Higher Nationals Project: Equality and Diversity's Impact at Tesco

This report examines the importance of equality and diversity in increasing employee productivity, using Tesco as a case study. It explores the concepts of equality and diversity, analyzes challenges faced by Tesco in implementing these practices, and identifies the strategies adopted to address related issues. The report includes aims, objectives, research questions, and a literature review to understand the concepts. It outlines a project management plan, including cost, scope, time, quality, communication, and risk assessments. A work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart are also provided to manage project timelines. The research methodology involves both qualitative and quantitative methods, including the use of questionnaires and data analysis techniques. The report concludes with recommendations and reflections on the findings, offering insights into how Tesco can further improve its equality and diversity practices to enhance employee productivity and create a more inclusive workplace.

Higher Nationals
Project Brief –
Unit Number and Title U
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Project Title St
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Learners
Declaration: I
certify that the
work submitted

Managing a successful
business project

Table of Contents
Higher Nationals .............................................................................................................................1
Project Brief –..................................................................................................................................1
TOPIC: “ To determine the importance of equality and diversity in increasing the productivity of
employees at workplace”. A case study on Tesco...........................................................................4
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
Aims & objectives of the research .......................................................................................4
Research objectives ...............................................................................................................4
Research question ..................................................................................................................5
Literature Review..................................................................................................................5
To know about the concept of equality and diversity at workplace. .....................................5
To analyse the challenges faced by Tesco while implementing equality & diversity practices
at workplace............................................................................................................................5
To determine the various strategies adopted by Tesco in dealing with the issues of equality
and diversity. .........................................................................................................................6
Project Management Plan.......................................................................................................6
..............................................................................................................................................10
Research Methods...............................................................................................................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................13
Data analysis and Interpretation .........................................................................................13
Recommendations..............................................................................................................18
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................18
Reflection............................................................................................................................18
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................20
APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................................21

TOPIC: “ To determine the importance of equality and diversity in increasing the
productivity of employees at workplace”. A case study on Tesco
INTRODUCTION
Equality is all about ensuring that employees get equal opportunity and is treated fairly at
workplace. On the other side, diversity is about taking consideration of difference among
individual and group of individual and developing a value that is positive on those differences
(Nachmias and Caven, 2018). Equality & diversity is an important factor as it assist an
organisation to achieve task within stipulated time period. It is significant for a company to
equally and fairly treat them with in the premises in order to retain them for longer time frame.
and put their efforts in achieving objectives and goals as well. In the present research, Tesco is
taken into consideration. The company was formulated in the year 1919 and its head office is
located in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. It is a multinational retailer that offer quality grocery
in market and it has more than 6,900 shops worldwide. The present research will involve
development of aims and objectives associated with Equality and Diversity. Along with this,
Gantt chart, project management plan and work breakdown structure is cover in the report. In
addition to this, both primary and secondary data is taken in order to gain better understanding
about the specific topic.
Aims & objectives of the research
Research aim: “To determine the importance of equality and diversity in increasing the
productivity of employees at workplace”.
Research objectives
 To know about the concept of equality and diversity at workplace.

 To analyse the challenges faced by Tesco while implementing equality and diversity
practices at workplace.
 To determine the various strategies adopted by Tesco in dealing with the issues of
equality and diversity.
Research question
 What is the concept of equality and diversity at workplace ?
 What are the issues of equality and diversity faced by employees in Tesco?
 What are the various strategies adopted by Tesco in dealing with the issues of equality
and diversity?
Literature Review
To know about the concept of equality and diversity at workplace.
According to Mayhew, equality and diversity in the workplace is important for the
organizations because it helps in ensuring that the organization works in a highly smooth manner
without facing problems and issues (Artto, Ahola and Vartiainen, 2016). For this purpose, there
is a requirement of making use of appropriate techniques so that there is no problems faced while
maintaining it in the company. In Tesco, there are various employees who are of diverse race,
colour and religion. Maintaining diversity therefore is a challenge in front of the managers.
Similarly, equality has to be maintained in Tesco regardless of the other considerations.
Therefore according to the author there is a requirement to maintain equality in the gender pay
gap in the organization. In this way equality & diversity can be maintained within a company.
There are different challenges which are faced by the managers in maintaining them in the
organization. For dealing with such challenges, it is required to be ensure that the right approach
can be adopted for maintaining equality as well as diversity in the organization effectively and
efficiently.
To analyse the challenges faced by Tesco while implementing equality & diversity practices at
workplace
According to Reynolds, the organizations face several challenges while maintaining
equality and diversity in the workplace (Barker and Zupick, 2017). Therefore the managers need
to face them in the right manner so that they are able to attain the desired goals and objectives. In
a company there are diverse teams which are working and have different members present in

them. Therefore it is required from the managers of Tesco that they are able to face off the
challenges of colleagues from other cultures, integration across teams, misinterpretation of
professional communication, navigation of visa requirements, different understanding of
professional etiquette and conflicting working styles across the teams (Gibson and Fernandez,
2018). The author states that for the companies there needs to be a specified approach for dealing
with these challenges in a quite effective manner. Therefore In this way the firms will be able to
make sure that they are able to attain their distinct outcomes by maintaining the required equality
& diversity in the workplace. Thus there is a requirement from the organizations that they treat
every employee in a fair and equal manner which will ensure that equality & diversity is
maintained.
To determine the various strategies adopted by Tesco in dealing with the issues of equality and
diversity.
According to Leonard, different strategies can be adopted by the organizations for the
purpose of dealing with the issues related to diversity in the workplace. These strategies are
defining the issues, highlighting of personal uniqueness, development of policies,
communication of policies, holding people accountable and continuing to evolve. The use of
these strategies needs to be made by the management of Tesco so that they are able to maintain
the equality and diversity in the workplace. In this manner, they will be able to make sure that
the teams across various functions work in an efficient manner so as to attain the desired goals
and objectives easily without facing problems and issues. This will help in the attainment of
sustainable level of success.
Project Management Plan
A Project Management Plan is a document which is required by the managers to find out
the strategies and techniques which can be adopted particularly by them in order to achieve the
goals and objectives of the project and to make it successful (Focacci, 2017). As the management
of Tesco aims to promote equality and diversity in the workplace they are required to be quite
specific in the strategies they are going to adopt which will make their project highly successful.
The elements in the Project Management Plan of Tesco are as follows-
Cost- A particular cost is incurred by the organizations in the implementation of their projects
(Gama, Sjödin and Frishammar, 2017). For this purpose, the management is required to gather
the data from the various types of sources regarding the cost which is likely to be incurred. Tesco

will also incur the cost in its project of promotion of equality and diversity details of which are as
follows-
Scope- With the scope of project a project manager is able to determine what outcomes it will
achieve in the future time period. In Tesco, the project managers should be able to determine the
outcomes which may be achieved when the project to promote equality & diversity is launched
within the organization.
Time- In the context of projects, it is important that the time which is taken for the completion of
the projects is determined. For Tesco, it becomes highly necessary that it is able to determine the
time which will be taken by it for the completion of its project of promotion of equality and
diversity in the workplace (Syed and Ozbilgin, 2019).
Quality- It is essential to maintain good quality in the outcomes which the project is likely to
achieve (Johnson, 2019). For this the management is required to make the use of certain types of
techniques like KPIs, Benchmarking, Balanced Scorecard etc. In Tesco, there is a requirement of
doing so.
Communication- While ensuring the completion of the project, the project manager has to
communicate with several people who are involved in it. Therefore in Tesco there is a
requirement from the managers to be able to communicate in a correct manner.
Risk- There are several types of risks which are faced while ensuring the completion of a
project. In the context of Tesco, there is a requirement of identifying the risks which are
associated with the project of maintaining of equality and diversity at workplace. This has to be
mitigated.
Work Breakdown Structure- A WBS refers to project management in which the tasks in a
project are broken down into several smaller parts. Therefore the different types of tasks are
identified and the approach of giving the specified tasks to the person who can excel in their
completion needs to be adopted. This will help in the attainment of maximum efficiency and
effectiveness. Tesco needs to use a WBS for the promotion of equality and diversity at
workplace.
The work break down structure of the present research report will be mentioned as below:

Activities Deadline of completion
Identification of the issue 25/09/20
Selection of the topic 07/10/20
Formation of aims and
objectives
23/10/20
Research methodology 18/11/20
Data collection 04/12/20
Analysis of data 13/01/20
Reaching to further
recommendations and
conclusions
27/02/20
1.
(Marnewick, 2016).
Gantt Chart- The use of Gantt Chart is made by the companies so that they are able to
identify the schedule which should be adopted for facilitation of the completion of a particular
project (Marnewick, 2016). In Tesco there is a requirement that its managers make its use so that
they can identify the activities to be adopted for the implementation of equality and diversity at
workplace.

(Marnewick, 2016).

(Marnewick, 2016).
Research Methods
There are several methods which can be used by the companies for the purpose of
conducting their research. These methods are as follows-
Qualitative Methods- The use of these methods is made for the collection of data
through the use of methods which do not make use of numbers. The use of such methods is made
for the collection of data in the right manner. Techniques such as Interviews, Surveys,
Questionnaires, Focus Groups etc. should be used by the companies for this purpose. Tesco will
make use of Questionnaire Method for the purpose of the promotion of equality and diversity.
Quantitative Methods- The use of quantitative methods can be made by the
organizations for the purpose of analysis and interpretation (Dahanayake, 2018). For the firms it
is highly essential to make use of them so that they are able to express their findings in the terms
of numbers. The use of graphs, pie-charts and other statistical techniques is used commonly for
this purpose.
Through the use of these methods the following data can be gathered-
Primary Data- This is the data which is collected by the investigator. The information
which is collected using this data must be highly reliable and accurate so that it can be used
correctly and accurately by the investigators. This data is required to be gathered by Tesco for
promotion of equality and diversity.
Secondary Data- This refers to the data which is already available in the various books
as well as journals (Rekonen and Björklund, 2016). This data has been collected by the
researchers who have conducted their research. The use of this data can be made by the
investigators for the purpose of the identification of appropriate techniques to be used for the
completion of the research aims. Tesco's management needs to use this data also for promoting
equality and diversity.

Sampling: It is defined as a process of selecting the number of participants from the total
population in order to conduct research. In the present research, random sampling is adopted by
investigator and from which 20 respondents is selected who are the employees of Tesco.
Qualitative research:
Interview questions:
Q1) What are your views regarding
Equality and diversity practises at TESCO:
Respondent 1: According to view of first
respondent there was a positive response as
they believed that there is no discriminatory
practises on part of top management.
Respondent 2: According to second
respondent there was a response where they
said that there is need of more focus towards
development of policies as sometimes there are
no proper equality measures that are being
considered by the management of TESCO.
Q2) What are some measures that can be
taken by the top management related to
equality and diversity practises of TESCO
to enhance the satisfaction of their
workforce:
Respondent 1: According to view point of first
respondent there has to be develop of timely
decision making criteria where in some
decision there has to be equal participation of
employees working at different level sio that
there can be better sense of equality amongst
employees.
Respondent 2: According to this view TESCO
has to focus on there is need of proper
compensatory practises without any
discrimination based on employee background
that will lead to better satisfaction of
individuals where employees with similar pay
role and job position are provided with equal
pay scenario.

Through the preparation of questionnaires Tesco will be able to identify the different
issues and challenges which are present while introducing equality and diversity in the
workplaces.
Questionnaire:
Questionnaire
Q1.) Do you have an understanding about concept of equality and diversity? Frequency
a) Yes 15
b) No t 5
Q2.) As per your view point, what are the challenges faced by company at the
time executing equality & diversity practices?
Frequency
a) Difference in opinions of employees 5
b) Cultural barrier 5
c) Lack of unity 5
Q3.) Do you have knowledge about the importance of equality & diversity
at workplace?
Frequency
a) Yes 14
b) No 6
Q4 According to you, what are the main strategies can be adopted by Tesco in
dealing with issues of equality & diversity?
Frequency
a) Proving training & development session 7
b) Equal opportunity to men & women 8
c) Implementation of equality law 5
Q 5.) According to you, what is affect of executing equality & diversity
practices at Tesco?
Frequency
a) Positive impact 10
b) Negative impact 5