ASSESSMENT 1

Q1. The five issues across the operations of a business that can be linked to diversity are:-

1. Acceptance and Respect are the fundamental value that can be contributed to a successfully
classified and diverse workplace by respecting workers and employees. When there will be lack
of acceptance of the diverse culture and beliefs among the employees, there are chances that
conflicts may arise. Acceptance fosters mutual respect and prevents conflicts from arising.
Training of diversity will help the employees to understand, accept and respect each other’s
differences.

2. Diversity in cultural, spiritual, and political beliefs will sometimes pose a challenge in a
diverse workplace. Employees got to be reminded that they shouldn’t impose their beliefs on
others to stop spats and disputes.

3. Issues from ethnic and cultural differences are still present in the workplace. There are still
some individuals who hold prejudice against people that have different ethnic, cultural, and non-
secular backgrounds as their own. This prejudice and discrimination should never be tolerated
within the workplace or anywhere else. Cultural sensitivities training and diversity awareness
programs in the workplace can help address this issue.

4. Gender Equality at the workplace is yet to travel mainstream. It is important that both the
genders are treated equally and given equal opportunities at work.

5. Disabled employees have a difficult time navigating through their workplace because proper
accommodations as simple as wheelchair ramps are not available. Some special needs employees
even have service dogs, and a few office buildings don’t allow them inside. Make arrangements
for service dogs to be permitted in your place of work.

Q2. The 4 potential benefits of diversity in a business are:-

1. Diversity in the workplace brings a variety of different perspectives. This means that
employees will have different characteristics and backgrounds so they will also have more likely
to have a variety of different skills and experiences. Hence, employees in a company with higher
workplace diversity will have access to a variety of different perspectives, which is highly
beneficial when it comes to planning and executing a business strategy.

2. Diversity will eventually lead to creativity. In addition to having a variety of different

perspectives from people with different backgrounds, the exposure to such a variety leads to
increased creativity. When you put together people who see the same thing in different ways,
you are more likely to get a melting pot of fresh, new ideas, thus improving the creativity of your
workforce.
3. Diversity leads to higher chances of innovation. Diversity in the workplace leads to higher
innovation rate. In a diverse workplace, employees are exposed to multiple perspectives and
worldviews. When these various perspectives combine, they often come together in good ways,
making space for innovation.

4. Diversity leads to faster and better decision making skills Companies with higher workplace
diversity solve problems. Diverse teams are able to solve problems faster than cognitively similar
people. Employees from diverse backgrounds have different experiences and views, which is
why they are able to will bring diverse solutions to the table. Thus, the best solution can be
chosen sooner, which leads to faster problem-solving.

Q3.

Diversity is a popular at many institutions, with some employers focusing on public relations and
its value. Many organizations have understood that having a diverse group of people and
perspectives in the company can result into good and better outcome. Demonstrating the
diversity of its work force helps your organization recruit and retain more people and can
strengthen morale. Don’t view diversity as a matter of black and white. A diverse work force is a
mixture of races, cultures, ages, backgrounds and more. Making it easy, a racial focus will insult
some and make your efforts seem like a waste..Conduct diversity and sensitivity training classes
and require employees to attend once a year. If you hire the right classroom facilitator this can be
done in a meaningful way and will demonstrate that you have a diverse work force that you care
about supporting.

Q4.

1. This theory, in supported organization theory, that recognizes the order to work out a
corporation’s structure one can't separate the social environment found within an organization. so
as to know the structure of the organization it must even be understood that the behaviour of
employees in organizations and organizations themselves have limiting factors like legislation,
laws, rules, regulations, and social and professional norms. The organizations are held to similar
norms and regulations tend to develop similar administrative structures. This shows that
organizations are willing to be according to their norms and that they begin to garner legitimacy
for his or her operations. By proving legitimacy through its actions, organizations prove what
their priorities are and may begin to accumulate material resources from others. Laws require
organizations to become diverse they need to convince both individuals within the organization
and individuals outside of the organization that they're conforming to those laws and norms. If a
corporation fails to follow these laws or norms then its operations are going to be questioned and
it's going to even be terminated for violating the law.
2. The main focus of Resource Based Theory of Diversity Management is how the
implementation of diversity will affect organizational resources. There are four categories of
resources that organizations possess- physical capital, financial capital, human capital, and
company capital resources. These resources can either assist or inhibit the operations of the
organization. Organizations plan to use these resources in ways in which will in fact assist and
improve business. From business perspective organizations that are more diverse gain a plus
compared to organizations that are homogenous.

Q5.

Here are some legislation, code of practices, and national standard that might be applied to the
event of diversity policy:-

1. Code of ethics and code of conduct- Codes covering ethical principles, values and behaviours
expected and conduct while at UWA.

2. Charter of student rights and responsibilities - Fundamental rights and responsibilities of

scholars and their organisations.

3. Professional and private relationships within the workplace- Conduct expected to take care of
charitable trust and confidence within the integrity and professionalism of the University.

4. Equal employment opportunities- UWA's responsibilities under Commonwealth and State

legislation

5. Workplace diversity- Enhancing workforce representation of Indigenous Australians, people

with disabilities and other people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

6. Achievement relative to opportunity- Providing consistency, fairness and transparency within

the implementation and utilisation of the principles of accomplishment relative to opportunity in
any staffing matter requiring a choice , evaluation, or determination supported merit.

7. Diverse sexualities and gender - Expectations of inclusive behaviour towards individuals of all
sexualities and genders.

8. Gender balance on committees - Ensuring an appropriate gender balance on its committees.

9. Guidelines on the utilization of non-discriminatory language- civil right should be evident

altogether official University publications and communications.

10. Mental health- The University’s management of psychological state and wellbeing for the
campus community.
11. Prevention and determination of bullying on campus -Responsibilities of
managers/supervisors when responding to instances of bullying.

12. Flexible work and leave practices - Supporting employees with various priorities at work,
home and in their community.
ASSESSMENT 2

PART A

Soft-Authent Diversity Policy Report

Soft-Authent is a start-up which provides two-factor authentication software. The founder and
CEO of the company, Brent Halliday, want to build an inclusive culture in his workplace but the
current diversity policy does not reflect these values. Due to the lack of an effective diversity
policy, the company is making recruitment decisions that are affected by unconscious biases of
the recruiters. If the company changes its policies and implements diversity policy then it will
have some potential benefits of organisational diversity in relation to achieving their strategic
objectives which are as follows:

1. Better employee performance: Diversity and inclusion go hand-in-hand. When you create
a work environment where employees see a representation of a variety of cultures,
backgrounds, and ways of thinking, they’re more likely to feel comfortable being
themselves. This, in turn, leads to happier, more productive employees and will also
increase employee retention rate.
2. More innovation: Workplace diversity leads to innovation. If you think about it, the
correlation makes sense. If you have a homogenous group of people, chances are that
everything - from their thought patterns to life experiences to problem-solving skills - are
likely to be similar as well. And sameness doesn’t lead to creative solutions. On the other
hand, a heterogeneous group of employees will contribute unique perspectives that can
lead to breakthroughs in thought.
3. New perspectives: When you hire people from diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and
cultures, you’re bringing a fresh array of perspectives to the table. This can lead to
benefits like better problem solving and increased productivity. This will also result in
increase in revenue.

The benefits of workplace diversity have long been known, with study after study finding that
diverse teams, with their broad knowledge and ability to look at problems from a variety of
different angles, achieve greater success than more homogenous teams. But diversity, be it
represented in ethnicity, age, sex or otherwise, doesn’t just happen. Many of the best companies
in Australia have recognised these difficulties, and are actively working towards doing diversity
right which are as follows:

1. Accenture: Accenture have put in firm initiatives that focus on delivering real and
measurable diversity results. The Accenture Australia diversity philosophy rests on these
main pillars:
 Gender Equality: Company is dedicated to achieving a 50-50 gender balance by
2025.
  Pride (LGBTI): The local LGBTI community within Accenture, has continued to
expand to over 800 allies through ongoing awareness, communications, and
events.
 Focus on Enablement: In Australia and New Zealand Accenture is a member of
the Diversity Council Australia and a Gold Member of Australian Network on
Disability through which it is creating a diverse, inclusive and accessible
organisation.

2. EY: EY have made a point of valuing and respecting individual differences. They have
taken the time to understand what individuals with a different background, education
level, gender, ethnicity, nationality, generation, age, working and thinking style, religion,
sexual orientation, ability and technical skill set bring to the table, and set out to be as
inclusive an organisation as they can be.

3. Cheetah digital: “Diversity doesn’t happen by chance. It is intentional and requires

careful planning, a firm strategy and leadership,” instructs Matthias Bizilis, Director of
Enterprise Business Development for Australia and New Zealand at Cheetah Digital. He
focuses on what he terms the three Cs: context, communication and choice.
 Context: Diversity efforts need to be specific in action and relevant to a situation,
to a team, to a product, to a marketing initiative et al.
 Communication: You need to listen to your team. Communication is the impetus
and serves to explain the ‘why’ behind any action taken on diversity.
 Choice: There is no one-size-fits-all action to solve an issue of diversity. Strong
performers in diversity have mastered the art of balancing process and
participation down to an individual level.

Soft-Authent should focus on achieving a 50-50 gender balance. It should also support the local
LGBTI community through ongoing awareness, communications, and events. It should also
focus on Enablement which will incorporates Persons with Disabilities, Mental Health Ally
network and Veterans.
 Part C

Diversity Policy

Scope

This policy applies to all Soft-Authent directors and employees. This policy covers the
company’s objective, legislative context, application of policy and details about the people
responsible for executing this policy.

Policy Statement

Soft-Authent respects people as individuals and values their differences. It is committed to

creating a working environment that is fair and flexible, promotes personal and professional
growth, and benefits from the capabilities of its diverse workforce. Inclusion and diversity will
be fundamental to company’s culture and core values. The company will be committed to
creating an inclusive and diverse workforce where people can feel comfortable and be
themselves, and as a result be productive and high performing.

Aims

Soft-Authent aims to:

 create a workplace which is free from discrimination, harassment, bullying, victimisation

and vilification;

 create a workplace culture that is inclusive and embraces individual differences;

 treat all employees fairly and with respect;

 provide equal employment opportunities based on ability, performance and potential;

 create awareness in all staff of their rights and responsibilities with regards to fairness,
equity and respect for all aspects of diversity;

 implement flexible work practices and policies to support employees and their changing
needs;

 enable attraction, retention and development of a diverse range of talented people; and

 Implement equitable frameworks and policies, processes and practices that limit potential
unconscious bias.
Application of policy

The senior management of Soft-Authent is responsible for implementing this policy.

Legislative context

The policy has been developed in the context of Part 9A of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act
1977 and is consistent with key legislation including: NSW Carers (Recognition) Act 2010 and
Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

Implementation responsibilities

The senior management of Soft-Authent is responsible for implementing this policy.

Monitoring and measurement of impact

The Executive Director and senior management will monitor the scope of this policy and is
responsible for monitoring the implementation and reviewing its effectiveness, at least every
three years.

The effectiveness of this policy will be evaluated annually by all work areas and measured by the
management statistics extracted from the department’s workforce profile.

Senior staff including senior executives, senior officers, principals, managers and supervisors
should encourage all employees to complete the online survey (staff only) which is an important
mechanism for capturing the data on workforce diversity.

Links to other policies

Accenture Diversity Policy

https://www.accenture.com/in-en/about/inclusion-diversity-index

Diversity Action Plan

Initiative Action Responsibility Timeline Measurable

Increasing Percentage of female HR Within 2 years 40% female

female employees to employees by the
representation increase to 40% at end of 2022.
least.

Supporting Percentage of Senior Within 1 year 2% employees

employees or employees or Management with disability
potential potential employees
employees with with disabilities to be
disabilities increased to 2%.

HR Recruiting/ Differences among CEO and HR Within a year Increased, hiring

Retention employee and turnover
demographic savings, Employee
segments satisfaction,
Employer
reputation and
brand
enhancement

Increasing Percentage of HR Within 1 year Increased

participation by employees who speak percentage of
employees of languages in addition employees
Asian/ CALD to English to increase speaking other
backgrounds to 10% languages

Promoting age Percentage of HR Within 1 year Increased

diversity employees over the percentage of
age of 45 to be employees over
increased to 20% the age of 45

Revision History

Version Created By Date

1.0 CEO 11 February 2018
2.0 HR 1 January, 2020
Part D

The CEO, Brent Halliday, read the policy and asked for few changes in the action plan. He asked
to create employment opportunities for indigenous Australians because it will promote strong
company brand by understanding different population segments. So the revised draft action plan
template will be as follows:

Revised Diversity Action Plan

Initiative Action Responsibility Timeline Measurable

Increasing Percentage of female HR Within 2 years 40% female

female employees to employees by the
representation increase to 40% at end of 2022.
least.

Supporting Percentage of Senior Within 1 year 2% employees

employees or employees or Management with disability
potential potential employees
employees with with disabilities to be
disabilities increased to 2%.

HR Recruiting/ Differences among CEO and HR Within a year Increased, hiring

Retention employee and turnover
demographic savings, Employee
segments satisfaction,
Employer
reputation and
brand
enhancement

Increasing Percentage of HR Within 1 year Increased

participation by employees who speak percentage of
employees of languages in addition employees
Asian/ CALD to English to increase speaking other
backgrounds to 10% languages

Promoting age Percentage of HR Within 1 year Increased

diversity employees over the percentage of
age of 45 to be employees over
increased to 20% the age of 45
Creating Percentage of HR Within 1 year Increased
employment employees from percentage of
opportunities for Indigenous employees from
indigenous backgrounds to Indigenous
Australians increase to 2% at backgrounds
least.

ASSESSMENT 3

Appendix C: Communication Plan template

Target audience: Key messages: Communication Who is Timeline:

methods: responsible for
What do we want doing it? When will
to tell them? How are we going this happen?
to tell them?
(E.g.
immediately,
on-going,
etc.)

Objectives and
aims of the new
policy. Ask for
the employees'
Current Staff Group meetings CEO and HR On going
input and
encourage their
feedback on the
plan.

Hiring female,
indigenous
employees and
Future staff Social Media CEO Immediately
staff with
potential
disability.
 Hiring staff from
Contractors and Press release to Within a
different CEO
clients the local media week
backgrounds

Part C

Previously, Soft-Authent employed 120 people. Its employees were 95% male and 5% female.
Their ethnicity data referred to Australian employees only, and indicated 90% white, 7% Asian,
3% identified as two or more races. The company did not had any support systems for employees
from diverse racial or religious backgrounds, veterans, women in IT, people with disability,
LGBTQ+ employees, etc. Hence, the company targeted to have 40% female employees and as a
result, the organisation currently has a total staff of 50, and employs 18 women. So this target is
achieved. Whereas women at management level remained same this was supposed to be
increased.

Further, the average turnover for the past six months has been 6% for both women and men.
Gender-based pay discrimination is not part of Soft-Authent’s remuneration system. Reduced
labour turnover and higher retention rates have resulted in lower recruitment and training costs
for company. Improvements in the working environment and culture have reduced absenteeism.
Employees with Asian/ CALD backgrounds increased to 10% from 7%. People with a disability
were supposed to be increased by 2% which was done. People over the age of 45 also increased
to 15% as decided by the management.

The Diversity Policy and Action Plan is ‘fit for purpose’ – that is, usable and workable as we
noticed that the actions were achieved within the desired time frame. The policy and plan adhere
to legislative requirements as per the Australian Government. The implementation of this actions
have resulted in more innovation and increased employee retention rate and employee
satisfaction. The implementation has helped the business meet its objectives but still there are
areas in which changes are still to be made. Hence, the implementation did not realise all the
expected benefits that were identified and it had not meet the CEO and COO’s expectations.
They still think that changes should be made. Employees also provided the following feedback
of the policy:

 People of diverse backgrounds work in all levels and departments of the organisation
 Diversity is seems to be a goal in recruitment strategies
 There is equity in employment actions and systems
 The business employs people irrespective of their age, based on their experience, merit
and suitability for the job
  Employee issues are raised and heard with respect and honesty, and are resolved in an
effective, timely manner
 Organisational issues and personnel grievances are resolved effectively with active,
appropriate input and participation from all levels
 Managers are trained, assessed, held accountable and rewarded for managing people of
diverse backgrounds effectively.

The implementation have unintended impacts on the business or breaches of legislative

requirements.

As the HR of the company, I will recommend to address issues identified in this analysis by the
following ways:

 Diversity strategies should be made integral to organisational strategic plan and

objectives
 People of diverse backgrounds should be included in all levels and in all departments of
the organisation
 Representation of women in executive and management roles should be improved
 Hiring and retention of high potential females should be made a key performance
indicator for senior management
 Trainers conducting diversity workshops will be given special instructions. Workshop
content should be standardised and approved by the HR Manager.
Revised Diversity Policy

Scope

This policy applies to all Soft-Authent directors and employees. This policy covers the
company’s objective, legislative context, application of policy and details about the people
responsible for executing this policy.

Policy Statement

Soft-Authent respects people as individuals and values their differences. It is committed to

creating a working environment that is fair and flexible, promotes personal and professional
growth, and benefits from the capabilities of its diverse workforce. Inclusion and diversity will
be fundamental to company’s culture and core values. The company will be committed to
creating an inclusive and diverse workforce where people can feel comfortable and be
themselves, and as a result be productive and high performing.

Aims

Soft-Authent aims to:

 create a workplace which is free from discrimination, harassment, bullying, victimisation

and vilification;

 create a workplace culture that is inclusive and embraces individual differences;

 treat all employees fairly and with respect;

 provide equal employment opportunities based on ability, performance and potential;

 create awareness in all staff of their rights and responsibilities with regards to fairness,
equity and respect for all aspects of diversity;

 implement flexible work practices and policies to support employees and their changing
needs;

 enable attraction, retention and development of a diverse range of talented people; and

 Implement equitable frameworks and policies, processes and practices that limit potential
unconscious bias.
Application of policy

The senior management of Soft-Authent is responsible for implementing this policy.

Legislative context

The policy has been developed in the context of Part 9A of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act
1977 and is consistent with key legislation including: NSW Carers (Recognition) Act 2010 and
Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

Implementation responsibilities

The senior management of Soft-Authent is responsible for implementing this policy.

Monitoring and measurement of impact

The Executive Director and senior management will monitor the scope of this policy and is
responsible for monitoring the implementation and reviewing its effectiveness, at least every
three years.

The effectiveness of this policy will be evaluated annually by all work areas and measured by the
management statistics extracted from the department’s workforce profile.

Senior staff including senior executives, senior officers, principals, managers and supervisors
should encourage all employees to complete the online survey (staff only) which is an important
mechanism for capturing the data on workforce diversity.

Links to other policies

Accenture Diversity Policy

https://www.accenture.com/in-en/about/inclusion-diversity-index

Diversity Action Plan

Initiative Action Responsibility Timeline Measurable

Increasing Percentage of female HR Within 2 years 40% female

female employees to employees by the
representation increase to 40% at end of 2022.
least. And women at
management level
should be 20%

Supporting Percentage of Senior Within 1 year 2% employees

employees or employees or Management with disability
potential potential employees
employees with with disabilities to be
disabilities increased to 2%.

HR Recruiting/ Differences among CEO and HR Within a year Increased, hiring

Retention employee and turnover
demographic savings, Employee
segments satisfaction,
Employer
reputation and
brand
enhancement

Increasing Percentage of HR Within 1 year Increased

participation by employees who speak percentage of
employees of languages in addition employees
Asian/ CALD to English to increase speaking other
backgrounds to 10% languages

Promoting age Percentage of HR Within 1 year Increased

diversity employees over the percentage of
age of 45 to be employees over
increased to 20% the age of 45

Standardized Workshop content HR On going No conflicts and

Training content should be issues related to
standardised and training content
approved by the HR
Manager.
Revision History

Version Created By Date

1.0 CEO 11 February 2018
2.0 HR 1 January, 2019
3.0 HR 1 January, 2020