Workplace Equality and Diversity Strategies

Task 1:

Introduction:

Equality and diversity are two important aspects of any organisation to have a strong and productive workforce and a well-structured organisational framework. This study is going to present a research on how the equality and diversity are maintained in the UK based SME, Pip & Nut. Here the study is going to provide insight on the research problem regarding the factors that pose bars on the selected company to maintain diversity and equality in its workplace. In this study the primary data will be discussed that are collected by the researchers during the research study, which will provide new insight on how Pip & Nut is able to maintain the diversity and equality in its workplace, by implementing effective strategies.

Research questions:

This research work will determine the issues that the UK based SME, Pip & Nut faces while maintaining the impartiality as well as diversity in the work place. The research questions are as follows:

What is the importance of equality and diversity in an organisation?

What are the issues that Pip & Nut come across in terms of using equality and diversity in workplace to develop organisation productivity?

What strategies can be recommended to Pip & Nut in term of coping up with these issues in forming diverse workforce and maintaining equal opportunities for the entire workforce?

Research objectives:

Aim or purpose of this research is to determine the problems that the UK based SME Pip & Nut can face while maintain equal and diverse workforces in company.

Literature review:

In this section, researcher will use relevant resources to discuss that how much the diversity as well as equality is important for building highly-skilled as well as highly productive workforces. In this section, the researcher will also use relevant theories and models in terms of identifying issues as well as problem associated with maintaining diversity as well as equality in organisational workplace. Here the researcher will not represent the mere discussion on the diversity and equality in an workplace with special reference to UK based SME, Pip & Nut, rather the literature review will make critical discussion of the research topic, by using the relevant as well as valuable resources, that will make the comprehensive discussion on the research topic. In this section, the researcher will use evidence-based information in terms of supporting viewpoint tat is represented by the researcher in this section. Finally, the researcher will discuss the gap of literature, in which the researcher highlights the limitation as well as drawbacks of literature that are used in conducting the research.

Research methodology:

In this section, the researcher outlines the steps as well as processes that are associated with completion of a successful research. This section will represent the research design, approaches and philosophy that assist researcher to meet all the research objectives and answer the research question.

Research design:

Here, the research study will use descriptive research design, which will make the research study able to use comprehensive information regarding eth research topic, which assist the research study to meet all the research objectives.

Research philosophy:

Positivism philosophy will be used in the research study, which help research study to use eth valuable, scientific and justified information from et relevant resources that will maintain authenticity and accuracy of entire research process.

Research approach:

Here, the research study will choose deductive research approach which helps researcher to use existing theories as well as models rather than building innovative and new themes. Existing theories and information would be relevant to provide the valuable information that will assist research study to meet research objectives.

Limitations as well as pitfalls:

In this section, researcher will identify the limitations as well as pitfalls that are associated with the selected resources. In this section researcher will discuss the drawbacks and gaps in literatures that are selected for conducting the research. In addition to this, the researcher also highlights the how this limitation as well as gap of literature will impact on the overall progress and objectives of this research study.

Ethical consideration:

In this section the researcher will discuss what ethical aspects will be considered as well as implemented in this research in terms of maintaining the ethnicity and accuracy of entire research study. In addition to this, this research will show how researcher comply with standard and guidelines of academic research process in terms of maintaining the validity and accuracy of this research.

Task 2:

Introduction:

In this section, the researcher has discussed the research aims, objectives and research questions. This section will assist the researcher to describe purpose for conducting this research, through outlining the research questions, the researcher has described the aspects as well as themes based on which the entire research study is done. Through outlining the research objectives, the research has stated that, what are the main aspects associated with the research that the researcher needs to highlight in front of the learners by using relevant resources/.

Research aim:

The purpose of this research is to highlight as well as determine the issues and problems associated with maintaining diversity as we as equality in the workplace. This research aims to discuss the problems that the UK based SME Pip & Nut faces in terms of maintaining proper diversity as well as equality in the workplace.

Research questions:

What is the importance of equality and diversity in an organisation?

What are the issues that Pip & Nut come across in terms of using equality and diversity in workplace to develop organisation productivity?

How the issues regarding using diversity and equality in workplace in effective manner can impact on overall productivity as well as skills of the entire workfares of Pip & Nut?

What strategies can be recommended to Pip & Nut in term of coping up with these issues in forming diverse workforce and maintaining equal opportunities for the entire workforce?

Research objectives:

To analyse the comprehensive discussion of diversity as well as equality in workplace

To find out the impact on maintaining diversity as well as equality in workplace of Pip & Nut.

To evaluate the overall impact of these issues in developing diversity and equality in the workplace will impact of the decision and operation of the selected company

To recommend the valuables as we as suitable strategies for Pip & Nut in terms of coping up with all problems associated with the diversity and equality in an workplace.

Summary:

This section has assisted research study, to describe its clear objectives and purpose based in which the entre research is done by researcher. In addition to this, by outlining research questions, researcher has mentioned the main aspects of the research study based on which the entire literature has been selected.

Literature review:

In today’s highly competitive business world, diversity and equality are two major aspects that needed to be used in the workforces, in terms of developing creativity and innovation in business operation, decision-making and business strategies (Mahlangu, 2019). The UK based SME, Pip & Nut sells the almond milk and nut butter across the UK. This company currently faces huge problems regarding using diversity as well as equality in its workplace. One of the most common issues that Pip & Nut faces in using equality and diversity in its workplace is conflict and opinion mismatches in workplace that interfere with the integrity as well as competence of staffs. In this context Flynn et al (2017) mentioned that, diversity is the differences among staffs in a workplace regarding their ethnicity, educational background, perception, religion, culture, professional and personal skills, decision making skills and thoughts. On the hand, equality is associated with providing equal facilities and official advantages to the staffs in the workplace. Pip & Nut always believes in building diverse workforces as that is important for coping up with current market situation. As mentioned by Guillaume et al. (2017), though holding diversity in the workforces, organisations can make perfect integration of different thoughts, understanding, perception, religion, decision-making skill, and professional skills, which not only improved the overall productivity of workforces but also brings about innovation as well as creativity into business operation. Although, Pip & Nut prioritise diversity in its workplace, there are many there are many staffs and managers in this company who disagree with the process. On the other hand, Pip & Nut has diverse workforce that has integration of staffs coming from different ethnic background, community, educational background, country, professional field and caste, which create huge conflict among the staffs. Here Hawkins (2017) mentioned the unethical activities and approaches of superior staffs towards the inferior group. In the workforce of Pip & Nut, many workers who are non-UK origin coming from the lower ethnic background are discriminated, bullied and abused by the British workers, which not only spoil the intention of developing a diverse group with high potentiality, but also interfere with the ethical and moral principles of the company which makes bad reputation of this organisation in the market. In his aspects the company needs to take effective strategies which will assist marketers to deal with the challenges that are associated with the diversity and equality issues. In this context Hussain and ishaq (2016) mentioned that, equality is also important in an workplace to protect the workers from being bullied, abused and discriminated. Pip & Nut also faces issues maintaining equal workforces in terms of allocating equal official advantages as well as facilities for all the staffs regardless of their ethnicity, caste, background, religion and community. Many workers coming from poor ethnic community are ill-treated in the workplace that compelled them to either leave the job, or sacrifice their honour, self-respect and dignity. As stated by Klein (2016), equal workforces not only associated only with developing productivity as well as the competitive advantages of the company, but also assist the higher officials such as manager to involve entire workforces to work in synergistic manner to meet the common organisational goals by using innovative and creative strategies. Another issue that Pip & Nut faces in terms of using the diversity as well as equality in its workforces is, equal facilities cannot be provided to entre staffs in the workplace which can enhance ethical dilemmas in managers and higher officials. For example, in case of staffs who provide poor performance year-on-years, and are not able to comply with organisational policies and guidelines, they cannot be provided with all the official facilities that are provided to the eligible staffs (Lindholm et al. 2019). In this context, managers face high level ethical dilemmas as they cannot understand whether they will provide equal opportunity to them or they will be given that much facilities and advantages that they deserve. As stated by Lindblom (2017), sometimes manager and higher official can face the ethical and moral dilemmas in terms of maintaining equality in the workforces. The other issues that Pip & Nut face is sometimes the privileges and opportunities in the workplace based on the personal preference and interests of higher officials, that enhances the inequality and unethical practices in workforces. Therefore, it can be stated that, Pip & Nut, needs to develop relevant as well as innovative strategies and management processes that will assist the marketers to develop highly diverse and equal workforces which will contribute to development and productivity of compony. In addition to this, marketers of Pip & Nut need to develop proper crisis management framework which will assist the mangers to deal with any types of crisis regarding using the equality as well as diversity in workplaces.

Research methodology:

In this section, the researcher has outlined all the steps and stages that are associated in conducting the entire research process. In this section the researcher will discuss the research design, approaches, philosophy and research onion, which will assist learners to get proper understanding about entire process in which the entire research has been progressed and completed. In addition to this, researcher has depicted the ethical factors that are considered by the researcher in terms of conducting the entire research by complying with all the academic standard and guidelines in terms of maintaining the authenticity of entire research process. Here the researcher has also discussed the pitfalls and limitations of the entire research.

Research onion:

Research onion is important section of this research that outlines the process and stages through which the entire research passes. The research onion has depicted the six different stages in the research such as strategies, effective procedures, t5ime horizon, philosophies, techniques and choices.

Research philosophy:

Positivism research philosophy has been used in this study which assisted the researcher to use realistic pointy of view, that maintain the accuracy and practicality of the database that are used in the study. In addition to this, positivism philosophy assisted the researcher to use reasons and scientific information in this study that has made it easier for the research to meet the research objectives and answer the research questions.

Research design:

Descriptive research design has been selected by the researcher in which comprehensive discussion of the entire topic has been done. Descriptive research design assisted researcher in using in-depth data and information that are highly relevant with overall research objectives and research aim. In addition to this, the descriptive design assaulted the researcher to get comprehensive information regarding research topic , which assist the overall research study to make thorough analysis of database by using comprehensive information.

Research approaches:

Here deductive approach has been used by researcher in which the researcher used existing, models, theories and information by using relevant as well as valuable resources. In the other hand the inductive approach is not selected by researcher as it is associated with building new hypothesises that makes the overall study complicated.

Data collection process:

In this research study, the researcher has used primary research method. In this research study, both the qualitative and quantitative research methods have been used by researcher. In quantitative data collection process, survey is conducted by the research in which the customers of Pip& Nut have been randomly selected. In case of conduiting the qualitative research, interview is arranged for eth 3 mangers of Pip & Nut. The database that are collected through the survey and interview are stored in the computer, by using proper password and security software system,

Data analysis:

This research study has used primary data analysis process, in which database are directly collected from respondents. Here the researcher has used primary data analysis process that assisted researcher to get original as well as accurate database on the research topic directly from respondents. In addition to this, the primary data analysis enhanced the overall experiences and knowledge of researcher regarding research topic, as the researcher is able to make face to face communication with respondent and interviewee to collect as well as record their responses in systematic manner

Sampling method:

In this research, the researcher has made random selection of the participants in the survey. In caseof survey, 65 customers of Pip & Nut have been selected randomly. On the other hand, in case of arranging interview, three managers from three different department of Pip &Nut have been invited.

Limitation and pitfalls:

During working on the research topic, the researcher has come across some pitfalls as well as limitation that impacted on overall success and result of et entire research study. The limitation that researcher has come across is time; limitation. Due to limited time given to the researcher, it was not possible for the researcher to make in-depth analysis of database and include huge amount of database. Another limitation or pitfall of this research was found insufficiency, that made it difficult for researcher to involve more respondents and interviewees in the primary data collection methods as this can enhance the cost of entire research.

Ethical consideration:

Here the researcher has obeyed all the ethical rules and guidelines in completing the research process. Researcher has taken proper consent from all the respondents and interviewee before starting the data collection process.in the survey, there was no forces applied on respondents for collecting information from them. All the respondents were treated with respect and dignity with eliminating any chances of discrimination and abuse. All the databases that are collected from the respondents and interviewee will be used only in academic use but not for any commercial as well as marketing purpose. The research assures that, all the database are collected from authentic as well as genuine sources that maintains ethical and moral values of data collection process.

Quantitative data analysis:

Analysis:

From analysing the overall result, it can be stated that, majority of the ex-staffs of Pip & Nut, that diversity and equality are necessary in developing professional standard and inner strength of the entire workforce. On the other hand, only few staffs think that, there is no necessity of diverse and equal workforce. From analysing the overall resit, it needs to be acknowledged that the diversity and equality is important for entire workforce of an organisation to enhance the professional standard.

Analysis:

Here majority of the ex-staffs of Pip & Nut thinks that, the company faces severe issues in maintaining diversity as well as equality in its workforces therefore, it is important for this company to develop such strategies that can assist the marketers to eliminate these issues.

Analysis:

Majority of the ex-staffs of Pip &Nut, think that this company can improve the overall professional standard and strength of its entire workforce by building diverse and equal team. From overall result it can be stated that, Pip & Nut needs to maintain equal values and diversity in workforce to develop competitive advantage of this company

Conclusion:

From the overmentioned discussion, it can be concluded that, researcher has successfully met all research objectives by linking the objectives with the results of the qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Here the result collected from the analysis of quantitative data 1 and 2 can be linked with 1st research objectives, that highlights the researcher has successfully met this research objective. On the other hand, analysis of qualitative database 2 and 3 and quantitative database2 can be linked to the research objective 2 and 3. Therefore, it can be stated that researcher has been able to meet the second and third research objectives. Finally, the result gathered by analysing the quantitative database 3 and qualitative database 3 can be linked to the last research objectives. Therefore, it can be concluded that researcher is able to meet the fourth research objective.

Reference list:

Flynn, p.m., haynes, k. And kilgour, m.a. eds., 2017. Overcoming challenges to gender equality in the workplace: leadership and innovation. Routledge.

Guillaume, y.r., dawson, j.f., otaye‐ebede, l., woods, s.a. and west, m.a., 2017. Harnessing demographic differences in organizations: what moderates the effects of workplace diversity?.Journal of organizational behavior, 38(2), pp.276-303.

Hussain, a.m. and ishaq, m., 2016. Equality and diversity in the british armed forces: progress, challenges and prospects. Defense& security analysis, 32(1), pp.36-50.

Klein, u., 2016, january. Gender equality and diversity politics in higher education: conflicts, challenges and requirements for collaboration. In women's studies international forum (vol. 54, pp. 147-156). Pergamon.

Lindholm, m., forsman, m. And vänje, a., 2019. Do investments in gender equality create a safer workplace? A case study within the construction sector. Summit proceedings, 12(14), p.75.

Manfredi, s., 2016. Equality and diversity at work under the coalition. In employment relations under coalition government (pp. 120-138). Routledge.

Milner, s., demilly, h. And pochic, s., 2019. Bargained equality: the strengths and weaknesses of workplace gender equality agreements and plans in france. British journal of industrial relations, 57(2), pp.275-301.

Simões, r.b., amaral, i. And santos, s.c., 2020, march. Gender equality and diversity in the media: policy intervention in europe. In proceedings of inted 2020 conference 2nd-4th march 2020 (pp. 6594-6598). Iated.