Challenges in HR Equal Opportunities and Diversity at British Telecommunications - Essay Example

Challenges in HR – BT Case Study Equal Opportunities and Diversity at British Telecommunications (BT) Challenges in Human Resources – BT Case Study British Telecommunications (BT) faces some significant challenges on its skills front. BT is undergoing a process of transformation to offering network platforms from the conventional telephone company. The network platforms will give customers the capability to run their software systems through a BT platform and provide services to their own clients. This necessitates a proportionate shift in the capability and skills of BT staff because the company is transforming from the network and telephone services to delivering software services (Investors in People 2009, p2). The necessities of such changes extend beyond the company into the wider skills and economy base within telecom and IT sector. There are no enough people with the necessary skills available to the company when they are needed in 2020. The 2020 workforce profile will be composed of 70% of the people presently employed in the company. Therefore, the company will develop these people in the workplace and build their ability through further education and re-skilling. In order to mitigate these strategic challenges, the company has put in place learning and training systems, and they need to assure that they are robust and meet the best practice standards (Investors in People 2009, p2). The market environment where BT operates is highly competitive, and this is because of improvements in lifestyle, increasing globalization, and advances in technology. This has changed the manner in which people do business and communicate. These transformations bring considerable human resources challenges. In response to this, the company has developed a People Strategy that will give it the capability to adapt to the changing business environment. It will also give them the capability to create a high performance company that is crucial to its future success. The mission of the company is to assist change it into a company of motivated and inspirational leaders, adaptable, and high performing individuals who deliver excellent customer service in a flexible and an inclusive working environment (BT 2013, p1). Equal Opportunities and Diversity at British Telecommunications Ltd From the year 1996, BT has been proactive in Equal Opportunities approach, and it has encompassed disability, ethnic origin, gender and other forms of equality. In 1999, the company joined the Equal Opportunities Commission Equal Pay Task Force. Later in the century, it became a member for the UK Equal Opportunities Commission Working Groups on the Equal Pay Audit Tool and Equal Pay guidelines. This move brought about the issue of equal opportunities in the BT organization. Through this, they were able to discover that although it was not on purpose, there was a difference in pay between the genders. This difference was attributed to the historical development of different pay structures where the male dominated engineering section received a different pay while the clerical section, greatly dominated by females getting a different pay altogether (Menzies 2004, p2). Based on the pay rise from the previous pay system there was also a significant gap in the pay structure. The incremental pay of those approaching the managerial level from the two sections (engineering and clerical) differed. This difference called for Equality and Diversity Forum (EDF) to further research on the clear ways to resolve such anomalies. With BT’s commitment to ensuring an equal pay, few approaches that would aid in achieving their goal were reached. A comparison was taken to compare the pay earned by the staff of the same job grade, and with equal working hours. An analysis conducted through the constant pay reviews explained some of the anomalies that had been experienced earlier. Over four years in BT’s line of business, the anomalies that had been experienced were addressed. The gender pay gap has been significantly reduced (Menzies 2004, p2). Approaches to diversity and work-life balance are very crucial to BT. It is crucial to note that BT is an equal opportunity employer. This indicates that everyone has the same opportunities for promotion and employment based on their suitability, qualifications, and ability for the job in question. No employee or job applicant gets less favourable treatment because of factors like sex, disability, civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender expression, caring responsibilities, gender identity, age, marital status, religion/belief, or race (Byrne 2011, p1). Where possible, the company takes positive steps to recruit individuals from underrepresented minority groups. Byrne (2011, p1) suggests that BT is a two ticks employer. This is a scheme that is run by the United Kingdom government for companies, which are committed to employing individuals with disabilities. The commitment is revealed by actively inspiring the development, retention, and recruitment of individuals with disabilities. The companies that participate guarantee an interview to applicants with disabilities. The interview is only guaranteed to those who have the minimum criteria for the vacancies posted (Byrne 2011, p1; BT 2013, p1). The aim of BT is to be at the heart of information and communications rich society where everyone irrespective of culture, class, education, creed, ethnicity or nationality gets access to the advantages of enhanced communications. The policy of BT Company is to express diversity of partners, global cultures and people in which it operates. It also pursues an operational policy of sponsoring equal opportunities throughout the company. The company takes positive measures to inspire the employment and recruitment of any minority group, which is underrepresented. The goal of the company is to express the diversity of every community in which it functions and cautiously monitor advancement towards this goal (British Telecommunications plc 2007, p4). In 2005, an employee of British Telecommunications filed a case against the company. Diabetes was impairment issue in the British Telecommunications plc v Pousson. The claimant in the case was employed as a customer service adviser. The claimant had insulin-controlled diabetes and it required frequent testing and monitoring of blood glucose levels. The job entailed five-hour shifts with 15 minutes unscheduled breaks allowed for each employee. The shifts were monitored and calculated in seconds by a computer. It was held that the employee was treated less favourably because of his disability (Michael Rubenstein Publishing 2012, p1). References British Telecommunications plc. (2007) Helping support and transform BT’s local government customers, London: British Telecommunications plc. BT (2013) Diversity & equality at BT [online], BT. Available from: [Accessed 12 March 2013]. BT (2013) Group HR [online], BT. Available from: [Accessed 13 March 2013]. Byrne, P. (2011) Case study: Care-related supports – BT, UK [online], Eurofound. Available from: [Accessed 12 March 2013]. Investors in People (2009) Case study: BT [online], Investors in People. Available from: [Accessed 12 March 2013]. Menzies, F. (2004) British Telecommunications [online], close the gap. Available from: [Accessed 12 March 2013]. Michael Rubenstein Publishing. (2012) Direct discrimination [online], Michael Rubenstein Publishing. Available from: [Accessed 14 March 2013]. Read More