Equality and Diversity Impact on Gender Pay Gap: Sollatek Case

This report investigates the significance of equality and diversity in the workplace, specifically focusing on its role in mitigating the gender pay gap, using Sollatek as a case study. The research encompasses a project management plan, including aims, objectives, work breakdown structure, and a Gantt chart. The study employs both qualitative and quantitative research methods, including questionnaires administered to employees. The data analysis involves various tools and techniques to identify existing policies and strategies. The report provides recommendations based on the research findings and data analysis, exploring the benefits of incorporating equality and diversity. The report also includes a reflection on the value of undertaking the research, providing a comprehensive overview of the issue and potential solutions for Sollatek to address the gender pay gap and promote a more equitable workplace.

Managing a Successful
Business Project

Contents
Title: Role of Equality and Diversity within the workplace to reduce the impact of gender pay
gap. A case study on Sollatek..........................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
P1) Aims and objectives of the research......................................................................................4
P2) Project management plan for the research............................................................................5
P3) Work breakdown Structure and Gantt Chart.........................................................................7
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................10
P4) Small scale research with the help of qualitative and quantitative research.......................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................13
P5) Analysis of the data with the help of various tools and techniques....................................13
P6) Recommendations on the basis of the research and the data analysis..................................1
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................1
P7) Reflection on the values of undertaking the research...........................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1
Logbook...........................................................................................................................................2

Title: Role of Equality and Diversity within the workplace to reduce the impact of
gender pay gap. A case study on Sollatek.
INTRODUCTION
For the organisation it is important to manage the workplace environment in order to keep their
employees motivated. This can be done by way of treating the employees in the organisation
equal and fair. Due to globalisation the organisations are facing stiff competition and to manage
them they need to make their workforce competent. The workforce in the organisation is diverse
due to which the managers need to consider the concept of equality and diversity as with this
they can ensure that the issues such as gender pay gap, discrimination at different do not affect
the business operations. For this report a medium sized company Sollatek is taken into
consideration, which is manufacturer of various innovation products which are used for
controlling power, temperature etc. The company aims to maintain balanced workforce for which
they are conducting a research with the help of which various strategies can be identified and the
changes in the existing policies can also be analysed.
TASK 1
P1) Aims and objectives of the research
Overview of the Research: The research is undertaken for the Sollatek which is
manufacturer of innovative products that provides energy saving products. With the help of this
research they can determine the changes in the strategies and new strategies which they need to
formulate so that they can overcome with the issues related to the gender pay gap, gender and
promotion etc. For conducting the research the data will be collected with the help of various
sources and on the basis of which recommendations will be provided to the human resource
managers of the Sollatek (PMP, 2016).
Aim of the research: The aim of the research is “ to identify the role of equality and diversity in
reducing impact of gender pay gap issue within the organisation.” A case study on Sollatek.
Objectives of the research: The objectives of the research are:
 To analyse the role of equality act in managing the gender pay gap issue at the
workplace.

 To analyse the existing policies of the Sollatek for ensuring equality and diversity within
the organisation.
 To identify suitable policies, strategies and techniques that can help the organisation in
dealing with this issue.
 To examine various benefits of incorporating the concept of equality and diversity in the
organisation.
Questions: The questions which are to be answered on the basis of this research are:
 What role does the Equality Act plays in managing the equality and diversity within the
workplace?
 What are the existing policies that have been adopted by the organisation for equality and
diversity?
 What strategy can be adopted by the organisation to deal with the issue of gender pay gap
effectively?
 What are the benefits to the Sollatek of incorporating equality and diversity at
workplace?
P2) Project management plan for the research
Project management plan is a plan in which various phases of the project are defined and
with the help of which the activities of the project are guided and controlled (Quinlan, 2019).
The plan includes various components such as cost, quality, resources, communication etc. that
facilitates the researcher to plan for various aspects. Such as they determine the cost which they
will incur in undertaking the research. The objective of formulating the plan is that it helps the
investigator and the project team in analysing the scope of the project. A project plan answers to
various questions such as why the project is undertaken and the value propositions of the project,
what are the activities that are to be performed, who all need to be involved in undertaking the
project and their responsibilities, lastly the timeline in which the project can be completed
(Nicholas and Steyn, 2017).
A project management plan for undertaking the research includes the discussion of
various components of plan.
 Cost: For undertaking a research an investigator need to identify the cost which they will
incur as with the help of this they can provide the quotations to the company. The
investigator has to gather a lot of information from various sources and for that they have

to procure the resources (Nardi, 2018). The researcher need to prepare budget for the
same in which they will include all the activities such as the cost of survey which they
will conduct, equipments that they have to purchase, stipend to be paid to the trainees
working under him etc. The total cost which the researcher will incur is 200£ and the
allocation of the total cost is given below:
Description Cost
Survey 50£
Equipment for the project 40£
Travel cost 35£
Management cost 75£
Total 200£
 Scope: This component of the project management plan defines the boundaries of the
projects. It defines the cause of undertaking the project. Further it also defines, develops,
monitor and control how the project needs to be undertaken by the researcher. The scope
statement of the project describes the major deliverables to the client, assumptions which
are taken by them. The scope of this research is that the organisation Sollatek can
efficiently meet up with the issue of the gender pay gap. While the knowledge and
understanding of the investigator regarding the topic will improve and with this they
undertake research efficiently in future (Myers, 2019).
 Time: Time component of the project management plan helps to define the duration
within which the project will be completed. In this component the time is allocated to
different activities by the researcher with the help of work breakdown structure and Gantt
chart. For this research, two months time will be taken by them as they have to gather
data about the existing policies and then have to suggest them one. With the help of this
component scheduling of the activity is also possible which enables the investigator to
allocate responsibilities among all (Li and Lu, 2017).
 Quality: With the help of this component, the quality of the data and information which
is to be gathered by the researcher is determined. The researcher identifies various tools,
techniques, methods with the help of which they collect the data. For this research, the

investigator will collect data from primary and secondary sources (Hillson, 2017). The
method will includes the questionnaire, books, journals etc.
 Communication: An effective communication plan need to be prepared by the
researcher so that they can effective communicate with their team and the project team of
the company. While establishing the plan they need to identify various sources with
which they can communicate such as through emails, video conferencing, preparing
reports of the research etc. In this research the investigator can communicate with the
manager by way of emails, sending them the reports etc. and with their team they can
communicate by conducting face to face meeting (Gambles, 2017).
 Risk: This components is associated with determining the risk which is related to the
project. Such risk can be technical risk, conceptual risk or internal and external risk. For
this research the investigator may face the technical risk as the data has to be collected
and analysed with the help of various methods. They need to determine the ways of
dealing with them effectively and for this they have to appoint the trainees who can do so
(Gatsi, 2016).
 Resources: For the researcher it is important to gather various resources so that they can
effectively undertake the research. Such resources could be laptops, books, rights to
access to some source, phones etc. which will be distributed among the team members by
the investigator so that they can communicate effectively (Flick, 2018).
P3) Work breakdown Structure and Gantt Chart
Work breakdown structure is a techniques with the help of which the project can be
divided into small manageable sections so that they can allocated to different people. This
facilitates the completion of the project on time as the activities are identified, estimated,
scheduled and budgeted (Susmanschi and Ruse, 2018). In this research also the investigator has
prepared the WBS which will help them in performing different activities simultaneously as the
activities are already classified and grouped.

Gantt chart is a chart that is being used for scheduling the activities of the project. The
activities which are to be performed are taken on the vertical axis while the times in which they
have to be completed are taken on the horizontal axis. The investigator has prepared this chart as
with this they define the starting and the end date of the project. Also this helps in determining
the status of the activity ( Smith, 2019).

TASK 2
P4) Small scale research with the help of qualitative and quantitative research
Research is systematic study on any issue which has been faced by the organisation and
for this the necessary data and information is being gathered by the investigators (Englund and
Graham, 2019). The data which has to be gathered can be collected by way of primary and
secondary sources.
Primary data are those in which the data is collected for the first time by the researcher.
The data so collected is first hand data which is collected for the specific study. The analysis on
the basis of such data is most reliable (Basu, 2017). Such data are collected with the help of
interviews, surveys, experiments etc.
Secondary data is that data which has already been collected by someone for their
research but it can be used by adjusting the data. In this the data is analysed and interpreted as
per the research, also it includes generalisation of the data and its evaluation (Curran, 2017).
The data can be collected by way of different methods which includes the quantitative
method and qualitative method.
Quantitative methods of research are those methods in which the data is expressed in
graphs, charts and in numbers (Wied, 2020). For conducting this research generally more
respondents are required and the questions are generally multiple choice question. It can be done
surveys, content analysis, observations etc.

Qualitative methods of research are that in which the data is expressed in words. With
the help of this the thoughts, insights can be understood. The questions which are asked in this
are open ended questions by way of various methods such as interviews, case studies etc. (Beins,
2017).
For this research the data is gathered from questionnaire in which 40responsents are taken from
the organisation. All the respondents are the employees of the company.
Questionnaire
Q1) How long you have been working in the organisation?
a) 0-5 years
b) 5-10 years
c) 10-15 years
d) More than 15 years
Q2) Do you know about role of Equality Act within an organisation?
a) Yes
b) No
Q3) According to you what does equality in the organisation means?
a) Equal pay and opportunities
b) No discrimination on the basis of race, gender
c) Respecting all irrespective of their designation
d) All the above
Q4) Do you think that your organisation is facing the issue of gender pay gap?
a) Yes
b) No
Q5) Have you ever faced any issue related to the equality and diversity within the
organisation?
a) Yes
b) No
Q6) Are you aware of any policy or strategy that is being followed by the organisation for
equality and diversity?
a) Yes
b) No

Q7) What are the impact of gender pay gap on the organisation?
a) Demotivated employees
b) Conflicts among employees
c) Affects the workplace culture
Q8) What can be the reasons for the issue of gender pay gap?
a) More man in senior roles
b) Women choose low paid roles
c) Caring responsibility and part time roles are shared unequally
Q9) Which strategy can be adopted by the Sollatek for dealing with the issue of gender
pay gap?
a) Making workplace culture inclusive
b) Educating the company Leadership
c) Building diverse teams
Q10) What are the benefits of incorporating the equality and diversity at the workplace?
a) Better decision making
b) Increased creativity and innovation
c) Reduces the chances of conflicts
Q11) Recommend the ways with which the Sollatek can make their employees comfortable
and treated equal and fair.....
TASK 3
P5) Analysis of the data with the help of various tools and techniques
Theme 1: Years of working
Q1) How long you have been working in the organisation? Frequency
a) 0-5 years 8
b) 5-10 years 12
c) 10-15 years 9
d) More than 15 years 11

Interpretation: It shall be observed from that above graph that employees working from the
time period of zero to five years are eight, the other persons working between five to fifteen
years are twelve. The people employed during ten to fifteen years are nine and the people
working for more that fifteen years are eleven. All this is explained in the graph mentioned
above and gives an appropriate answer of the frequency given as per the division made. This will
be helpful in determining the percentage or number of people who are working from different
time periods.
Theme 2: Role of Equality Act
Q2) Do you know about role of Equality Act within an organisation? Frequency
a) Yes 28
b) No 12

Interpretation: From the above mentioned graph, it can be easily understood that out of total
selected 40 respondent, it was determined that 28 of them had the knowledge regarding Equality
Act and what is its main role within the organisation. On the other side, the remaining respondent
i.e.,12 are not good at understanding Equality Act which is not letting them to understand about
the role of Equality Act within the association.
Theme 3: Equality in the organisation means
Q3) According to you what does equality in the organisation means? Frequency
a) Equal pay and opportunities 5
b) No discrimination on the basis of race, gender 6
c) Respecting all irrespective of their designation 6
d) All the above 23

Interpretation: From the above sated graph it can be understood that out of forty respondent of
the organization, it can be make out that five of them are aware of the equal pay and
opportunities given to them. Six says there should be no discrimination on the basis of race and
gender, six are in favour of respecting all, twenty three are agreeing with all the above given
options.
Theme 4: Organisation is facing the issue of gender pay gap
Q4) Do you think that your organisation is facing the issue of gender
pay gap?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 20

Interpretation: In the above mentioned graph it can be seen that out of forty people who are
working in an organization twenty of them are saying that they are facing issues related to gender
and the rest twenty are not facing problem related to gender pay. This is presented in graphical
form above.
Theme 5: Issue faced related to the equality and diversity within the organisation
Q5) Have you ever faced any issue related to the equality and diversity
within the organisation?
Frequency
a) Yes 10
b) No 30

Interpretation: In the above graph it can be observed that out of forty respondent present in the
organisation. Ten people are facing problems related to equality and diversity. Rest thirty people
are not facing problems related to equality and diversity, so it can be seen that maximum people
are not facing any problem related to it and the rest ten percent should also become active to
solve the problem.
Theme 6: Awareness of existing policy or strategy
Q6) Are you aware of any policy or strategy that is being followed by
the organisation for equality and diversity?
Frequency
a) Yes 27
b) No 13
Interpretation: the given graph explains about the percentage of the person who knows about
the policy related to equality and diversity. Forty people only 13 are not aware about the policies
that are being run by the company and 27 respondents are aware of this. It can be observed that
minimum people does not which means that the company should take certain measures to make
people aware about its policies of equality and diversity.
Theme 7: Impact of gender pay gap on the organisation
Q7) What are the impact of gender pay gap on the organisation? Frequency
a) Demotivated employees 12
b) Conflicts among employees 14

c) Affects the workplace culture 14
Interpretation: In the stated graph it can be seen that three categories are mention that defines
about the impact of gender pay gap. The first category says that twelve people are felling
demotivated because of this and fourteen are having conflicts among themselves. Fourteen feels
that it is impacting the culture and environment at workplace. These are to be taken seriously by
the company in order to maintain their employee quality.
Theme 8: Reasons for the issue of gender pay gap
Q8) What can be the reasons for the issue of gender pay gap? Frequency
a) More man in senior roles 15
b) Women choose low paid roles 15
c) Caring responsibility and part time roles are shared unequally 10

Interpretation: Graph explains about the category of people out of forty who has given their
view on reasons of gender pay gap it is as follows. Fifteen said that there is more man in senior
roles and fifteen experienced chose of low pay of women. Rest ten has said that the caring part
time and shared roles are unequal. This has to be taken care by the company in order to maintain
a healthy work environment.
Theme 9: Strategy can be adopted by the Sollatek
Q9) Which strategy can be adopted by the Sollatek for dealing with the
issue of gender pay gap?
Frequency
a) Making workplace culture inclusive 12
b) Educating the company Leadership 17
c) Building diverse teams 11

Interpretation: The graph explains about the strategy that can be adopted by the Sollatek for
dealing with issue of gender pay gap. In this out of forty people twelve says that it is making
workplace culture inclusive and seventeen are saying that it is educating the leadership of the
company. Eleven says that it’s building diverse teams.
Theme 10: Benefits of Incorporating equality and diversity
Q10) What are the benefits of incorporating the equality and diversity
at the workplace?
Frequency
a) Better decision making 15
b) Increased creativity and innovation 11
c) Reduces the chances of conflicts 14

Interpretation: The above graph has explained that out of forty people fifteen thinks that there
better decision making and eleven says that there is increase in creativity and innovation in the
company. Fourteen says that it has reduced the chance of conflicts this is related to benefits of
incorporating equality and diversity.
P6) Recommendations on the basis of the research and the data analysis
On the basis of the research the data is being collected and analysed on the basis of which
various recommendations are provided so that Sollatek can efficiently manage the issue of
gender pay gap by incorporating equality and diversity. The recommendations are:
 The management of the company must provide training to employees such as various
soft skills development trainings, mandatory trainings etc. so that they can develop
understanding among the employees which will reduce the chances of conflicts among
them.
 All the compliances related to the pay in the equality act must be considered such as the
data of pay to the female and male employees must be disclosed so that the government
can regulate their actions and the employees can also easily be satisfied.
 The paternity leave for the employees must be allowed so that the responsibility for
caring of the child is distributed among both the parents. This will motivate the
employees to work efficiently and will help the company in meeting up with the issue.
 Mentoring programs must be organised so that the female employees can be made
comfortable for all type of jobs and the responsibilities. Also the workplace
environment must be made such in which they can accommodate themselves easily.
 The negotiation must be eliminated in which the women must not ask to behave like
men and the women must be given opportunity to express their opinion explicitly.
TASK 4
P7) Reflection on the values of undertaking the research
For undertaking this research I gathered information from various sources such as the
primary data was collected through questionnaire for which the responded were the employees of
the Sollatek. On the basis of the analysis of the information and the responses I concluded that
the employees in the organisation has been facing the issues of gender pay gap but it can easily

be resolved by the managers with the help of various strategies recommended such as with the
help of various mentoring sessions the mentally of the employees can be broaden up. Further I
analysed that considering this issue will help the organisation in improving their overall
performance of the organisation. While undertaking this research I faced various issues such as
lack of communication skills. I had to communicate with the project managers of the company
which has to be formal. For that I had to take various sessions in which I managed to learn
preparation of the reports, writing formal mails etc. In addition to this another problem which I
faced is that of dealing and managing the team as I appointed trainees for the first time. But with
the help of various leadership skills and guidance of the mentors I could manage the team
effectively and get this research done on time by allocating them the responsibilities as per their
capabilities. Gathering the data is one of the crucial and difficult task as the outcome of the
research are dependent upon such data. This research helped me in developing the understanding
of the concept of equality and diversity within the organisation and the ways with which various
issues can be resolved. Also it will facilitate me undertaking various researches in future as I
could easily interpreted the data and the information.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Basu, R., 2017. Managing quality in projects. Routledge.
Beins, B.C., 2017. Research method: A tool for life. Cambridge University Press.
Curran, N., 2017. Commercial breakdown. Construction Journal. p.12.
Englund, R. and Graham, R.J., 2019. Creating an environment for successful projects. Berrett-
Koehler Publishers.
Flick, U., 2018. Designing qualitative research. Sage.
Gambles, I., 2017. Making the business case: Proposals that succeed for projects that work.
Routledge.
Gatsi, J.G., 2016. Introduction to quantitative methods in business. Xlibris Corporation.
Hillson, D., 2017. Managing risk in projects. Routledge.
Li, D. and Lu, M., 2017. Automated generation of work breakdown structure and project
network model for earthworks project planning: a flow network-based optimization
approach. Journal of construction engineering and management. 143(1). p.04016086.
Myers, M.D., 2019. Qualitative research in business and management. Sage Publications
Limited.
Nardi, P.M., 2018. Doing survey research: A guide to quantitative methods. Routledge.
Nicholas, J.M. and Steyn, H., 2017. Project management for engineering, business and
technology. Routledge.
PMP, R.L.K., 2016. Managing Projects in Trouble: Achieving Turnaround and Success.
Auerbach Publications.
Quinlan, C., and et.al., 2019. Business research methods. South Western Cengage.
Radović-Marković, M. and Alecchi, B.A., 2016. Qualitative Methods in Economics. Routledge.
Smith, M., 2019. Research methods in accounting. SAGE Publications Limited.
Susmanschi, G. and Ruse, E., 2018. Planning Internal Audit Activities Using The Gantt
Chart. Management Strategies Journal. 42(4). pp.132-139.
Tang, A.K., Lai, K.H. and Cheng, T.C.E., 2016. A multi-research-method approach to studying
environmental sustainability in retail operations. International Journal of Production
Economics. 171. pp.394-404.
Wied, M. And et. Al,, 2020. Managing exploratory projects: A repertoire of approaches and their
shared underpinnings. International Journal of Project Management. 38(2). pp.75-84.
1

Logbook
Week No. Date
Identified
Update on weekly research (including new ideas or change in project
direction)
1
09-01-2020
The introduction of the company was prepared in which the history of the
organisation is identified and the reasons with which they are underrating this
research are analysed. In addition to this the activities which are to be
undertaken were determined briefly.
2
12-01-2020
The aims and objectives of the research were determined in the next week as
on the basis of such aims and objectives the research can be carried out. With
this help of such aims and objectives only the questions are identified which are
to be answered at the end of the research.
3 12-01-2020 to
23-01-2020
Later on in this week the project management plan was prepared in which
various components were determined and planned such as the resources that
were required to prepare a plan were identified, the time limit in which it has to
be completed was determined.
4 23-01-2020 to
08-02-2020
In this week the research methods were identified with the help of which the
data is to be collected. Also the sources were identified from where it can be
taken. Along with this, in this week the responses were gathered from the
employees of the Sollatek by conducting a visit to the office of the company.
5 08-02-2020 to
04-03-2020
In this entire time period data was collected from various primary and secondary
sources. All the secondary sources from where the data is to be taken are
authentic and reliable as this will make the research authentic.
6 04-03-2020 to
12-03-2020
Once the data was collected, it was analysed with the help of various graphs.
On the basis of such graphs and frequencies interpretations were made for the
responses of the employees.
7 12-03-2020 to
20-03-2020
As per the interpretations the extend of the issue and its impact on overall
organisational performance was analysed and on the basis of such
interpretation various recommendations were made to the company.
8 20-03-2020 to
23-03-2020
A reflection was prepared in which I shared my experience regarding the
research such the problems which i faced while undertaking the research, i
benefits it will have in future etc.
9 23-03-2020 to
28-03-2020
Further such findings were provided to the project manager so that they can
implement it in their organisation. The recommendations so made are also
communicated by making the final report deliverable.
2