The difference between equality and diversity
Equality and diversity are often mistaken to have the same, or a similar, meaning. However, this is not the case; “Equality is ensuring individuals or groups of individuals are treated fairly and equally and no less favourably, specific to their needs, including areas of race, gender, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation and age,” Anon (2009). To ensure there is equality in all businesses and organisations the Equality Act was renewed in 2010, which states certain rules which a company must obey.
Diversity has a very different meaning; this means difference, and people can have many differences, e.g:
· Race
· Culture
· Gender
· Sexual Orientation
· Age
· Marital Status
· Religion
· Ethnicity
· Disability
· And more …
A successfully diverse workforce is one that contains people at all levels who have a range of different characteristics and who have been recruited on the basis of their abilities and competence to do the job. (HR Services Partnership, 2010).
In conclusion to the difference between equality and diversity, this shows that equality is legislation put into place to ensure that all employees are treated fairly and diversity is putting this into action in the workplace.
Age legislation came into force in 2006, as an employer what impact might this have - brain storm some ideas.
· Age discrimination legislation makes employee benefits such as life cover, income protection and private medical insurance less sustainable in the future – Helen Pow (2007).
· Employers will have to state clear rules on their equality policies concerning age.
· They will have to review their recruitment process to make sure people of all ages have an equal opportunity.
· Consultancy Watson Wyatt recently surveyed 130 UK companies and found that 50 per cent believe the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations Act 2006 is threatening the future of protection insurance in the UK – Helen Pow (2007).
What stereotypes do we tend to hold about younger and older people?
| Younger People | Older People |
| Likely to have less experience in terms of working full time, and in terms of working with new people | May be harder to train as they are less willing to accept change and adaptation – set in their own ways |
| May be less willing to do hard work because of the times they have been brought up in – expect everything to be simple because of technology but this may not be the case | May not be as familiar with new technology, therefor also harder to train and may work slower |
| May have more of a social life so less focused on work | May not have the skills which a younger person would have – less able to do the work required of them |
Suggest two ideas as to how organisations can attempt to change these attitudes.
1. They could attempt to change these attitudes by including different activities in their training schemes. For example; for the older employees they could do a special course on computer skills and how to use the Internet properly.
2. They could encourage employees to interact with each other so that age does not seem an issue. For example; social events, or, relating to the first point, they could set up a scheme whereby the younger workers help to teach the older ones computer skills and how to use other technology.
By doing this the skills of the younger and older workers can be combined to maximise productivity out of the whole work force.
Visit one organisational website to benchmark practice in relation to equal opportunities, for example British Airways, Sainsbury’s, Asda or B&Q and explain the most innovative practices.
How have B&Q put into practice equal opportunities?
One of B&Q’s policies is to “Eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity in employment regardless of age, gender, colour, ethnic or national origin, culture, religion or other philosophical belief, disability, marital or civil partnership status, political affiliation, sexual identity or sexual orientation.”
They have put this into action in many different ways but the two which I think are the most innovative are: “B&Q's workforce spans a huge age range from 16-96” and “We were well ahead of the 2004 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), e.g. we changed our store layouts, introduced induction loops and Braille signage in customer toilets”.
The first practice shows that they are not discriminative towards age as they are able to work with people of all different ages. It also shows that they are able to adapt to the needs of these different age groups and are able to successfully train them to the standard of which they need. The second practice shows that they are not discriminative toward disabilities; and again, they have been able to change and adapt to suit everybody’s needs.
The way that B&Q have been able and willing to change shows that they appreciate and value their workforce, and are happy to have diversity within their organisation.
Conclusion
Since the renewing of the Equality Act in 2010 there has obviously been more of an importance put on equality and diversity within businesses; these changes ensure that businesses and organisations treat their staff fairly and equally. It also ensures that people have equal opportunities when trying to find a job, as workplaces are becoming more and more diverse. This is also shown by the way businesses, such as B&Q, have made significant changes to adapt to different people’s needs.
References
Anon (2009) [online] Available from: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/equality-diversity/about/equality-diversity [Accessed on: 18/04/12]
HR Services Partnership (2010) [online] Available from: http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/advice-support/workforce-development/hr-employment-practice/diversity-equal-opportunities [Accessed on: 18/04/12]
Helen Pow (2007) [online] Available from: http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/analysis/employers-concerned-at-effects-of-age-legislation/147979.article [Accessed on 18/04/12]
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