Amping Up Inclusivity in the Energy Industry

Currently, 75% of top UK energy companies have no women in executive positions. So how can the energy sector build inclusive cultures and deliver on diversity goals?

That was the focus of this year’s POWERful Women conference in London, bringing together 16 heads of the largest energy companies (including So Energy’s Chief Executive Officer Monica Collings) as the Energy Leaders’ Coalition (ELC). Bursting with “passion, high energy and honest debate”, Monica believes “the ELC has the power and influence to drive change.”

A collective to encourage diversity

Since its launch in 2014, POWERful Women has been striving “to create a gender-balanced, diverse and inclusive UK energy sector,” delivered in three ways:

• Providing useful and practical support and guidance to companies and aspiring women
• Championing companies actively trying to make a difference, thereby setting a challenge for companies that could do more
• Running events throughout the year for companies and aspiring women to connect and find role models and mentors

“The conference helps women in leadership roles become mentors and sponsor people from minority groups in the beginning their careers in the industry. Advice such as giving them space for their voice to be heard and ensuring they get workplace recognition. At So Energy, we celebrate people and the senior management team gets to know colleagues in all areas of the business,” says So Energy’s Product Manager, Daniela Mattingly.

The ELC’s appreciation of the value of role models within the energy sector also resonates with Daniela. “Often it can be difficult to motivate yourself to progress as a woman if you don't have role models to emulate. It was great to be in a room [at the Conference] with so many aspiring women in the energy industry.” She heard some ”shocking anecdotes about women being ignored in introductions, assumed to take notes in meetings and complimented on 'speaking really well' just because they were of an ethnic minority.”

For the energy industry to continue to grow and evolve, company mobility needs to be scaffolded by inclusive systems. As Talent and Inclusion Manager at So Energy, Jason Tunney drives the company’s mission of “creating internal mobility for women and under-represented groups in our business. It’s not just fixing the problem today but ensuring a lasting solution” so that anyone with the talent and drive to become a leader has the opportunity to achieve this.

Cross-company learning

Each year, POWERful Women also publishes its Annual Report for the Energy Leaders Coalition. The report showcases the positive, promising efforts towards improving diversity made by many companies in the energy industry. “The conference and report provide a public forum for leaders to show their support for better diversity in our industry. Without representation and buy-in from senior leaders, even the best Equality, Diversion and Inclusion (ED&I) strategies will fail and fall by the wayside,” Jason explains.

As So Energy’s ED&I lead representative, Jason plays a pivotal role in collating vital data for POWERful Women to exemplify So Energy’s progress in these areas. Moreover, Jason collaborates with C-level executives and pledges So Energy's support for ED&I targets set, ensuring the company is at the forefront of enacting exciting and inclusive change in the energy sector.

“The annual report is the only one of its kind in our industry,” Jason begins. “Thanks to POWERful Women’s reach, it’s able to collect a wide variety of data points. In turn, this helps paint a clearer picture of the energy industry’s progress in this area.” He continues, “The case studies in the report are also excellent sources of industry best practice. This sharing of knowledge helps us tackle the challenges of diversity as a collective” and build inclusive cultures.

But how do we accelerate the path to gender equality within the energy industry?

Monica advises, “As a leader, ask: is this the type of environment I want to work in? Creating an inclusive culture is about living through values, reinforcing expectations and baselining standards through training, so that those values are understood.” For Monica, “The baseline comes by ensuring everyone has mandatory training on conduct and unconscious bias so that we have a common reference point. Then it’s about leadership ensuring that this is fully embedded across our business, driving greater equity.”

“So Energy’s culture is one guided by its values – to be caring in what we do means that all our employees are supported through whatever individual ‘career interruptions’ might be happening in their lives at a time when they need us most. [We uphold our honesty value by showing] how we are progressing in levelling the gender playing field with published targets.”

Inclusivity as the path to net zero

With companies across the globe aiming to reach net zero, acknowledging that the fastest way to do this is through a diverse and talented team is critical.

“As a purpose-led leader, my belief is that organisations need to have a clear sense of why they exist, and what they are trying to achieve,” says Monica. “The path to net zero has never been more ambitious in the face of the energy crisis, but also never more important.”

“The road to net zero will require creative thinking and new and innovative ideas” and will only be reached “if we ensure that everyone has the ability to bring their whole selves to work. [If everyone understands] what they are coming to work to achieve and are set up with the right tools to enable them to succeed, we can achieve those ambitions.”

So what does the future look like for women in the energy industry?

Collectives like POWERful Women envisage more diverse talent in the industry in the years to come. By 2030, UK energy companies are tasked with achieving 40% of middle management and leadership roles filled by women. Yet as the only GB retail energy supplier with a female Chief Executive, So Energy is going a step further.

“Our commitment is to achieve 50% of women in middle management and senior leadership positions by 2025,” states Monica. “Whilst we are not far from this within senior leadership roles, there’s work to do in strengthening our pipeline for middle managers. The investment we intend to make over the next two years to support colleagues' growth is how we will achieve this.

We are investing in new programmes, such as working with specialist partners to help women develop leadership skills in readiness for new opportunities. But it’s more than just individual initiatives for me, as we have lots of those from pro-women policies to reverse mentoring schemes. This is about a consistent strategy that extends not only to ourselves but also to those we work with in our supply chains. We’ll be working with our colleagues to understand what they want to see from us, and hear what they need to be successful. We are ambitious. But we need to be to achieve net zero.”

This ambition is felt throughout the business. Daniela believes, “We're lucky to have Monica as our CEO as she’s open about tackling problems with representation. She’s also keen to support the personal and professional development of people across all minority groups.”

Internal Communications Specialist, Meg O’Neil agrees. “I’m proud to work for a company that is already breaking down these barriers, with three female directors and a female CEO. Diversifying our workforce benefits everyone, and I believe we will only tackle the big challenges we face with diverse and innovative thinkers. The POWERful Women Conference was a wonderful forum to come together and align our mission and discuss how we will get to where we need to be. It takes all of us, but I am confident we can make real change happen.”