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Rewind just 12 months, and the climate emergency was a mere speck on most people’s radars, let alone a priority point on utilities’ agendas.
Like most things, it’s often only when a business case comes into view that the situation really starts to change.
Protecting the planet may always have been a no-brainer, but that it’s now central to company thinking is down to much more than net zero legislation – as ground-breaking as the 2050 target is.
As the recent climate strikes attest, people are now taking this issue incredibly seriously. A company’s response to climate change can impact its entire image, as well as its bottom line.
So, what might be the next corporate game-changer? Well, scores of industry experts at Energy UK’s inaugural conference on the subject this week pointed, unequivocally, to inclusion and diversity.
While it may have once been deemed a mere “nice to have”, a robust I&D strategy, they predict, will become the next key resilience issue for businesses – and not least utilities.
Whether financially or ethically, there are compelling arguments.
Gaining input from a wide range of employees, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, sexuality, faith, whether they have a disability, or are parents, or carers, can empower workforces.
It increases productivity, profitability and competitiveness, and is the only way to truly reflect the complex consumer demographic utilities serve. It can be the difference between retaining and attracting skills in a ruthless talent war. And it can impact growth and investment – effectively influencing why some businesses will win and others fail.
With the sector facing huge business case challenges as it takes charge of delivering utilities of the future, a sustainable, diverse workforce will be key.
And utilities are well placed to attract talent. They have never had a better pitch to make than the invitation to join them on the quest for net zero.
The enemy will be procrastination. A Powerful Women annual update on diversity revealed females still hold just 6 per cent of senior management roles in energy – a figure broadly static for some time.
And all this despite the fact that giving everyone the chance to have a say in the utilities journey, to share its rewards and be a part of its life-changing solutions, not only makes perfect business sense – it’s also the right thing to do.
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