 It has been also pointed that training does not provide with a long term solution approach
towards tackling the issue of diversity, however it is still useful in the short run. For longer
run, diversity in the workplace as a cultural value has to be transpired in the business
organization (Hwang & Hopkins, 2015).
Future of Diversity and Inclusion at the Workplace
Diversity and inclusion at workplace are the important topics of discussion at various industry
forums meetings and in governmental proceedings. It is advised that inclusion of work and diversity
as to be thought of from a wider angle, and to be seen as the step towards uplifting and improving
the condition of the people in society, community and the country(Ryan & Wessel, 2015).
The report speaks in volume that diversity and inclusion at work has to be culminated as a culture in
the business organization, this culture has to be driven by the leadership. It has been mentioned that
leadership has to engage with the workforce while translation diversity at the culture in business
organization.
With times changing rapidly, leadership is becoming open and aware of the benefits of workforce
diversity. They have come to understand that diversity and inclusion at work will help in better idea

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creation, better and faster decision making and increasing the brand recognition of the employer in
the industry.
Focus area for diversity and inclusion at the workplace
Political Environment
Globalization and Internet has been the major drivers for diversity at workplace in the present
business organization. This has been ably met with the political climate of the world, which has
become more and more accepting towards the immigrants. The world has openness and allows for
the people to look for opportunities in other parts of the world. This is definitely a positive and
encouraging sign for the people who are looking to work in different parts of the world (Saxena,
2014).
Technological Environment
Technology has been one of the drivers of growth of globalization and a potential trend changer in
the practice of HR in business organization. Organization does not care about diversity, these days
the focus lies with capability of the employees to deliver the solution. Thus, in order to do so, the
employees who are well versed with technology are given an opportunity to be part of the
organization. Moreover, the use of social media in HR practice has been an important step in
increasing the practice of diversity and inclusion at the workplace (Kundu & Mor, 2017).
Demographic Environment
Demographics can be understood as the study of the population of a particular nation, it consist of
statistic on the population of the nation, culture, education, male female ratio and other factors.
Business organization these days are putting in efforts to encourage same level of male female ration
as is prevalent in the business organization. Thus, demographic is a strong factor towards
encouraging the organization to include diversity at its workplace (Guillaume et. al., 2017).
Social Trends & Shifts
Internet and social media are the biggest influencers in changing the social trends and shifting the
pattern of the society. The world has shrunk into a global organization due to the use of social media
in the workplace. Individuals have become more and more aware of their rights and understood the
idea behind inclusion at work and diversity. Thus, due to this increased awakening, the employees

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have a better understanding of the obstacles in the path of inclusion at work, thus they put in efforts
to tackle the obstacles effectively (Cullen et. al., 2018).
Industry Globalization
Industrial globalization is prevalent across all the industries and in different parts of the world.
Industries or companies are taking the advantage of globalization and reducing their cost of
employment by hiring domestic employees as akin to the employees from the host countries.
Additionally, they are looking to deploy economies of scale in their operation by focussing on the
diversity in the workforce (Boekhorst, 2015).
Global Economic Issues
The global economy might not be at an increasing slope, but it is most certainly doing better than
the last decade. This indicates that people have good purchasing power parity which is an indication
of their propensity to work outside their countries to earn a better living for themselves. People are
becoming more and more aware of what is good for them in the longer run and the same thing has
to be inculcated within the business organization. This will certainly give an impetus to the rising
trend of workforce diversity and inclusion at work (Jones, Woods & Guillame, 2016).
Recommendation
Strategic role of the Leadership
The leadership predominantly has the most important role to play here in the issue of diversity and
inclusion at work. For instance, if the leadership is convinced of the potential benefits reaped by
diversity and inclusion at work, they would encourage the managers and the HR to practice the same
in the workplace. Moreover, the employees or the managers will appreciate diversity if it is coming
right from the top. Thus, it is the leadership who have to set a culture in the place and appreciate
and encourage diversity and inclusion at the workplace (Hwang & Hopkins, 2015).
Change in Culture
Employees in the workplace are always resistant to change; they have the outright tendency of
showing resistance towards any change in the organization. It is a natural tendency to feel comfort
in one’s own surrounding, but this culture has to be changed in the organization to allow for
improvement in the idea creation, innovation and creativity. Most definitely, once the culture in the

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organisation changes, the employee would become more welcoming to people of other diversities
and would encourage them to work and excel in their professional journey (Ozturk & Tatli, 2016).
References
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage Publications.
Boekhorst, J.A., 2015. The role of authentic leadership in fostering workplace inclusion: A social
information processing perspective. Human Resource Management, 54(2), pp.241-264.
CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PERSONNEL AND DEVELOPMENT. (2017) Creating and capturing value at
work: who benefits? Part 1 [online]. London: CIPD. Available at: www.
cipd.co.uk/knowledge/work/job-quality-value-creation/value-work-report [Accessed 22 July 2018].
Cravens, K.S., Oliver, E.G., Oishi, S. and Stewart, J.S., 2015. Workplace culture mediates performance
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Accounting Research, 27(2), pp.1-34.
Cullen, K.L., Irvin, E., Collie, A., Clay, F., Gensby, U., Jennings, P., Hogg-Johnson, S., Kristman, V.,
Laberge, M., McKenzie, D. and Newnam, S., 2018. 550 Workplace-and system-based interventions
on return-to-work and recovery for musculoskeletal and mental health conditions: a systematic
review.
Guillaume, Y.R., Dawson, J.F., Otaye Ebede, L., Woods, S.A. and West, M.A., 2017. Harnessing‐
demographic differences in organizations: What moderates the effects of workplace
diversity?. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(2), pp.276-303.

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Hwang, J. and Hopkins, K.M., 2015. A structural equation model of the effects of diversity
characteristics and inclusion on organizational outcomes in the child welfare workforce. Children and
Youth Services Review, 50, pp.44-52.
Hwang, J. and Hopkins, K.M., 2015. A structural equation model of the effects of diversity
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