Challenges of Equality and Diversity in the Workplace: Vodafone Report

This report analyzes the challenges of equality and diversity in the workplace, focusing on a case study of Vodafone. It begins with an introduction highlighting the importance of workplace equality and diversity in maintaining a productive environment. The report outlines the project's aims, objectives, and research questions, emphasizing the need to identify issues and propose solutions. Task 1 covers the project management plan, detailing the scope, quality, cost, risk, communication, schedule, and resource requirements. Task 2 discusses research methods, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, and data collection from primary and secondary sources. The report mentions a sample of 40 Vodafone employees for primary data collection. Task 3 includes the analysis of collected data and the formulation of recommendations. The project utilizes a work breakdown structure and Gantt chart for time management. The report concludes with a reflection on the values of undertaking the project and provides references to support its findings.

Managing a Successful
Business Project

Table of Contents
TITLE..............................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 : Aims and Objectives of the project.................................................................................3
P2 Prepare a project management plan..................................................................................4
P3 Work break down structure and Gantt chart for giving time-frames................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................9
P4 : Small-scale research to meet up the aims and objectives of the project.........................9
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
P5 : Analysis of data collected through appropriate tools and techniques...........................11
P6 : Recommendations on the basis of facts and findings.....................................................1
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................1
P7 : Reflection on the values of undertaking the project........................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................3
.........................................................................................................................................................7

TITLE
What issues and challenges may arise out of equality and diversity in the workplace and what
measures could be taken to resolve them?
INTRODUCTION
The workplace environment determines the quality in the performance of the employees
and their level of productivity. Equality in workplace is a crucial factor that motivates employees
and maintain peace and harmony in the organisation. But to deal with diversity that comes with
people as they may belongs to different culture, countries etc. is important as they put various
challenges in front of the organisation which can be cultural differences, accommodation and
acceptance issues, language and communication barriers, generation gap and many more. All
these need to be resolved so that the organisational objectives can be achieved by maintaining
the environment of the organisation. This research is conducted for Vodafone Group which is a
world's leading mobile communication providers. The research aims to analyse the issues and
challenges faced by them due to equality and diversity in the workplace. For the research the
qualitative and quantitative data will be used and thus on the basis of it the measures to resolve
the issues will be recommended to the organisation. This report includes aims and objectives to
be achieved, management plan for conducting the research, various methods used for data
collection.
TASK 1
P1 : Aims and Objectives of the project
Overview of the project : The research project is about the issues and the challenges that
are faced by the organisation due to diversity in the workplace and equality demanded by the
employees. It brings various challenges for the organisation which they have to resolve on time
to maintain the decorum of the organisational environment. Leadership, appraisal system of
performance plays a crucial role in managing workplace diversity and equality (Ashtiani and et.
al., 2017). This research will help Vodafone Group to analyse the issues, challenges and
measures to meet them also the extend to which it can influence the organisational culture.
Aims of the project : The aim of the project is to identify the measures to solve the
issues and various challenges that can arise before company due to workplace diversity and
equality. A study on Vodafone Group.

Objectives of the project : The objectives to be achieved from this research project are :
 To develop basic understanding about workplace diversity and equality.
 To determine various issues and challenges that can arise due to workplace equality and
diversity.
 To analyse the extend to which it can affect the organisational culture.
 To ascertain the measures that can be undertaken by the Vodafone to resolves the issues
of workplace diversity and equality.
Questions : The question for which this research project will provide answers are :
 What are the issues and challenges that can be faced by the organisation ?
 How these issues and challenges can impact the culture of the Vodafone ?
 Do the organisation have any policies and procedures to meet such issues and
challenges ?
 What are the strategies and policies that can be adopted by the Vodafone Group to
resolve the issues and challenges that they will face due equality and diversity in the
workplace ?
P2 Prepare a project management plan.
Project management plan is a representation of several phases that includes the
initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, controlling and at last closing the activities of project
in an effective and efficient manner. This is very important for ensuring the specific plan and
directions of project towards the accomplishment of strategic goals and objectives. It is a
accumulation of criterion that are based on the scope, quality, cost, risk, communication,
schedule as well as resources (Bell, Bryman and Harley,2018).
The measures of project management plan are described below within the context of
company as well as researcher.
Basis For organization For researchers
Scope Vodafone group have a broad scope of
project management plan to modified
the recruitment and selection process
for choosing the appropriate and
suitable candidates for the company.
From the investigators point of view
this plan has wide scope to acquiring
the knowledge about the recruitment
and selection procedures, methods as
well as source. Although, have clear

This will helps in improving the overall
performances as well as training and
development programs to make their
employees qualified and desired for
taking a competitive advantages
(Pieterse, 2019).
understanding related to the training
and development programs which
will helps in increasing the skills and
knowledge of their employees.
Quality This research helps in collecting the
reliable and measurable performance of
employees for achieving the
organization's effectiveness. This will
develops the firms human resource
practices to improve their employees
skills and abilities which effects the
company's performance.
Investigator take an advantage of this
research at a time of collecting detail
and clear informations that are based
on qualitative as well as quantitative
methods. Also, it will assist to use in
further investigation for the purpose
of improving in their research
quality.
Cost To adopting the research activities like
employees training programs,
investment in assets development,
changes implementing cost, expenses
related to resource requirements and
R&D activities cost etc. the company
has to bear £500.
To accomplish the research work an
investigator requires £6000 for
gathering accurate and relevant
informations as well as appoint a
research team for using various
sources of investigation (Patanakul,
2015).
Risk The company suffering from the high
risk if the implementation of plan does
not match with the expectations. It will
results in wastage of money, resource,
efforts and time. This impacts on
Vodafone group's future success and
growth (Cleden, 2017).
Investigators are responsible for
accurate data collection, researchers
risks are arises due to fails in the
gathering appropriate information
that are based on the selected sample
size while conducting the research
activity. It will results in more time,
efforts and money requirement.
Communication The Vodafone group conveys the The investigator communicates their

changes and their implementation of
HR practices to their team members by
using the channels like emails, SMS,
meetings etc. This helps in adopting
changes in an effective way and meet
the global needs of the customers.
activity progress to their clients by
using telephones and emails. This
will assists in knowing the actual
results of investigation.
Schedule The company will be taken 5 weeks to
implement the changes in their human
resource management practices.
Although, Vodafone group needs to
utilize the changes step by step in an
effective and efficient manner(Padgett,
2016).
Researchers needs 2.5 months for
completing the research activity by
using the work breakdown structure
for the purpose of decomposition
their work and complete the events
on time.
Resources For modifying in the human resource
practices for the purpose of fulfilling
international requirement of customers.
Vodafone group needs time, resource,
money etc. as well as they need to
advancement in their existing
technologies for taking a competitive
advantages.
The researcher requires to access on
internet for a full time to collect the
data's as well as they need time,
efforts and funds for collecting the
informations on time(Corbin, Strauss
and Strauss, 2015).
P3 Work break down structure and Gantt chart for giving time-frames.
Work break down structure considered as a “deliverable oriented hierarchical”
structure which helps in dividing the whole tasks into smaller manageable sections and executed
by the project team in an effective manner. This decomposition of work helps in facilitating the
proper cost estimation and have full control over the activities. It is beneficial for both
investigator and project managers as well. WBS assist researchers to ascertain the actual time of
starting and ending the activity schedule(Green and Thorogood, 2018). Although, helps project
managers to absolute the overall activities on time in an effective and cost-efficient manner.

Gantt chart is a bar chart which shows the task schedule as well as the duration of each
and every piece of work through the Microsoft Excel. This is very useful in project management
because it permits to track the actual status of a project activity and support the management for
task completion in an appropriate manner as well as on time. This will helps investigator to
collects the data and informations on time for the purpose of avoiding delays(Guerra-Santin and
Tweed, 2015). Moreover, assist project managers to examining the resource requirements for
completing project activities on time.

TASK 2
P4 : Small-scale research to meet up the aims and objectives of the project
Research is a systematic study done in respect of a particular concern or problem which
help to describe, explain, predict and control the issue for which research is conducted. It can be
done using various scientific research methods. Research methods are classifies as qualitative

and quantitative, that have well-defined properties and methods of collecting data (Hillson,
2017).
Qualitative method : In this research method, the data is collected from the participants
through open ended questions thus the responses they provide are non-numerical. It helps the
researcher to understand the what respondent thinks about and why they think so. Various
qualitative research methods that are used are one-to-one interviews with the respondent, focus
groups, case study research and many more (Ozturk and Tatli, 2016).
Quantitative method : Quantitative method deals with numeric data and that data which
can be measured in absolute numbers. In this research method the facts and figures are
considered to derive the results from the data collected. The answers provided to the questions
through this research method can be justified as they are based on measurable variables(Muller
and Turner, 2017).
Data collection is essential to carry out a research that can be gathered from two sources
such as primary and secondary source.
 Primary data sources : Primary data is first hand data which is directly from the
samples by the researchers. It is real time data which is as per the specific need of the
researcher. But the process of collecting primary data is long and expensive. Various
sources from where it can be collected are surveys, questionnaire, personal interviews
etc.
 Secondary data source : Secondary data is that data which is already been collected by
someone. It is refined by the researcher as their needs. The process of collecting
secondary data is short and economic. Various sources from where it can be collected are
government publications, books, journals etc.
Samples that are taken for the collecting the primary data are the employees of the organisation.
Out of a large workforce 40 employees were considered sample for the research which represents
the entire population(Kassen, 2018).
The questionnaire that is used to gather the primary data is given below :
Questionnaire
Quantitative Questions
Q1) Since how many years you have been working for Vodafone ?
 0-4 years

 5-8 years
 8-12 years
 More than 12 years
Q2) Are you satisfied with the facilities provided to you at the workplace ?
 Satisfied
 Dissatisfied
 Neutral
Q3) Does organisation treat all of their employees fair and equal ?
 Yes
 No
Q4) What according to you is workplace equality ?
 Equal pay
 Equal opportunities
 Men and Women are treated equal
 All of the above
Q5) Have you ever faced any issue in regards to organisational diversity ?
 Yes
 No
Q6) Is their any policy or procedures followed by the Vodafone to meet the workplace diversity
issue ?
 Yes
 No
 May be
Q7) Does diversity at the workplace contributes in improving profitability and productivity ?
 Yes
 No
Q8) What are the advantages of having diversity at the workplace ?
 Qualified persons from different backgrounds
 Create harmony
 Problem solving is easy
 All of the above

Qualitative Questions
Q9) According to you, how workplace diversity impact the organisation ?
 Conflict among employees and with management
 Affects workplace environment
 Discrimination in the workplace
 All of the above
Q10) According to you, what can be done by Vodafone to make new employees compatible
with their organisational culture ?
 Orientation programs
 On-boarding plans
 Both of these
 None of the above
Q11) Recommend some measures that can be taken by Vodafone to meet up with the issues and
challenges of workplace diversity and equality.............
TASK 3
P5 : Analysis of data collected through appropriate tools and techniques
Quantitative Questions
Theme 1 : Number of years of working with Vodafone
Q1) Since how many years you have been working for Vodafone ? Frequency
 0-4 years 7
 5-8 years 13
 8-12 years 9
 More than 12 years 11

7
13
9
11
0-4 years
5-8 years
8-12 years
More than 12 years
INTERPRETATION : Out of 40 employees who were taken into consideration for the research
maximum were those employees who are working for a longer period of time which is more than
4 years. This depicts that they have fair understanding of the policies and procedure of the
company. Also their opinion matters in decision making for the company and also for the
researcher as they can rely on their answers.
Theme 2 : Satisfaction from the facilities
Q2) Are you satisfied with the facilities provided to you at the workplace ? Frequency
 Satisfied 22
 Dissatisfied 7
 Neutral 11