One-third of female utilities staff want to quit

One-third of women working in the utilities sector say they are either very or quite likely to leave the industry in the next three years.

That is the finding of a survey by the Womens Utilities Network (WUN) which polled 375 of its members to understand the experiences of women working in the sector.

The report found that at a time when utilities need to attract and retain more talent, women are routinely facing situations that are hindering their careers.

Being talked over or ignored in meetings and not taken seriously in their professional roles were among the common experiences that left women feeling undervalued in their career.

The survey revealed that half of the respondents feel they are treated differently to their male counterparts because of their gender.

“Looking at this, you could laugh, but you could cry as well in terms of how women are treated,” said Jo Butlin, WUN co-founder and chief executive, in response to findings that one-third (33%) of respondents have been assigned tasks they were overqualified for, such as taking notes in a meeting.

Similarly, 84% agreed that women were generally given more administrative and organisational tasks rather than leadership or challenging roles. This was the same regardless of seniority.

These prevailing attitudes are holding women back in their careers, WUN said, with 46% of women stating they hesitate to give their opinions or share ideas at work because they do not feel their voices are being heard.

Almost half of respondents (49%) said they did not believe their opinions were valued in the workplace as much as those of their male colleagues.

“I say something, it’s ignored. A man says the same thing, it’s a great idea and he gets credit, this has happened too many times to even list,” one anonymous respondent said.

Another added: “People are very dismissive of what I say; I have recently been in a situation where an idea I came up with for a plant redesign was credited to another male colleague from a different department!”

WUN’s report said the cause of many of these issues faced by women in the sector was unconscious bias. Butlin pointed out that unconscious bias is not limited to gender, and can be experienced by all people.

“We see these behaviours every day,” she said and encouraged everyone to read the report and understand what is meant by unconscious bias, and how these might affect colleagues within an organisation.

She called for people of all genders and backgrounds working at all levels of organisations to adopt five principles.

• Change recruitment processes: Standardising hiring processes can remove the chance for bias to creep in;
• Encourage mindful decision making: Make an explicit organisation-wide commitment to question stereotypes, slow down decision making and be more vigilant of thought processes;
• Make unconscious bias training mandatory, practical and targeted: Training is most often attended by people already aware of the problem and interested in improving their behaviour rather than those unaware or unwilling to challenge their own views;
• Promote advocacy to actively support women: Encourage people to listen to each other’s stories and become advocates for those experiencing negative bias, and;
• Hold others accountable. Call out stereotyped views and make opportunities for more interaction between affected groups.

“None of these are revolutionary ideas, but we all need to do it!” Butlin said at the report’s launch event.