A call to action on diversity

By 2030 the utilities sector needs to fill almost 300,000 roles to meet growing demand, as well as the net zero challenge. Now in its third year, the Inclusion Measurement Framework can identify where the specific diversity challenges lie and the actions needed to make progress. Louise Parry, director of people and organisational development at Energy & Utility Skills, calls for organisations to submit their information on diversity for a report to be published in early 2023.

In April, Utility Week reported on the progress they have made towards achieving a fair representation of people quoted in their articles as part of the BBC’s 50:50 Equality project.

Alongside Energy UK and Ofgem, Energy & Utility Skills supported the launch of this initiative back in April 2021, calling for change in the gender balance of the sector’s spokespeople.

Seeing the progress Utility Week has made alongside the push for diverse speaker lists is certainly going to change who we see representing the sector in the press, on websites and on social media. For current and future job seekers thinking about careers in the energy and utility sector, it will also provide many more opportunities to see ‘people like me’ working in the sector.

As well as changing sector spokespeople, the level of commitment to changing the diversity of the sector’s workforce is significant. Achieving a workforce that is reflective of the communities the sector serves is a key priority of the sector’s Workforce Renewal & Skills Strategy 2020-2025 – we also know it is one of the three key priorities for CEOs across our membership.

Responding to the diversity challenges the sector faces, 51 organisations have signed up to the sector’s Inclusion Commitment backed by the support and leadership of their CEOs. Energy UK, Ofgem and ENA have recently launched TIDE, an energy sector diversity taskforce, alongside water companies commissioning research in this area. We can also look forward to the results from Women’s Utilities Network’s recent research into what it is like for women working in the sector.

Recent statistics continue to show the size of the challenge: our latest statistics published in June show women make up just 19% of the sector’s workforce versus 48% of the UK workforce. This reduces further at managerial and senior management levels to 17% and significantly women make up 19% of professional occupations (vs 50%) and just 1% of skilled trade occupations in the sector.

In considering wider workforce demographics, the percentage of the sector’s workforce declaring a disability is nearing reflecting that of the UK workforce but at 6% the number of BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) colleagues working in the sector is less than half!

So how do we progress this sector priority?

One of the principles underpinning the sector’s Inclusion Commitment is to measure and be transparent about progress. While the demographics we publish show the overall picture, the sector’s Inclusion Measurement Framework can identify where the specific diversity challenges lie and the actions we can take to really make progress, both as individual organisations and as a sector.

Now entering its third year, the framework has provided key insights, including the significant dilution of BAME candidates through sector selection processes. We have also been able to identify that although women are consistently successful when applying for roles, the number applying for roles remains significantly behind their male counterparts. This has resulted in focused action, examining sector selection processes and exploring what is stopping women from applying for roles.

The framework measures diversity across the employment lifecycle from attraction and recruitment through to development, progression and retention. It also examines the makeup of the sector’s leadership teams and this year will extend its research into leading inclusion to include direct reports to CEOs. It will also explore their diversity journeys to becoming sector leaders.

Sector call to action

By 2030, the sector needs to fill 277,000 roles to maintain our industries, to meet growing demand and the net zero and new technology skills demands placed on us. Attracting, retaining and developing a diverse workforce is critical to filling these vacancies, meeting the skills needs and the sector’s commitment to reflect the communities it serves.

With participation open to all sector organisations, the Inclusion Measurement Framework can play a key role in identifying where to focus our efforts to truly change those sector demographics both as individual organisations and as a sector.

Further information

Participation is free of charge and companies can benchmark their data against the sector, industry (water, power, waste and their supply chains) operating region and organisation size, and for returning participants, results can be tracked year on year.

The data submission window is open from 1 September to 14 October 2022.

Using a best endeavours approach, sector organisations are encouraged to provide as much data as they can. The greater the insights, the greater the opportunity to focus diversity efforts on actions that will really shift the data in years to come. The results and supporting report will be published in early 2023.

You can find out more and register to participate here.