Leading energy employers push for quicker strides towards gender balance

The ELC, a collaboration of 14 UK energy firms, including the CEOs of Ofgem and the North Sea Transition Authority, aims to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across the industry.

Commitment to gender diversity targets

The report highlights ELC’s reinforced efforts towards gender parity, with new targets closely aligned with POWERful Women's 40% representation goal by 2030. The Coalition monitors and reports progress on these benchmarks, underscoring its commitment to advancing women in the energy industry.

Learning from each other and external expertise

ELC members acknowledge the difficulties they face and express openness to shared learning, drawing on insights from peers and external experts. This year’s events have emphasised the Coalition’s role in advocating for DEI, particularly among the traditionally dominant white, male workforce. Through webinars, the ELC has also spotlighted inspiring female figures in the energy sector.

Progress in female representation

The data from the report show that ELC member companies are, on average, leading the UK energy sector in female representation. Seven of the 14 companies have already met the FTSE 40% target for women on boards by 2025. While three companies have reached the 2030 target for women in leadership roles, none have yet achieved it at middle management level. Challenges in female representation remain, underscoring that meaningful change requires cultural and leadership shifts over time.

Impactful initiatives advancing DEI

Member companies have shared several practices that have positively influenced their DEI strategies, including:

• Recruitment practices: initiatives like training for hiring managers, promoting women in non-traditional roles, providing targeted development for women, and removing biases in CV assessments.
• Leadership support: programmes such as inclusive leadership training, allies initiatives, executive-level D&I strategies, and gender-balanced succession planning.
• Data-driven insights: improved voluntary disclosure, self-identification surveys, and DEI dashboards for tracking progress.
• Support networks: targeted networking events for women and focus on supporting women in field roles.

Remaining challenges

Persistent barriers to gender diversity include:

• Slow pace of leadership appointments due to a limited talent pool, slow turnover, and an imbalanced application rate.
• Addressing the gender gap at middle management levels, making the industry attractive through inclusive policies.
• Increasing representation in traditionally male-dominated field roles and retaining women in these positions.
• Engaging the broader workforce in DEI discussions amid anti-DEI sentiment.
• Tackling non-inclusive behaviours, especially in male-dominated roles and locations.
• Ensuring robust data collection, particularly for global companies and decentralised operations.
• Balancing hybrid working with employee engagement.
• Fostering intersectional opportunities for women from additional minority groups as diversity grows within companies.

Leadership insights

Alistair Phillips-Davies, CEO of SSE and current ELC Chair, remarked: “As a forum, the ELC is unique in being the only time we, as UK company leaders, get together on a very important topic. The meetings are an opportunity to have open and honest face-to-face discussions about the challenges we face as leaders in driving change towards common goals on gender diversity, and in support of POWERful Women’s objectives.

“This year we have seen record levels of attendance and a greater growth mindset, with more in-depth discussions informed by external research and experience. We have benefited hugely from the external speakers we have invited to our meetings, providing great insights and advice on how we can grow as leaders and deliver progress – and, in particular, how we reach a wider audience of change-makers with the DEI message.”

Incoming ELC Chair Cordi O’Hara OBE, President of National Grid Electricity Distribution, stated: “Achieving a successful and equitable transition to net zero, and supporting the UK’s clean energy plan for 2030, means we need to access the very best talent available. We can see from this year’s report that progress is being made to increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace, with ongoing commitment from leaders.

“My ambition as incoming Chair of the ELC is to harness the progress that has been made to date and build on it to further accelerate the pace of positive change that we are seeing.

“We will do more to elevate the role we all play as business leaders and change-makers in the sector. We will continue to challenge and learn from others; sharing what works, exploring what we don’t know, and working collaboratively to build a diverse workforce with the skills and innovation the UK needs for the future.”

Goals for the coming year

The ELC has set three main priorities:

• Driving change: addressing key DEI challenges and enhancing visibility through public profiles, social media, and networking.
• Supporting UK net zero objectives: engaging with government bodies on talent and equality to align with the UK's net zero ambitions.
• Maximising impact through collaboration: strengthening sector-wide collaborations to focus resources on achieving DEI goals.

Katie Jackson, Chair of POWERful Women, emphasised the importance of progress in DEI as POWERful Women celebrates its 10th anniversary: “This year, as we celebrate POWERful Women’s 10th anniversary, we are proud of the ELC as a  unique initiative that is committed to greater representation of women in the UK energy industry. There is recognition that there is much more to do – and the numbers don’t lie. While there are great examples of good practice initiatives, it is vital in the coming year that, firstly, companies don’t go backwards on their female representation or DEI as a core business priority; and, secondly, that we all work together to accelerate the pace towards our 2030 goals.”

The ELC Annual Report is being launched at the 2024 POWERful Women Annual Conference, ‘Bridging the gaps to 2030: the bold and rapid actions that will drive gender equality in energy’. Minister of State Sarah Jones MP is set to deliver an address, joined by energy industry leaders and Baroness Sandy Verma, Co-founder of PfW, on panels exploring diversity challenges and solutions.