Reducing Sexual Harassment to Improve Employee Retention at Primark

This report investigates the issue of sexual harassment within Primark and its impact on employee retention. The study includes an introduction outlining the background, aim, objectives, research questions, and rationale for the research, which is to lower down the cases of sexual harassment so that firm can be able to retain workers. The report details the project management plan, including costs, quality, change management, risk assessment, and communication strategies. Primary data collection was conducted using questionnaires, with a sample size of 30. The research employed a qualitative approach using thematic analysis to interpret the data. Key findings reveal that lustful staring, gestures, obscene images, and stalking are forms of sexual harassment experienced by employees. The study also found that employees generally report incidents to HR, and Primark has specific processes for reporting and addressing such issues, including strict actions against offenders. The report concludes with recommendations for further practices to address and solve the issue of sexual harassment, such as providing training, collecting employee feedback, and conducting workplace inspections. Finally, the author reflects on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support sustainable organisational performance.

Unit 6 - Managing a Successful
Business Project
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Contents
TASK 1-LO1...................................................................................................................................1
TOPIC..............................................................................................................................................1
Title:.............................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Background..................................................................................................................................1
Aim..............................................................................................................................................1
Objectives....................................................................................................................................1
Research questions.......................................................................................................................2
Rationale......................................................................................................................................2
Project management plan.............................................................................................................2
Appropriate research methodologies applied..............................................................................3
Work break down structure.........................................................................................................3
Gantt chart...................................................................................................................................4
TASK 2- LO2..................................................................................................................................4
Small scale research for gathering data......................................................................................4
TASK 3-LO3...................................................................................................................................5
KEY FINDINGS.........................................................................................................................5
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
TASK 4-LO4...................................................................................................................................6
Reflect on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support
sustainable organisational performance.......................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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TASK 1-LO1
TOPIC
Title:
To enhance employee retention by lowering down sexual harassment in the organization: A
study of Primark.
INTRODUCTION
Workplace discrimination means that biasness exists in the organisation and there can be
various reasons behind it. This can be because of gender pay gaps, religion, culture, belief,
harassment. All these cases can increase the employee turnover and organisation may not be able
to retain workers. Equality must be exists in the firm so that loyalty can be increased and also
workers will not be able to leave the organisation. This will assist them in making sure that
employees are fully engaged in company. It will also allow enterprise in achieving their set target
as well as mission. It will also assist company in growing and achieving the objectives. Present
report will lay emphasis on the aims and objectives selected by the firms in order to reduce the
case of sexual harassment. Assignment will also carry out small research on the basis of it better
decisions will be taken by researcher.
Background
Primark is an Irish fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and a
subsidiary of the British food processing and retail company ABF. The company is been
headquartered in London United Kingdom. It has been analysed in the recent time workers are
leaving the firm because of the cases related to sexual harassment (Avendaño, 2018). This has
lower down brand reputation of company and also because of this they are not been able to retain
workers. Organisation is thinking of implementing the strategies and policies so that sexual
harassment can be lower down and also this will assist them in improving the business
performance.
Aim
To enhance employee retention by lowering down sexual harassment in the organization. A case
study on Primark.
Objectives
 To analyse the concept of sexual harassment
 To evaluate the impact of sexual harassment in Primark
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 To analyse the ways to retain employees by reducing down the sexual harassment
Research questions
 What is the concept of sexual harassment
 What are the impact of sexual harassment in Primark
 What are the ways to retain employees by reducing down the sexual harassment
Rationale
The main reason for carrying out this research is to lower down the cases of sexual
harassment so that firm can be able to retain workers. This is being done to increase the brand
reputation as well as value of company. This will also assist them in enhancing brand value and
reputation. It has also been analysed that sexual harassment in company is also making them
incapable to attract talented and skilled employees as no worker wants to work in this type of
company. So this is the main reason for carrying out this research. It will assist them in lowering
down the cases of sexual harassment and also it will assist organisation in retaining workers
(Cassino and Besen‐Cassino, 2019).
Project management plan
Company will be engaged in making the project management plan so that planning and
scheduling can be done right. This will assist firm in making sure that project aims and mission
is been achieved. It is really necessary to frame this plan so that issues which can be faced by
organisation can be in future.
 Cost: Primark has decided the cost of the project which is €500 and they have made sure
that every strategy which has been implemented by them is within the budget set up by
them. Company is engaged in doing planning according to it.
 Quality: Company is making sure that they are engaged in making use of high quality
tools and techniques so that aims and goals can be achieved. This will also assist them in
making sure that better policies are been design by them to retain workers (Sangwan and
Thakre, 2018).
 Change: Various change management strategies will also be implemented by company.
In this Primark will be engaged in making sure that a better and flexible environment is
been provided to workers
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 Risk: There are various risk which is been involved in this type of process, there are
chances that organization is unable to manage the human resources and some of them are
still doing same type of practices.
 Issues: Various issues can be faced by Primark while implementing the changes in
policies, so appropriate measures needs to be taken by them
 Deliverables: In this the project scope statement will be made by organization, so that
they can make employees know about the importance of project.
 Communication: Effective communication will be used by managers of company so that
no miss-understanding and conflict related to work exists.
 Resources: Company will make sure that there is effective utilization of resources, this
will allow them in working within budget.
Appropriate research methodologies applied
 Data collection: Primary method of data collection will be used for present research. In
this researcher will make use of questionnaire.
 Research type: The research will be qualitative in nature, this is because it will allow
researcher to gain in depth knowledge related to subject matter.
 Data analysis: Thematic analysis will be used as the research is qualitative in nature and
it will allow researcher to test the hypothesis (SION, 2018).
 Sample: The size of the sample will be 30 and simple random sampling will be selected
for the study so that no biasness exists.
 Research approach: Inductive approach will be used for the present research, this will
assist researcher in making sure that better data is been gathered.
Work break down structure
Work break down structure is the project management tools and techniques which is
basically been used by organisation so that work can be divided into small parts. This will assist
organisation in making sure that the goals and objectives related to research is been achieved. It
allows firm to also segregate the responsibilities so that no miss-understanding exists (Cortina
and Areguin, 2020).
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Gantt chart
Project task Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week
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Planning
related to
project
Recruitment of
team
Review of
Literature
Session of
training
Implementation
Evaluation of
performance
TASK 2- LO2
Small scale research for gathering data
Q-1 What type of sexual harassment occurred at work place?
Unwanted touching
Stalking
Obscene image
Gestures
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Lustful staring
Q-2 What did you do when anyone doing sexual harassment?
Kept quiet
Reported to HR
Told to colleague
Told of manager
Q-3 Is there a specific process to report sexual harassment in Primark or not?
Yes
No
Q-4 What strategy is being followed by company in reducing sexual harassment?
Strict action
Suspension of person
Giving warning
Q-5 Do you think a policy is enough for maintaining equality and diversity?
Yes
No
Not sure
Q-6 What other practices can be implement to solve issue of sexual harassment?
Providing training
Collecting employee feedback
Doing inspection
Q-7 Does HR take any action if sexual harassment issue is being reported?
Yes
No
Not sure
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Q-8 What is the impact of sexual harassment on Primark culture?
Employee performance is reduced
Negative environment
Low retention
Theme 1 Type of sexual harassment occurred at work place
Q-1 What type of sexual harassment occurred at work place? Frequency
Unwanted touching 2
Stalking 6
Obscene image 5
Gestures 8
Lustful staring 9
Total 30
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Interpretation – it can be analysed from table that out of 30 employees 9 said that lustful
staring is sexually harassment occur at Primark. 8 said gestures, 5 said obscene image and 6 said
stalking. So, it is stated that staff star at others in a lustful way and also do some gestures which
result in harassment. Besides that, employees also do stalk and then pass some gestures. So,
these are type of harassment occur at workplace.
Theme 2 you do when you found anyone doing sexual harassment
Q-2 What did you do when anyone doing sexual harassment? Frequency
Kept quiet 5
Reported to HR 10
Told colleague 8
Told manager 7
Total 30
Interpretation- here, in study conducted at Primark the primary data of 30 staff was taken. By
evaluating data it was identified that 5 said they keep quiet when found any sexual harassment.
10 said they report to HR, 8 said they told colleague and 7 said they told manager. Thus, it is
analysed that in most cases they report to HR. besides that, staff also report to manager as well.
thus, it clearly shows that issues are reported immediately to authorized authority.
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Theme 3 specific process to report sexual harassment in Primark
Q-3 Is there a specific process to report sexual harassment in Primark or
not?
Frequency
Yes 20
No 10
Total 30
Interpretation- from table it is stated that out of 30 participants, 20 said that there is specific
process to report sexual harassment in Primark. whereas 10 said no. therefore, it is evaluated
that in company all guidelines and laws are followed in reporting harassment. So, employees
are aware about what to do in such case. There is procedure developed by Primark to report
such issues.
Theme -4 strategy followed by company in reducing sexual harassment
Q-4 What strategy is being followed by company in reducing sexual
harassment?
Frequency
10

Strict action 21
Suspension of person 5
Giving warning 4
Total 30
Interpretation – here, by interpreting table it is said that 21 said that strict action is taken
against the person who is involved in sexual harassment. 5 said that person is suspended and 4
said that warning is given. Thus, Primark is highly concerned about such issues and try to
reduce by taking strict action. In that legal action is taken and high fine is imposed.
Theme -5 a policy is enough for maintaining equality and diversity
Q-5 Do you think a policy is enough for maintaining equality and
diversity?
Frequency
Yes 5
No 23
Not sure 2
Total 30
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Interpretation- the scholar did a study in Primark to find out current issue of sexual harassment
in equality and diversity. Here, 30 sample size was taken. By analyzing data it is found that 23
said no that a policy is not enough to maintain quality and diversity. 5 said yes and 2 were not
sure. Thus, it requires other practices to be included as well. because policy only contains
guidelines and laws.
Theme -6 other practices can be implement to solve issue of sexual harassment
Q 6 What other practices can be implement to solve issue of sexual
harassment?
Frequency
Providing training 10
Collecting employee feedback 10
Doing inspection 10
Total 30
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