Standard content for Members only
To continue reading this article, please login to your Utility Week account, Start 14 day trial or Become a member.
If your organisation already has a corporate membership and you haven’t activated it simply follow the register link below. Check here.
Centrica has announced it is launching a mentoring scheme designed to combat the challenges faced by people with disabilities in middle management positions.
The initiative, which will launch in January, is part of the Generation Valuable programme developed by the Valuable 500 – a group of 500 companies across the globe which have committed to action on disability inclusion.
It will see 75 companies each pair one employee who has a disability and at least five years of management experience with an executive manager who will act as their mentor.
It is hoped the scheme will foster new perspectives, deepen understanding and cultivate growth within organisations.
Centrica said its first cohort will see Sylvie Pontonnier-White, cyber and information security risk manager at Centrica, paired with its chief information officer Darren Miles.
Pontonnier-White said: “I have campaigned about visible and non-visible disability inclusion at work for seven years now. There is still a sense that disabled people are somehow less talented than others, but disability makes you different, not less.
“Being part of Generation Valuable will empower me to help C-Suite leaders to not only accept but seek out individuals who, despite their disadvantage, can bring about positive change to the organisation.”
Miles said: “It’s exciting to be involved in the first cohort. I’m especially looking forward to honest conversations and discovering better ways of doing business that benefits us all.
“We should aim to flip the notion of disability on its head. People with disabilities have so many hidden strengths that others don’t have, so we need to do everything we can to bring these to the surface.”
Centrica’s chief executive Chris O’Shea said: “How we empower our people to bring their whole selves to work is vitally important to the kind of Centrica we want to be.
“Everybody should have a voice and everyone should be heard. The ‘Generation Valuable’ programme will create opportunities for more diverse voices to be heard within our boardroom and that can only be a good thing.”
Please login or Register to leave a comment.