HRM and Inclusive Workplace in UK Retail: A Study on Marks & Spencer

This project proposal investigates the role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in creating an inclusive workplace environment, focusing on Marks and Spencer within the UK retail industry. It aims to define inclusive workplaces, identify HRM's specific roles in fostering such environments within Marks and Spencer, and explore the challenges faced and the strategies employed by HRM in this endeavor. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, utilizing both primary data collected through questionnaires from 20 managers at Marks and Spencer and secondary data from journals, articles, and other sources. The study adopts a positivism philosophy and a deductive approach, using a survey strategy and probability sampling to gather and analyze data. The proposed analysis emphasizes HRM's role in enhancing productivity, promoting employee engagement, and managing cultural diversity while addressing challenges like communication issues and discrimination to create a positive and inclusive work environment.

Research Proposal

Table of Contents
TASK 1: PROJECT PROPOSAL....................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................................5
PROPOSED METHODOLOGY............................................................................................7
PROPOSED ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................9
TASK 2a REFLECTION...............................................................................................................10
TASK 2b TIMESCALE AND RESOURCES...............................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

TASK 1: PROJECT PROPOSAL
INTRODUCTION
Background of the topic
Human resource management plays a crucial role within business as they identify the
right talent and hire suitable candidate for the vacant job position. There are various roles and
responsibilities played by human resource management within workplace such as managing
employees, hiring, selection, compensation, performance management, creating inclusive
environment and many others. Human resource management also focuses on creating inclusive
working environment so that they can boost the engagement level of staff towards the work
(Perry and Li, 2019). The inclusive working environment helps in improving the productivity
and performance of employees due to which they can contribute better results in achieving
target. Through creating inclusive working environment, employees feel valuable and also they
give their best performance in achieving the business goals and objectives (Edwards and et. al.,
2018). Thus, inclusive workplace is important for an organisation as it helps in creating sense of
belongings, improves leadership skills, enhances employee engagement and also increases
innovation. This research is based on identifying the role of human resource management in
creating inclusive workplace environment within UK retail industry.
About Company
The chosen organisation for this research is Marks and Spencer, it is a public limited
company that deals in different varieties of products including home product, food product,
clothing and many others. Marks and Spencer was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and
Thomas Spencer. The vision of Marks and Spencer is to be the standard against which others are
measured. Mission of company is to make aspirational quality accessible to its customers. Marks
and Spencer focuses on selling premium and high quality of products and services to its
customers in order to increase the profitability and growth of business. The core values which are
offered by Marks and Spencer are value, quality, innovation, service and trust. There are various
competitors of Marks and Spencer such as John Lewis Partnership, Tesco, Aldi, Next and many
others.
Research Aim

To examine the role of human resource management in creating inclusive workplace
within UK retail industry. A study on Marks and Spencer
Research Objectives
 To determine the concept of inclusive workplace within UK retail industry
 To identify the role of human resource management in creating inclusive workplace
within Marks and Spencer
 To discern the challenges faced by human resource management while creating inclusive
workplace environment within Marks and Spencer
 To examine the ways through which human resource management creates inclusive
workplace environment within Marks and Spencer
Research Questions
 What is the concept of inclusive workplace within UK retail industry?
 What is the role of human resource management in creating inclusive workplace within
Marks and Spencer?
 What are the challenges faced by human resource management while creating inclusive
workplace environment within Marks and Spencer?
 What are the ways through which human resource management creates inclusive
workplace environment within Marks and Spencer?

LITERATURE REVIEW
What is the concept of inclusive workplace within UK retail industry?
According to the Liao and Yang (2020), concept of inclusive workplace is wider as it
helps in creating positive environment within workplace due to which employees give their
productive and better outcomes in accomplishing the goals and objective of business. Inclusive
workplace generally means creating a place where all kind of employees feel valued and
welcoming for their efforts and contributions. Staff with differences and disabilities is treated
equally within workplace so that they can grab the opportunities for advancement. Through
developing inclusive workplace environment, UK retail industry can value, welcome and
appreciate the employees of all diverse characteristics and backgrounds. There are various
benefits which can be availed by the company through creating inclusive working environment
such as it helps in increasing the performance and growth of business due to which brand can
attain competitive edge. It also helps in reducing the turnover rate of employees, provide higher
job satisfaction, increase creativity and innovation and also improve problem solving throughout
the organisation.
What is the role of human resource management in creating inclusive workplace within
Marks and Spencer?
As per the viewpoint of Carrero, Krzeminska and Härtel (2019), human resource
management plays a vital role in creating inclusive workplace environment within an
organisation. They generally focus on creating inclusive working environment so that they can
encourage employees to give their more productive results in making business profitable. The
inclusive working environment helps in increasing the collaboration and boosting the motivation
level of employees due to which they can perform better within workplace. Human resource
management encourages staff to engage in business activities and give their reviews and
feedback. They also hire the employees without any biasness and give opportunities to disabled
people so that they can showcase their talent. The human resource management of Marks and
Spencer focuses on creating inclusive workplace environment by welcoming right talent no
matter whether they have any difference and disabilities.
What are the challenges faced by human resource management while creating inclusive
workplace environment within Marks and Spencer?

As per the opinion of Dali (2018), there are different challenges faced by human resource
management while creating inclusive workplace environment. These issues create a great
influence on the performance and productivity of business due to which it becomes difficult to
create inclusive working environment within Marks and Spencer. The few issues which are faced
by human resource management while creating inclusive working environment are
communication issues, cultural misunderstanding, discrimination, lack of role model and many
others. Communication issue is one of the problem which human resource management faces
while creating inclusive working environment. It is necessary for HR to create effective and clear
communication between the employees so that they can understand the things and work
accordingly. The other issue is cultural misunderstanding as people with different culture come
together which leads to conflicts and less respect. Thus, it is necessary to create inclusive
working environment so that employees with different cultures can interact and learn their
cultures so that they can identify the misunderstanding and respect the differences.
What are the ways through which human resource management creates inclusive workplace
environment within Marks and Spencer?
As per the perspective of Rahman, Turpin Jr and Phelps (2020), there are various ways
through which human resource management can create inclusive workplace environment within
Marks and Spencer. These ways helps in creating inclusive workplace due to which employees
can work with dedication and also give their best efforts while working. The ways which helps
human resource management to create inclusive workplace are conducting employee training
and personal development session, creating groups for individuals of similar backgrounds,
promoting idea sharing during meetings, celebrate employee difference and many others. It is the
responsibility of human resource management to provide training and development opportunity
to staff so that they can learn something new and also understand the way through which they
can collaborate with employees of different culture. Human resource management must also
focus on promoting idea sharing during meetings so that their staff can give their opinion and
reviews related to business decision.

PROPOSED METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is a procedure of assembling, accumulating and analyzing the
information related to the chosen topic. It involves different research method through which data
is collected and obtained. Through research methodology, researcher can focus on evaluating the
reliability and validity of the research in better manner. The different types of research
methodologies are elaborated below:
Research Philosophy:
It generally includes the set of beliefs and practices which are required for managing the
reality within the current investigation. Research philosophy are categorized into two different
types such as positivism and interpretivisim. In the current investigation, researcher will show
dependence on choosing positivism philosophy as it accumulates quantitative information
(Mertler, 2019). The motive behind selecting positivism philosophy is that it consumes less time
for gathering the data and also it is cost effective.
Research approach:
Research approach is a method that includes certain steps of broad assumption through
which data is gathered and evaluated. There are mainly two different types of research approach
such as inductive and deductive approach. The researcher will focuses on selecting deductive
approach for this research as it test the existing theory and also provide numeric information in
effective and efficient manner (DeCuir-Gunby and Walker-DeVose, 2021). Deductive approach
is suitable for this research as it collects information in statistical figures and facts due to which
aim and objective of investigation can be attained in better manner.
Research strategy:
Research strategy includes the plan through which the current investigation can be
completed in systematic and appropriate manner. The various kinds of research strategy are case
study, focused group, observation, survey, systematic literature review and many others. Within
the current research, the investigator will focuses on selecting survey strategy as it cost effective
and also helps in obtaining data from large number of respondents (Purdon and Thornton, 2019).
The survey strategy focuses on providing numeric data related to the proposed study which will
be beneficial for completing the investigation in efficient way.
Data collection:

It is a procedure of collecting and assembling the information related to the proposed
study by using different methods. The two different kinds of data collection method are primary
and secondary data collection method. Primary data collection method is a procedure of
obtaining fresh data through different sources whereas secondary data collection method is a tool
which helps in collecting second and information. The current research focuses on choosing both
the data collection method so that researcher can collect valid and reliable data related to the
chosen topic. The primary data collection method is collected through using questionnaire
whereas secondary data collection method is gathered through different secondary sources such
as journals, articles, newspaper and many others.
Sampling:
Sampling is a method of gathering information from different number of chosen
participants. The two kinds of sampling method are probability and non probability sampling
method. Probability sampling method is a process choosing the sample through using random
sampling method whereas non-probability sampling method focuses on choosing the participants
by using subjective method (Genevrier and et. al., 2019). The existing research focuses on
selecting probability sampling method as it provides equal chance to each participant to share
their perspective and opinion related to the current topic. Within this investigation, 20 managers
of Marks and Spencer is selected for collecting the information related to the proposed study.

PROPOSED ANALYSIS
The proposed analysis depicts about the role of human resource management while
managing inclusive workplace environment within an organisation. Human resource
management plays an effective role within business as it helps in increasing the productivity and
performance of business due to which company can attain competitive edge and also attract more
and more talented workforce within workplace. Inclusive workplace environment helps in
enhancing the motivation and morale level of employees as it provide career advancement
opportunities to employees due to which they give better outcomes in achieving the task.
Inclusive working environment also helps in making employees with different cultures
comfortable and valuable within business. Thus, human resource management will focus on
creating inclusive working environment for their staff so that they can enable people with
different culture and background. Human resource management plays a vital role in creating
inclusive working environment by providing positive working environment so that employees
can work with dedication and respect the people with different cultures. They generally focus on
hiring talented employees within workplace without showing any biasedness. It is challenging
for human resource management to create inclusive workplace within an organisation as they
face various issues such as communication problem, discrimination, cultural misunderstanding
and lack of role model. Thus, human resource management is responsible for overcoming the
issues related to creating inclusive working environment as it influence the brand image and
reputation of company. Human resource management also implements various ways through
which they can create inclusive working environment such as providing training and
development opportunities, creating team of similar culture, promoting idea sharing and many
other ways. Through these ways human resource management creates better working
environment for the employees of different cultures.

TASK 2a REFLECTION
This module is based on determining the role of human resource management for
creating inclusive workplace environment within UK hospitality industry. The current module is
all about identifying the role of human resource management in creating inclusive working
environment within an organisation due to which employees can avail better career opportunities
and also enhance their performance. This module helps me in gaining knowledge related to
inclusive workplace environment and also makes me understand about the benefits which can be
availed by organisation through creating inclusive working environment. Through this module I
improved my skills and knowledge which will be helpful in completing my future investigation.
The few skills which get enhanced while conducting this research are presentation skills,
analytical skills, communication skills, research skills and many others. My skills and knowledge
get improves by collecting information related to the role of human resource management while
creating inclusive working environment. I have learnt through this module that inclusive learning
helps in improving the performance and brand image of company. It also helps in attracting more
and more talented employees within workplace which leads to increase in profitability and
growth of business. But there are various challenges which I have faced while completing this
investigation such as identifying the right research method, time issues, inaccurate information
and any others. These issues become barriers for me for collecting the information and
accomplishing the research in better manner. But I have overcome these issues and focus on
completing the investigation in better and efficient manner. I faced difficulty in managing the
time due to which it becomes challenging for me to accomplish the investigation in set deadlines.
I also face issues related to collecting the right research method which is suitable for the
investigation. Through conducting this research I have improved my research work by learning
how to recognize quality source, verifying information from several sources, staying organized,
taking advantage of library resources and focusing on my past work experiences.

TASK 2b TIMESCALE AND RESOURCES
Gantt chart is a graphical representation that shows the project and provides a way
through which project manager can manage the project with effectiveness and efficiency. It is
generally used to depict the various projects and task that occur simultaneously within company.
Gantt chart focuses on organizing the project, keeping everyone on track and also improves the
overall project visibility.