Effects of Workforce Diversity in United Kingdom’s Workforce (Thesis Proposal Sample)

Assessing the Effects of Workforce Diversity in United Kingdom’s Workforce Composition Name Date Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Research Problem PAGEREF _Toc121946932 \h 2The Selected Research Readings PAGEREF _Toc121946933 \h 2A Critique of Two Research Methods PAGEREF _Toc121946934 \h 3Semi-Structured Interviews PAGEREF _Toc121946935 \h 3Quantitative Self-Completed Surveys PAGEREF _Toc121946936 \h 5Instrument and Key Conclusions PAGEREF _Toc121946937 \h 7Instrument PAGEREF _Toc121946938 \h 7Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc121946939 \h 8Research Dissemination PAGEREF _Toc121946940 \h 8Relevance and Audience PAGEREF _Toc121946941 \h 8Research Communication PAGEREF _Toc121946942 \h 9References PAGEREF _Toc121946943 \h 10Appendices PAGEREF _Toc121946944 \h 16Appendix 1: Study Questionnaire on Workplace Diversify PAGEREF _Toc121946945 \h 16Appendix 2: Research Mind Map PAGEREF _Toc121946946 \h 23 Research Problem Work environments continue to become complex as a result of competition and globalization, which have created the need for employees with varying experiences, age, backgrounds and knowledge to create a competitive edge (Zeibote, 2019; Tamunomiebi & John-Eke, 2020). According to Hayes (2020), firms willing to attain a competitive advantage need to widen their perspective regarding workforce diversity as well as diversity management, with the management emphasizing on ensuring that diversity management is covered in its daily operations. The United Kingdom has a population of over 67.51 million people as of 2022, where more than half of the population comprises working age. This illustrates the large pool of talent that firms leverage to attain their goals (Macrotrends, 2022; Clark, 2022). From the web search regarding workforce diversity, it was discovered that there are only a few researches conducted on workforce diversity and its impact on the UK’s workforce composition. Most of the available literature has focused more on the effects of workforce diversity on an organization’s performance. This has left a gap in the literature which forms the basis of this paper. The Selected Research Readings Mirzaevich et al. (2019) pointed out that the need for interactions among people from different backgrounds has also increased due to increased globalization aspect. According to Machhi et al. (2020), the increased demand for interactions is because people no longer work and live in narrower surroundings because they have recently played a part in worldwide economic development. Lee and Yoo (2019) also point out that organizations and varied companies are expected to become more diversified to gain competitive advantages through innovation, creativity and more openness to better changes. Yücel (2022) further demonstrates that the current business operations are changing at a higher rate, and the changes such as the employee demographics, increased employment in the economy, increased growth in globalization and the need for effective and efficient collaborations have supported the forces behind the need for diversity in organizations. Efremov and Vladimirova (2019) also argue that with the increase in competition and globalization, the workforces in developed nations have become more heterogeneous, whereby the advent of the global economy and advancement in technology has brought individuals all over the world close to each other. According to Anukwuocha and Okafor (2022), having a diverse workforce demands that managers manage and identify different attributes between the employees in the organizations. Therefore, the educational systems, businesses and other aspects are assessing how to effectively serve their constraints to retain and attract qualified and finest employees (Wahab et al., 2021).  Olowookere et al. (2021) describe workforce diversity as those considerable similarities and differences currently exist among employees in various organizations. Muriuki (2021) said it represents uniqueness, such as age, individual personalities, gender, religion, ethnicity, marital status, and work experiences, among others which can sustain and supposes the organizational core values. It also indicates that companies are incorporating workforce compositions concerning expertise, age and ethnicity (Tamunomiebi & Onah,2019). Moreover, Alshammari (2020) also points out that human resource is an essential part of any organization and having a diversified workforce is the primary concern for various organizations. However, the need to create a diversified work setup has become a significant concern; it has become more challenging for organizations to benefit from it while controlling its disruptive effects (Cooke et al., 2020).  Hunt et al. (2020), in the analysis of the benefits of workforce diversity in the United Kingdom, pointed out that the companies appearing in the top quartile on gender diversity were about 25% and are likely to experience financial returns above the sector mean. The study demonstrates a more substantial business case for workforce diversity, indicating that it lies in employee and employer interests. However, there is limited research on the effects of workforce diversity in the United Kingdom’s workforce composition. Therefore, this paper seeks to bridge that gap by exploring how the UK has embraced workforce diversity and how it has shaped the design of its workforce to drive various organizational growth and development.  A Critique of Two Research Methods Researchers have leveraged on primary research methods to collect data regarding workplace diversity, which has played a significant role in ensuring the reliability of their findings. This paper will cover the application of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with a critical focus on their applicability in addressing the research problem. Semi-Structured Interviews Semi-structured interviews form the common method observed from most of the literature on workplace diversity, with qualitative and inductive approaches forming the choice of most researchers who have conducted similar research. Semi-structured interviews based on qualitative research entail an interviewer asking pre-designed questions based on specific themes that are aimed at directing conversations toward addressing the researcher's main focus area or research question (Menezes & Prikladnicki, 2018). The use of semi-structured interviews allows the researcher to attain a deep comprehension that may not be well-attained use they use quantitative methods (Hands, 2022). The format of the questions can be open-ended, giving the interviewer a chance to easily modify the pace, style, and the way the questions are arranged to ensure that more detailed information likely to enhance the quality of the findings is attained in the interview process (Hammer & Wildavsky, 2018). The presence of the researcher enables a shared understanding to be realized, where it becomes easier to break-down any terms that may seem technical o even paraphrase questions in such a way that the interviewee can easily comprehend what is being asked, which tends to be challenging to attain in quantitative approaches (Groenland & Dana, 2020). In this regard, semi-structured interviews allow the researcher to gather extensive data necessary to effectively address the research question (Yeong et al., 2018). According to Kadir and Kumle (2022), the face-to-face interaction approach in data collection serves as a convenient data collection method that research may consider utilizing. For instance, research conducted by Farmanesh et al. (2020) examined whether a positive interlink between workplace diversity and organizational performance exists and applied a semi-structured interview approach in data collection. The researchers were able to use semi-structured interviews that targeted university academic staff. The researchers were able to visit the interviewee's workplaces and learn more about their working environment, which could have been challenging to attain if they had used quantitative methods like administering online surveys. The semi-structured interviews presented the researchers with an opportunity to observe key features of the respondent's workplaces relevant to enhancing the research findings and, more importantly, which could guide the data collection process.  The application of unscheduled and scheduled probes forms a significant approach used by researchers when undertaking semi-structured interviews (DeJonckheere & Vaughn, 2019). A researcher can effectively provoke more narrative from the respondent, carry out follow-ups and provide more details to simplify a topic. In this regard, the semi-structured interview method offers the researcher significant flexibility required to disclose vital and hidden details or insights that a researcher intends to attain, especially when conducting interviews on persons in managerial positions and other senior positions (Bradford et al., 2022).  A study conducted by Cunningham (2019) on the impacts of workplace diversity with a critical focus on the public sector also used semi-structured interviews, allowing the employees in the public sector to discuss issues affecting them concerning diversity and the inclusivity of their work environments. From the interviews, the researcher was able to find out aspects like racial, gender, experience and knowledge diversity as well as how these key facets are managed. The researcher also noted that even though the semi-structured interview method was useful in conducting exploratory research, the interviewees showcased different issues leading the interview to shift away from the main topic of interest, which was also observed by Hwang et al. (2022). This can adversely impact the validity of the results and the quality of the research as well.  Interviews may be subject to bias, and this forms another critical limitation of the semi-structured intervie...