(Solution) CIPD Level 5 ICS Learn Equality, diversity and inclusion (5OS05)

Solution

SECTION 1

1.1 Assessment of the Value of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Organisations

     Equality

Equality allows all employees, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or background, to be treated equally and have equal career opportunities. The result of this recent survey at Service Sector Solutions Ltd was that females and multi-ethnic employees are underrepresented in leadership roles. This inequality can be addressed to raise morale and minimise its legal risks. According to Carucci (2024), companies with more diverse leadership teams perform better than those lacking such diversity. However, implementing it means changing policies and consuming large amounts of resources, and this is something that promotes equality and increases employee motivation and retention while creating a positive brand reputation.

Diversity

Diversity is the ability to have multiple viewpoints, which enhance decision making, creativity, and problem solving. The existence of lack of female and multi-ethnic leadership in the company diminishes its capacity to reflect employees and customers. Different leadership styles allow companies to enter new markets (CIPD, 2018). While diversity is good because an innovative workforce and a better public image is generated, the downside is that there are communication problems in an unstructured management of diversity.

Inclusion

The inclusion of employees ensures that they feel heard and respected and increases the engagement as well as performance. One reason for disengagement with the Black community is also a lack of celebration of the Black community in diversity events. Companies with inclusive workplaces outperform financially by two times. (CIPD, 2023). The inclusion, however, takes consistent leadership and training.

1.2 Anti-discrimination Legislation

The main legislation of discrimination law in the UK is the Equality Act 2010. It is dealing with nine protected characteristics, including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. According to ACAS (2025), this Act upholds four key elements.

 Direct discrimination: This is discrimination where a person is treated unfavourably because of a protected characteristic, for example, refusing to offer a job to a candidate because of their race.

Indirect discrimination: This occurs when a policy is aimed at everyone but harms particular people or groups; for example, a rule requiring all employees to work late may disadvantage people with families.

Harassment: Unwanted conduct connected to a protected characteristic that creates an offensive or hostile atmosphere, for example, making sexist remarks at work.

Victimization:  When someone is treated unfairly because they have complained about discrimination, such as being demoted for reporting racism in the workplace. These sorts of contracts are now all forms that are illegal under the Equality Act 2010.

1.3 Barriers to achieving equality, diversity, and inclusion

There are three major barriers to achieving equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) at Service Sector Solutions Ltd:

Lack of Female and Multi Ethnic Leaders: This signals a problem with the promotion of female and multi ethnic leaders, recruitment bias, and lack of career development opportunities. ‌Radulovski (2024) explains, if diverse employees lack role models to aspire to leadership roles, they are discouraged.

Lack of an Inclusive Workplace Culture – According to Ely and Thomas (2020), lack of EDI events and celebrations somehow indicates that diversity is not embedded within the organisational culture. Without visible support, employees can think they are unappreciated, and with it follows engagement can fall, contributing to deliverables and retention.

Failure to Address Workplace Discrimination – Too many cases brought to employment tribunals reflect an ineptitude in addressing workplace discrimination and treating grievances, delegitimizing the company’s commitment to fairness. It can weaken the organisation’s reputation and employee morale.

To effectively address these barriers leadership commitment, policy changes, targeted career development programs, and cultural initiatives are required to build a truly inclusive and diverse workplace.

SECTION 2

2.1 Organisational Review of Three People Practices

 Skills Gap Analysis:

Skills gap is key at Service solution Ltd to determine any disparities in employee’s competencies and career progression. This practice can only be incorporated with equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) parameters, and this will allow the organisation to develop training and development opportunities that will be customised to support those few individuals who are not represented in the workforce, such as women and minority group employees. Nevertheless, previous underrepresentation indicates that analyses to date may not adequately grapple with systemic barriers.

Building Talent Pools:

An inclusive leadership pipeline is created by having a proactive strategy of developing diverse talent pools. However, if structured appropriately, it can help fill the gap of underrepresented female and multi-ethnic employees in managerial roles through focused mentorship, leadership training, and sponsorship programs.

Talent Attraction:

An inclusive talent attraction strategy actively attracts candidates of diverse backgrounds. Service Sector Solutions Ltd makes corporate social responsibility and adherence to EDI practices well known in their bid submissions already, with a commitment to inclusive hiring. Yet, the organisation’s workforce data indicates that such efforts have failed to translate to diversity at the leadership level.

2.2 Equality impact assessment (EqIA)

2.3 Recommendations

Inclusive Recruitment & Career Development:  …

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