Development of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policies and Practices in the Workforce

Unit Title: Promote equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion

1.1: Analyze the development of equality, diversity and inclusion policies and practices in the workforce.

Equality is ensuring that everybody has an equal opportunity and not discriminated because of their characteristics. Diversity is taking account of the differences between people or groups of people and giving a positive value on those differences. Inclusion is involvement and empowerment, where the worth and dignity of all people are recognized. Equality in the workplace means that all staff members are treated equally and none is discriminated against. Diversity in the workplace means that an organization actively welcomes people from a variety of backgrounds and in its hiring policies and workplace culture.

Steps to developing equality, diversity and inclusion in the work force;

Analyze the organization’s current employee population. This can be achieved by looking through employment databases or ask the HR department for an employment report.

Form a diversity and equality committee. This committee should be diverse in nature and made up of volunteers. The committee should set definite goals and develop strategies to meet the goals.

Review or write the organization’s equal employment policy. Make sure that your organization is in compliance with the federal law. Have a labor attorney review the policies before implementing them. Set up a periodic review system to make sure that the policy is always up to date.

Recruit for new and open positions. When recruiting for jobs, advertise in ethic newspapers and encourage minorities and women to apply. The organization can create incentives for current employees who recommend prospective employees who match the organization’s standards.

Train the organization’s current employers on diversity, equality and inclusion issues in the workplace. Give support to the new employees through a mentoring program.

Set consequences for discrimination and unacceptable work behaviors. Include disciplinary procedures that the organization will follow if an employee files a complaint against another employee.

Consult a labor attorney before finalizing your employment policies or terminating employees.

References

1.2: Evaluate the application of approaches to equal opportunities.

Fundamentally there are three approaches to equal opportunities:

Formal equality: It is also known as a free and open contest for scarce resources (Flew, 1976). It is the main ingredient in the legislation of equal opportunities in Britain. They include; The Race Relations Act 1976, The Sex Discrimination Act 1975, The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and other regulations concerning religion, age and sexuality. It is directed at a form of discrimination known as direct discrimination which refers to a scenario where a person or a group of people targets another person or group of people for unfavorable treatment. In organizations, this approach is used to ensure that there is no room for discretion to take place and thus no discrimination occurs if everyone is treated equally.

Liberal equality of opportunity: Also known as prospect relating to equal opportunities. This approach can be used when targeting supplementary resources to underdeveloped areas which is often known as ‘area based positive discrimination’ (Edwards and Batley, 1978)

Positive action: this approach is used in determining goals and targets, advertising in order to reach certain groups of people and further training for employees. It is one of the core components of the equal opportunities.

References

Edwards, J. & Batley, R., (1978). The Politics of Positive Discrimination. Tavistock Pubns, London.

Flew, A.G.N., (1976). Sociology, equality and education: Philosophical essays in defense of a variety of differences. Macmillan, London.

1.3: 1.4: Evaluate the impact of equality, diversity and inclusion policy on workforce performance and methods of managing ethical conflicts.

Impact of equality, diversity and inclusion policy on workforce;

Employee empowerment: Employees feel empowered because they know that they are being employed for their aptitude, just as anyone else in the organization.

Increased employee confidence: Employees are confident that they will be given the right tools to properly carry out their work. Such tools can be proper disabled access, flexible working hours, good communication from all staff members etc.

Job positivity: when there are no barriers to job progression, employees feel more positive about their jobs and will become more committed to working hard for the organization.

A sense of understanding and respect: These equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives create a sense of understanding and respect throughout an organization which has a better, more pleasant and productive working atmosphere for all employees.

Dynamic and creative workforce: People from all walks of life can give a huge boost to an organization with different insights, perspectives and experiences all combining to give an effective output.

Heightened productivity: equality, diversity and inclusion ensures a better working environment where productivity is heightened, success and business eventually increase.

Equal opportunities: Through the carrying out of equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives, employees can rest assured that they will not be discriminated against and that they have equal opportunities for promotion and progression.

Methods of managing ethical conflicts:

Competitive: Also known as forcing. An organization or individual firmly pursues their own concerns despite resistance from the other party. This method may provide a quick resolution to a conflict and increases self-esteem and draws respect when the resistance or actions were the response to aggression or hostility. It may negatively affect the relationship between the involved parties. This method requires a lot of energy and exhausting to some individuals.

Collaborative: also known as the win-win method/ confronting the problem/ problem solving. It involves working with the other party to find a win-win solution to the problem at hand. The solution should be the one that satisfies the concerns of both parties. This method views the conflict resolution as an opportunity to come to a mutually beneficial result. It involves pointing out the opponent’s underlying concerns and finding an alternative which meets each party’s concern. It leads to solving of the actual problem, leads to a win-win situation, reinforces mutual trust and respect. It requires a commitment, more effort and more time than other methods.

Compromising: this is also known as reconciling. It looks for an expedient and mutually acceptable solution that partially satisfies the involved parties. Its advantages include; faster conflict resolution, provides a temporary solution and lowers tension and stress from the conflict. The disadvantages include; It may result in a lose-lose situation, does not build trust and requires close monitoring and control.

Accommodating: this is also known as smoothing. It prioritizes the concerns of other people first rather than prioritizing one’s own concerns. It helps protect more important interests, does not require much effort and gives an opportunity to reassess the situation. There is risk of being abused, negatively affects confidence and is more difficult to achieve a win-win situation.

Avoiding: it is also known as withdrawing. A person neither pursues their own concerns nor those of the other involved party but sidesteps, postpones nor simply withdraws. One can wait till the circumstances are favorable, it’s a low stress approach, gives time to focus on more urgent or important issues and gives you time to prepare better and collect information. It may lead to weakening or losing your position and may negatively affect your relationship.

1.5: 1.6: 1.7: Evaluate the business benefits of effective equality, diversity and inclusion policies and practices and, the requirements of legislation, regulation and codes of practice affecting equality, diversity and inclusion in the workforce.

The business benefits of effective equality, diversity and inclusion policies and practices include;

Brand image: They are used to create an organization’s brand image of valuing the equality and diversity of its employees. They mainly on getting name recognition and awards for the organization’s programs. Their goal is to be seen as a benchmark organization on equality, diversity and inclusion programs. Such programs of an organization can only be considered a success if its stakeholders and the community believes that the organization is an equality champion.

Affirmative action: They create an organization that truly provides equal opportunities for people of diverse backgrounds and characteristics. Such opportunities include; obtaining vendor and supplier contracts, win projects, gain rewards etc. they also entail affirmative and aggressive desire to achieve diversity in managerial, employment and other organizational ranks. Their main goal is to have a number of people in key positions throughout the organization representing the diverse demographics of a community.

Culture of acceptance: They seek to create an organization that values and appreciates the diverse nature of its own workforce. They recognize that different people have different needs, characteristics, styles and desires in the workplace. They also seek acceptance and tolerance of employees’ differences in order to create a productive and healthy workforce. Their main goal is to make everyone aware and accept these differences so as to reduce conflict, maximize performance and allow every employees reach their full potential by removing diversity barriers or conflict in the workplace.

Maximizing the performance of all employees in an organization: They purpose to maximize the performance of each employee by getting rid of barriers that limit their potential regardless of whether the barriers are diversity issues(race, culture, gender etc.) or other barriers that hinder an employee’s progress(language skills, education, work ethics, personal behavior, social skills etc.) Their main goal is to increase the output of each employee’s productivity by understanding their unique differences and do away with the hindrances that keeps an individual from reaching their fullest potential.

References

The requirements of legislation affecting equality, diversity and inclusion in the workforce.

The Equality Act 2010 has the following requirements;

Publish equality outcomes based on evidence and involvement of equality groups by 30th April 2013 and every four years thereafter. Report on progress by 30th

April 2015 and two years thereafter.

Reporting on mainstreaming and action to incorporate equality and diversity into the day to day systems and practices of an organization by 30th April 2013 and every two years thereafter.

Impact assessment of new and revised policies and practices, informed by evidence and involvement in relation to the three parts of general duty from 27 May 2012.

Gathering, publishing and using employment data on annual basis across the protected characteristics (to be included in the main streaming report).

Publishing gender pay gap information by 30th April 2013 and every second year after that (150 or more employees)

Consider equality duty in award criteria for public procurement agreements.

Publish all reports in a manner that is accessible and using existing means of public performance reporting, as far as is practicable.

Ministers to publish proposals to enable public bodies to better perform the equality duty by 31st

December 2013.

The Equality Act and its codes of practice;

The purpose of this codes is to give detailed explanations of the provisions in the Act and to use legal concepts in the Act to everyday scenarios. These codes of practice became law on 6 April 2011.

Code of practice on Equal pay- Its provisions are set out in the Act under the heading ‘Equality of Terms’.  They apply to pay and all other terms of an individual’s contract of employment. Its purpose is to help people understand and apply the law on equal pay and to help courts and tribunals when interpreting the law.

Code of Practice on Employment- It covers discrimination in employment and work related activities under part 5 of the Act. It provides a detailed explanation of the Act and assists people who need to apply the law and understand its technical detail.

Code of Practice on Services, Public Functions and Associations- This code covers discrimination in services and public functions as set out in part 3 of the Act and discrimination by associations as set out in Part 7. Its purpose is to provide a detailed explanation of the Act.

References

Equality Act 2010 PDF.

Equality and Human Rights Commission. Equality Act 2010 Code of Practice: Services, public functions and associations Statutory Code of Practice.

Equality and Human Rights Commission. Equality Act 2010 Code of Practice: Equal pay Statutory Code

Equality and Human Rights Commission. Equality Act 2010 Code of Practice: Employment Statutory Code of Practice

1.2: 1.3: Evaluate: a) The influence of strategic choice on the structure, culture, leadership and direction of an organization.

Strategic choice is the decision to select from among strategies, the strategy which will best meet an organization’s objectives (Mintzberg, 1997 & Grundy, 1998)

Structure: Organizational structure is how tasks are divided, grouped and coordinated. A strategic choice brings about change in organizational structure and also affects employee attitudes towards change. In order to implement a strategic choice continuously, it must be in alignment with the organizational structure.

Culture: strategic choice affects organizational culture in two ways; institutionalization and deinstitutionalization. This happens depending on the conformity with an organization’s cultural values and norms. If activities through which the strategy choice is carried out conforms to the organization’s cultural values or norms, the strategy will institutionalize and strengthen the existing culture. Long term and consistent implementation of a strategy choice will deinstitutionalize the culture of an organization whereby the process of its change begins.

Leadership: strategic choice influences the role that leaders play in influencing an organization objectives. It also affects the leadership styles of the various leaders in an organization.

Direction: strategy choice affects an organizations decision to either use a cost strategy rather than a differentiation approach. The organization has to choose the best strategy that will improve the organization’s performance.

References

Grundy, A.N., (1998). Exploring strategic financial management. Prentice Hall.

Grundy, A.N., (1998).Harnessing Strategic Behavior. FT Publishing.

Mintzberg, H., (1997). The rise and fall of strategic planning. Prentice Hall.

 b) The role of strategic leadership and direction when operating in turbulent markets and periods of significant change.

Barron, 1995 defines strategic leadership as practicing existing abilities and skills and influencing others to train in new styles of new leadership models. Leadership is about innovators and change agents, thinking strategically on how to attain goals and working to achieve the goals (Kouzes and Posner, 2009)

Acts as an intermediary: Leadership is an intermediary between individual purpose and values, behaviors, organizational culture and processes. During turbulent and changing times, there must be continued adjustment to maintain the alignment of the four elements. These elements start with leadership awareness of purpose and values. The self-awareness will act as a guide on how a leader will lead the organization during tough times.

Building of connection with purpose and self-awareness through reflection and practice: the ability to reflect and meditate enables to stay centered and grounded in rough times.

Inspire followership: it will enable leaders know when to lead their teams and when to follow. Followership will help an organizations survive in turbulent times.

Building systems in support of high performers: during tough times most organizations overly focus on none performing employees instead of concentrating on performers. Leaders need to invest in supporting performers with purpose to achieve the organization’s mission and goals. This will help the organization pull through turbulent times.

Team building: A leader should build relationships with individuals through effective communication. Strong team relationships will help navigate the turbulent markets.

Effective communication: A leader should have strong listening skills and the ability to speak concisely. This will lead to strong accountability and conflict resolution.

Learning: Leaders should be future oriented and should not dwell on the past faults. Leaders should learn from challenges and past mistakes. They should also be agile when facing ongoing changes. Through learning the leaders will be able to help the organization survive tough times.

Aligning the organizations purpose with those of the stakeholders: For an organization to survive, it must make profits thus an organization has to find the intersection between its success and social action to make positive profit and social impact concurrently.

References

Barron, B.G. & Henderson, M.V., (1995). Strategic leadership: A theoretical and operational definition. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 22(2), 178.

Kouzes, J. & Posner B., (2009). To lead, create a shared vision. Harvard Business Review, 87, 20-21.

1.4: Analyze the characteristics and suitability of a range of leadership styles used to provide strategic direction.

Barron (1995), defines strategic leadership as practicing existing abilities and skills and influencing others to train in new formats for new leadership models. Rowe (2001), differentiates leaders into three; strategic, managerial and visionary leaders.

These leaders use the following leadership styles to provide strategic direction;

Democratic leadership: The leader makes decisions based on the input of employees or team members. Every employee has an equal say on a project’s direction. It is very suitable as it allows employees exercise authority they might need to use in future positions they might hold. This style also increases employee motivation as they feel appreciated and is the most effective.

Autocratic leadership: In this leadership style, the leader makes decisions alone without taking any input from anyone. It is not suitable and is rarely effective as it may lead to loss of employees who feel unappreciated.

Laissez-Faire leadership: Laissez faire is a French term meaning ‘let them do’. Leaders who use this style gives nearly all authority to their employees. Even if it can empower employees by trusting them to work the way they like, it can limit the employees’ development and overlook the organization’s growth opportunities. It is sometimes effective but not so suitable.

Strategic leadership: In this leadership style, leaders sit in between an organization’s main operations and its growth opportunities. The leader accepts the weight of executive interests while ensuring that the current working conditions remain stable for everyone else. It is a desirable leadership style in many organizations because strategic thinking supports multiple types of employees at any given time. It is commonly effective and can at times be suitable.

Transformational leadership: This leadership style transforms and improves on the organization’s conventions. Employees can have a basic set of roles or goals to complete within a certain timeline but the leader constantly pushes them out of their comfort zone. It is highly encouraged among growth minded organizations as it motivates employees to see what they are capable of. It is sometimes effective.

Transactional leadership: The leaders reward their employees for their work. This leadership style helps lay out the roles and responsibilities of each employee and can also encourage bare-minimum work if employees know how much their effort is worth all the time. This leadership style can utilize incentive programs for employee motivation and they should be in line with the organizational goals. It is sometimes suitable/ effective.

Bureaucratic leadership: This leadership style might listen and consider employees but the leader tends to reject an employee’s input if it is not in line with the organization’s policy or past practices. Employees might not feel controlled but there is still lack of freedom in how they carry out their roles. It can quickly shut down innovation thus not encouraged for companies with ambitious goals for quick growth.

References

Barron, B.G. & Henderson, M.V., (1995). Strategic leadership: A theoretical and operational definition. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 22(2), 178.

Rowe, W. G., (2001). Creating wealth in organizations: The role of strategic leadership. The Academy of Management Executive, 81-84.

1.5: Evaluate the nature, influence and implications of an empowerment strategy.

Empowerment is the ongoing process of providing the tools, training, resources, motivation and encouragement employees need to perform their best. Rappaport (1984) and Adams (2008) argue that the empowerment strategy is a process which enables individuals or groups to fully access personal or collective power, authority and influence and to employ that strength when engaging with other people or institutions or society. Empowerment is not giving power to people as people already have plenty of power in the wealth of their knowledge and motivation to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. It encourages people to gain the knowledge and skills which will allow them to overcome obstacles in their lives, work place and eventually help them develop within themselves or in the society.

The influence of an empowerment strategy;

Improves accountability.

Faster problem resolution.

Enhance higher quality customer service.

Promotes job satisfaction.

Improves processes and procedures.

Implications of empowerment include;

Teamwork: With proper empowerment, employees will self-motivate and look forward to collaborating with co-workers.

Improved employee morale: empowerment boosts the overall employee morale and gets projects done effectively and efficiently.

Increased productivity: empowered employees work hard to accomplish goals and complete tasks as a team.

Sense of responsibility: Empowered employees feel responsible for performing and carry out their part.

Increased creativity: An employee with a sense of accomplishment and one who feels valued is likely to engage in critical and creative thinking. Empowered employees take initiative and may find unique ways to add an organization’s worth, market services to clients and revise policies or processes that are no longer efficient.

Job satisfaction: an empowered employee increases their job satisfaction through a sense of autonomy. This develops the employee’s confidence and sense of worth. A happy employee provides the best service which translates to increased sales.

Loyalty: A well empowered employee exhibits loyalty for the organization he or she is working in and is more likely to work hard to promote the organization. The employee is also unlikely to leave the organization and can also recommend other qualified individuals for job openings.

Decision making: Empowered employees are fast in coming up with decisions when faced by a difficulty or opportunity. They will quickly respond to change and find new ways to meet customer demands.

References

Adams, R., (2008). Empowerment, participation and social work. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Rappaport, J. et al., (1984). Steps towards Understanding and Action. New York: Haworth.

2.3: 2.4: Evaluate the

impact of operational, financial strategies and objectives on internal and external stakeholders.

Internal stakeholders are groups or individuals who are directly and or financially involved in the operational process of an organization e.g. employees, owners, shareholders and managers.

Employees: they are primary internal stakeholders. Operational and financial strategies will positively or negatively affect employees. Positively they can improve the employees’ motivation though incentives and payments which in turn increases their productivity. Bad strategies will lead to retrenching and laying off workers.

Managers: Managers want the business be successful. Bad operational and financial opportunities can lead to managers losing their jobs or get paid less. Positive strategies will make sure that managers retain their jobs and get paid more.

Owners:  strategies will increase owners’ profits or bring losses. They can also make other stakeholders gain or lose trust in the owner of the organization.

 External stakeholders are indirectly influenced by the operations of an organization e.g. suppliers, customers, creditors, communities and governments.

Customers: Customers want good, reliable and quality products or services. Operational and financial strategies will either positively or negatively affect customer satisfaction and customers’ perception of the organization

Suppliers: They want the business to do well so as to continue getting paid for the products and services they provide. The operational and financial strategies will affect the rate of supply, amounts to supply and the promptness of payments.

Local community: An organization provides jobs for people in the local community. It also provides services and products that people want. The operational and financial strategies will affect the organization’s social responsibility to the local community.

Government: The government collects taxes from businesses and creates laws for organizations to abide on. The operational and financial strategies of an organization affects their rate of tax payments to the government and their likelihood of breaking the law or abiding to it.

References

Explain strategies you apply to motivate your employees and enhance their performance.

Motivation not only increases the level of employee performance but also increases their commitment in the workplace. There are various strategies of motivation;

Conducive working conditions: employees need enough resources (time, money, equipment) to carry out their tasks effectively. The work place should highly standardized and rigorously monitored to ensure a proper and safe environment for workers. Employees working in safe workplaces with secure working conditions tend to perform better.

Acceptable working hours: Employees should not be pushed past their physical working limits with long working hours without enough breaks. This reduces the performance of workers due to physical and mental fatigue. It is recommended that employees should work for forty hours a week so as to give them enough time to rest. Well rested employees are more active in their work and their overall performance is high.

Recognition: An organization can recognize employee performance through promotion, rewards etc. According to Robbins (2003), employee recognition entails personal attention, expressing interest in their work, promotion, better pay, approval and appreciation of a job well done. Employees will compete to work better or achieve more in order to gain recognition from their superiors.

Management and supervision: unsupervised workers tend to relax in their workplace thus neglecting their work completely or underachieving. Supervised workers tend to avoid laxity and this results to full utilization of their potential. Stone (2005) argues that supervision improves communication and consultation between management and employees.

Involving employees in decision making. This empowers employee as they are consulted in areas where they excel in. this raises the motivation of employees in order to always be consulted in the future.

References

Robbins, S.P. (2003). Organizational Behavior. 10th Ed. Canada, Prentice Hall, Pearson Education International, USA.

Stone, R.J. (2005). Human Resource Management. 5th ed. Milton: John Wiley and Sons.