Friday, 19 April 2013


                                                                                                                                      ST ID 21201314
                             EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY
                                                                                


Equality and diversity are related terms, still, they are different from one another. Equality is the term used which involves a general feeling that everyone is treated equal, irrespective, of where they come from and what social background they possess within an organization (Mullins, 2010). On the other side, diversity is more like creating an environment that recognizes and thrives on the differences of all and recognizing those to be able to work peacefully and coexist with one another. It is about maintaining such a setting that respects and value differences  (Foot and Hook, 2008).

 British airways follow the concept of equally valuing everyone and constantly work towards producing an inclusive culture that understands and respects the individual differences of all its employees (Cross, 2000). The diversity strategy of this company towards racial equality is that they listen to their ethnic minority staff and try to increase their representation at senior levels. Also, it works with units such as Race for Opportunity that guide it on race equality issues (Diversity Strategy, n.d). 
The company value diversity of religion and belief by safeguarding the faiths of all. It provides prayer facilities across the business and publish religious festivals newsletter on their intranet site so that it can create awareness of different cultures (Flood and Romm,. 1996). It also takes step towards decreasing harassment and bullying and raises awareness of dignity and ensures that everyone is aware of its equality policies  (Equality and Diversity (E&D), n.d). Furthermore works closely with other companies to share information and create best practice on the eradication of this.

 Equality and diversity need to be managed with great care at work place wherein people of different cultures and backgrounds work together. Taking the case of British airways, the company has different ways of valuing equality and diversity at its workplace. Being the leading airline in United Kingdom, it has a medley when it comes to employees (Equality and Diversity, 2006). As people having different faiths and religious beliefs are working with the company, prayer facilities are provided to them and a monthly newsletter of religious festivals is published to raise awareness regarding the varied cultures in the organization. Moreover, the airline giant also caters to the different dietary patterns of its people by providing them a variety of options, which makes sure that all foods are labeled and prime requirements are fulfilled (Diversity Strategy: British Airways, 2012).   

British airways have incorporated sexual orientation in its diversity management program. The corporation has close ties with institutions like Stonewall which is devoted to equality for bisexual people. The company provides an inclusive workplace environment for all types of employees (Wright and et.al., 2006).
In addition to this, it is the priority of British airway’s race equality policy to address the problems of its employees belonging to ethnic minorities (Walsh, 2007). The firm encourages sharing of ideas related to training and development, career progression, bullying and harassment. Its prime goal is to elevate the number of ethnic minority people representing at higher cadre. The organization has joined hands with Commission for Racial Equality and Race for Opportunity for seeking guidance and advice on issues of race equality (Kirton and Greene, 2006).

Books, Journals and Articles
Mullins, L. 2010. Management and Organization Behavior. 9th ed. FT Prentice Hall.
Foot, M. and Hook, C. 2008. Introducing Human Resource Management. 5th ed. London:  FT Prentice Hall. 
Cross, E.Y. 2000. Managing Diversity: The Courage to Lead. Greenwood Publishing Group
.Flood, R.L. and Romm, N.R.A. 1996. Diversity Management: Triple Loop Learning. J. Wiley.
Kirton, G. and Greene, A. M., 2006. The discourse of diversity in unionized contexts: views from trade union equality officers. Personnel Review. 35(4). pp.431 – 448.
 Walsh, J., 2007. Equality and diversity in British workplaces: the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey. Industrial Relations Journal. 38(4). pp.303-319.
Wright, T. and et.al., 2006. Lesbian, gay and bisexual workers: equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Equal Opportunities International. 25(6). pp.465 – 470.


Online References
Equality and Diversity (E&D). n.d. [online]. Available through < http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/diversity/resources/definitions.htm >. [Accessed on 7th February 2013]

Diversity Strategy: British Airways. 2012. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.britishairways.com/travel/crdivstrategy/public/en_gb#top>. [Accessed on 2 March 2013].
Equality and Diversity. 2006. [pdf]. Available through: <http://www3.hants.gov.uk/equalityanddiversityv2workbook.pdf>. [Accessed on 2 March 2013].