Supporting Equality and Diversity at Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd: A Study

This research proposal and subsequent report delves into the critical aspects of equality and diversity within the workplace, specifically using Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd. as a case study. The research aims to enhance understanding of equality and diversity, identify the benefits of an inclusive environment, determine effective strategies for building a diverse workforce, and evaluate potential issues arising from workplace diversity. The research employs a comprehensive literature review, exploring the concepts of equality and diversity, their importance, and methods for establishment. The methodology includes the use of a research onion framework and interpretivism to analyze data. The report outlines the research objectives, questions, chosen methodologies, activities, and timelines. It also examines the challenges of managing a diverse workforce, and proposes recommendations for fostering an inclusive and equitable work environment. The study aims to provide actionable insights for Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd. and other organizations seeking to improve their diversity and inclusion practices.

Equality and Diversity
in the Workplace

Table of Contents
Research Proposal Form..................................................................................................................3
Research Ethics approval form......................................................................................................13
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................19
Research objectives:..................................................................................................................19
Research questions:...................................................................................................................19
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................19
DATA INTERPRETATION.........................................................................................................23
RESEARCH OUTCOME..............................................................................................................35
CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION..................................................................................36
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................37

Research Proposal Form
Student Name: ______________________ Student ID: ____________
Centre Name: _____________________
Tutor: ________________ Date: ___________________
Unit: ____________________
Proposed Title: ______________________________________________
Section One: Title, objective, responsibilities
Title or working title of the research project
Title: “To determine the behaviours that can help in supporting equality and diversity at
workplace”: A study on Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd.
Research objectives:
 To enhance knowledge related to the concept of equality and diversity at workplace.
 To ascertain the benefits of having inclusive and diverse workplace.
 To determine the strategies and initiatives which can be taken by an organisation to
build an inclusive and diverse workforce.
 To evaluate the issues which can occur from a diverse workforce.
Research questions:
 What does it actually mean by equality and diversity at workplace?
 What are the benefits of inclusiveness and diverseness in working environment?
 What are the strategies and initiatives which can help in creating an equal and diverse
working environment?

 What are the issues associated with diversity among workers in an organisation?
Section Two: Reasons for choosing this research project
Reasons for choosing the project:
The principle behind selecting this topic is that it can help in enhancing the knowledge of the
researcher regarding the importance of having an equal and diverse working environment. It
can also help Rowlinson Knitwear in developing such an environment at its workplace so that
the benefits related to such workforce can be gained. This topic can also help the researcher in
using their skills and knowledge regarding conducting an efficient research so that effective
results can be found.
Section Three: Literature sources searched
Literature review help in gaining a wide idea about the researched topic from the view points
of other authors or researchers so that the research objectives can be assessed based on the
previous study conducted by them. Use of books, journals, articles etc. can be done so that
assessment of the study can be done:
Concept of equality and diversity at workplace
As per the views of Louise, 2016, equality and diversity is a concept which is relevant to all
the businesses irrespective of their work, sizes, number of employees etc. Equality in
workplace means that all the workers are given equal and fair treatment so that they can get
access to all the opportunities which can help them in using their skills and talents in an
effective manner. Diversity on the other hand is related with having people belonging to
different caste, religion, sex, age etc. working together in an organisation so that its aims and
objectives can be achieved.
According to the views of Kelly, (2019), both equality and diversity in workplace help the
workers in efficiently working together so that the objectives of company can be achieved
along with enhancing the performance and productivity of organisation. Equality at workplace
help in enhancing the coordination and collaboration among workers as they are given equal
chances for growth and development which help in encouraging them so that they can work

together in a collaborative manner. Diversity among workers on the other hand is useful so
that a variety of work can be performed by workers having a variety of skills so that aims and
objectives of company can be achieved within budget and time stipulated. Equality among
workers also help in building their trust towards the company which also help in enhancing
their commitment towards their work so that the employee retention in company can be
increased. Thus the concept of equality and diversity must be implemented in all the
organisations which can help in increasing their productivity and profitability in market.
Importance of having an equal and diverse working environment
According to the views of Sophie, 2020, having a work culture where all the workers are
treated equally and fairly without discriminating them on the basis of their culture, religion,
caste, sex etc. can help the organisation in gaining a competitive advantage in market. Diverse
workforce can help the company in acquiring people having varied talents, skills and
experiences so that all the work can be effectively done. It also helps in enhancing creativity
and innovation as all the workers are given equal chance to give their views and opinions
related to a project. Equality also helps in improving the performance of employees as they
feel more confident and valued in the company.
According to the views of Ruth, (2017) there are numerous benefits which can be achieved
with the help of creating an equal and diverse environment in an organisation so that it can
gain a competitive advantage in market which can help it in increasing its profits and
sustainability in market. Through equal treatment of employees high value is given to them
which help in motivating them to use their skills in the most efficient manner which can help
in increasing the productivity of company. Through diversity among employees the
organisation can increase the efficiency in a variety of its work so that all the departments in
company can perform their functions in most efficient manner. Equal and fair treatment of
employees is important so that the brand image of company can be improved which can help
it in attracting talented employees towards company.
Ways through which equality and diverseness can be established
As per the views of Rullion, 2016, diversity and inclusion should be promoted in an
organisation as it can help the company in becoming more competitive in market and

enhancing the productivity of its workers. There are various ways through which such an
environment can be encouraged in company like improving the recruitment policies of
company so that no discrimination among candidates is done, including participative
leadership, increased employee engagement etc. These strategies can help in improving the
working environment so that all the workers can work together in an effective and efficient
manner so that they can coordinate and collaborate their work to achieve the objectives of
company.
As per the views of Lynne , (2019), it is the responsibility of employers to create a working
environment where workers having differences based on age, caste, sex, skills, experience etc.
is created along with ensuring equality among the. Effective implementation of Equality Act,
2010 can also be done in companies so that equal and fair treatment among employees can be
promoted. This can help the diverse workforce to effectively coordinate their work so that the
organisational objectives can be achieved on time along with increasing the number of
innovations in company. Diverseness in organisation can also be increased through increasing
the number of variety of work which can help in increasing the number of employees having
different skills and talents. Also through increasing group activities in company the variety of
workers can work together which can help in increasing collaboration among them so that
work can be completed on time and in the manner desired. All these initiatives and strategies
can help an organisation in enhancing the level of equality and diversity among employees.
Challenges of having diverse population at workplace
As per the views of Aoife, 2017, though having a diverse working environment help the
company in having varied talent in the company that can help in increasing innovation,
employee performance etc. so that a competitive advantage can be achieved in market. There
are also various challenges that are faced by the company like language barrier, having
problem in making decision that can be accepted by all, cultural clashes, resistance among
workers, formation of teams etc. that can affect the overall decision making of the
management. These challenges need to be addressed by the managers and leader so that
effective working environment can be created that can help in improving the overall
productivity of company. Participative culture should be adopted by the managers, group
activities should be improved, employee engagement should be encouraged, training and

development programmes etc. are the ways through which diversity challenge can be
efficiently dealt with.
As per the views of Sophia, (2020), it is important that the challenges due to diverseness
among employees are effectively dealt with so that they can work together even after having
differences in their thoughts, values and beliefs which can help in achieving common goals of
organisation. Also it is essential that an organisational culture is developed wherein the
differences among employees is respected and valued which can help in increasing the
effectiveness with which the employees can work together. Also these challenges should be
dealt with so that the number of conflicts among employees can be reduced and their
collaboration can be enhanced. Leaders and mangers of an organisation play an important role
in dealing with these conflicts in an efficient manner through increased participation and
efficient management of work among them. Further the challenge faced due to diversity is the
increased bias of managers and leaders towards some employees which can increase
dissatisfaction among other employees and can lead to increased misunderstanding among
them which can affect the overall performance of workers. The internal resistance of workers
can also increase due to diversity among them as the diversity among their ideas can increase
which can affect their ability of agreeing up on similar ideas which can thereby lead to
increased conflicts among them.
Articles
Louise .2016. Equal and diverse workplace [Online] Available through:
<https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/equality-diversity-benefits-workplace/>
Sophie .2020. Benefits of equality and diversity [Online] Available through:
<https://theundercoverrecruiter.com/benefits-diversity-workplace/>
Rullion .2016. Ways through which equality and diversity can be established [Online]
Available through:
<https://www.rullion.co.uk/employers/knowledge-hub/blog/diversity-and-
inclusion/how-to-encourage-diversity-and-inclusion-in-your-workplace/>
Aoife .2017. Challenges of diverse workers [Online] Available through:
<https://blog.jobbio.com/2017/02/14/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-having-a-
diverse-team/>
Kelly .2019. Equality and diversity in workplace [Online] Available through:
<https://work.chron.com/equality-diversity-workplace-18485.html>

Lynne .2019. Ways to promote equality and diversity in workplace [Online] Available
through: <https://www.skillcast.com/blog/7-tips-promote-equality-end-workplace-
discrimination>
Ruth .2017. Importance of equality and diversity [Online] Available through:
<https://bizfluent.com/info-8270685-equality-diversity-workplace.html>
Sophia .2020. Challenges due to diversity [Online] Available through:
<https://www.cultureamp.com/blog/diversity-in-the-workplace-benefits-and-
challenges/>
Section Four: Activities and timescales
Activities to be carried out during the research project:
Introduction
Aims and Objectives
Literature Review
Research Methodology
Submission of research proposal
Data collection
Data analysis
Conclusion and recommendation
Submission of final report
How long this will
take (in Weeks):
1
2
5
4
1
8
6
2
1
Milestone one: _________________
Target date (set by tutor): ____________________
Milestone two: _______________________
Target date (set by tutor): ______________________
Gantt Chart: It a horizontal bar chart that can be used by researcher so that all the activities

can be presented in front of the time that will be required to complete the activities so that
their relation with time and interrelation can be found.

Section Five: Research approach and methodologies
Research onion framework:
In order to efficiently conduct the research and collection of information related to the
research topic the use of research onion framework will be done so that all the methods can be
efficiently applied and research can take place in an appropriate direction. This framework can
also help in making the research easy for researcher as a particular direction can be decided of
conducting the research so that effective results can be drawn. In order to effectively conduct
the research use of research onion will be dine so that all the approaches can be effectively

applied which can help in enhancing the reliability and authenticity of research outcomes.
Research Philosophy: It is the belief regarding the sources from where data can be collected
and the way in which interpretation of data can be done. There are four types of research
philosophies like realism, positivism, pragmatism and interpretivism. In this research
interpretivism will be used so that the data which is gathered can be interpreted to draw
effective conclusions. Interpretivism help in integrating human interest into study which help
in making the interpretation of data more effective. Also this method is less time consuming
and cost effective which can help in improving the effectiveness with which results are
achieved. It also help in collecting and analysing the quantitative data within a limited period
of time so that highly efficient conclusions can be drawn.
Research approach: It is the approach which is adopted by researcher so that a hypothesis can
be proven by the way of data collection. There are two types of research approaches inductive
and deductive which can be used by researcher so as to conduct the research. In this research
deductive approach will be used by the researcher. This method help in explaining casual
relationships between concepts and variables which are collected so that their analysis can b
done which can help in improving the effectiveness of results.
Research strategy: It is related with the way or method in which the researcher intends to
carry out the research project i.e. what method of data collection will be used by the
researcher. The researcher will use systematic literature review method so as to form a
literature review which will help in gaining detailed information from the view points of other
authors. Survey will also be used by the researcher in the form of questionnaire which will
help in gaining information directly from the main source.
Choice of methods: There are two types of methods qualitative and quantitative that can be
used by researcher. In this research both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used so
that effective conclusions can be drawn by the researcher. Both these methods will help in
gaining a detailed information regarding the research topic so that its analysis can help in
gaining an overall effective results. This will also improve the quality of the research so that
the results can be practically applied by organisations in order to improve their efficiency.
Data collection and analysis: There are two sources of data collection primary and secondary.

Primary sources are survey, interview, questionnaire which will be used for collecting data
related to the topic so that it can be interpreted to draw effective results. Secondary sources are
books, journals etc. which will be used to do literature review related to the research topic so
that deep knowledge can be received regarding the topic. For the analysis of data frequency
distribution analysis will be used so that the collected data can be analysed. With the help of
this method the data collected can be interpreted based on the frequency charts so that the
effectiveness of results can be increased and high quality results can be achieved.
Comments and agreement from tutor
Comments (optional):
I confirm that the project is not work which has been or will be submitted for another
qualification and is appropriate.
Agreed: ________________ (name)_______________ Date ______________
Comments and agreement form project proposal checker( IV sampling)
Comments (Optional):
I confirm that the project is appropriate.
Agreed /Disagree: (Name of the IV) Date