Diversity is the secret sauce of success

Embracing diversity is no longer just a moral choice. It is a necessity for the UK to achieve its net zero goals. Writing for Utility Week, National Grid president of UK electricity distribution Cordi O'Hara calls for the sector to go further to ensure our future workforce is up for the challenges ahead.

It’s not just a moral imperative – Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) can be the secret sauce for getting more from your workforce.

For those charged with delivering the type of energy network the UK needs to achieve its decarbonisation goals, developing a future workforce to get us there is paramount.

It’s predicted that over 400,000 recruits are needed in the energy sector between now and 2050 to achieve net zero. These new recruits will need a diverse array of skillsets and experiences, whilst also being representative of a culturally inclusive UK, in order to properly meet the business needs of our energy networks and the wider energy sector.

It’s a widely recognised principle in corporate HR that diversity and inclusion policies should never be tokenistic or an afterthought; instead a meaningful and strategic focus on DEI makes a huge difference to business outcomes.

When people feel confident and included in work, and when people with diverse backgrounds are in the room making decisions, staff engagement, productivity and the quality of corporate decision-making improves. There can also be greater opportunities for innovation as more perspectives are brought to bear.

I feel passionate about making our commitments to DEI a reality. Not least because there’s still a long journey ahead of us. The Energy & Utility Skills’ Inclusion Measurement Framework reported that in 2023, women only made up 30% of the energy and utilities’ workforce, whilst ethnic minorities made up 12%, and there was still “significant underrepresentation” across the energy and utilities sector, making up 4% of the workforce. This could partly be explained by an aging workforce with niche skillsets that can’t be easily replaced but it highlights the widely recognised imperative to move faster on diversity and inclusion measures.

At National Grid, I’m proud to say we have focused on DEI for a number of years – it is woven through our values, part of our strategic objectives and embedded in our leadership expectations with clear annual targets.

From a recent survey of network operators, I know my peers share this focus as 100% of respondents had DEI embedded into company values and strategic priorities, and 100% had also published their DEI and inclusion statements, allowing people to hold us to account. However, there is still work to be done, with 67% of respondents having a dedicated chief diversity officer and only half having development programmes specifically for under-represented groups.

It’s vital these values and statements are acted on. ENA, acting to coordinate with its members via a steering group I am part of, is taking a business-led approach in refreshing the DEI strategy for energy networks so that we can elevate focus, share best practice and deliver more tangible progress across network businesses this year.

Our first step was baselining our collective efforts and transparently showing these results, alongside innovative and effective DEI schemes and projects, as part of a report launched at the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Energy conference, earlier this week.

I would encourage everyone to read the report, investigate whether the case studies might inspire their own initiatives and collaboratively work to ensure our future workforce is best suited to meeting the strategic challenges our ongoing century will bring.

Utility Week and Womens Utilities Network (WUN) earlier this year announced the launch of the Women in Utilities Awards, celebrating the achievements of women in utilities and the organisations and individuals that support them. The winners will be announced at a lunch and networking ceremony at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London on 27 June.