Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 14TH - 20TH FEBRUARY 2020 | 11 Utility of the Future: Business models and skills The Utility of the Future is also the theme of Utility Week Live taking place at the NEC in Birmingham on 19-20 May. Visit www.utilityweeklive.co.uk for more information. A cross our regional patch, and within our sector, workforces are not typically re ective of the communities they serve, with businesses potentially unconsciously missing out on attract- ing and retaining high performing individuals. That is one of the reasons why Thames Water co-founded the Employer Diversity and Inclusion Networks, in addition to collabo- rating on the sector inclusion commitment. Our forums regularly come together to share learning and work in partnership to achieve our collective goals. Here's some of the things we are doing at Thames Water to make a di erence: • In partnership with the DWP we launched our #ExplainorChange mentoring circles. These engage with BAME minority talent, inspir- ing and supporting people to realise their full potential, improve conˆ dence and secure meaningful employment. • As the ˆ rst water company to be awarded Disability Conˆ dent Leader status last July, Thames Water is particularly proud of the advances made towards both physical and mental health at work to ensure we provide a working environment that attracts and supports people with disabilities and long-term health conditions. • One of the ways we are developing and progressing our female talent is through "lunch and learns" aimed at building conˆ dence and championing women in water. • We are proud to be a Stonewall Diversity Champion and have jumped 113 places to rank 189th in this year's Workplace Equality Index. • Our support for serving and ex-military personnel, including reserves, service leavers, veterans and their families, was o— cially recognised during the signing of the Armed Forces Covenant last September. • In addition to our unconscious bias workshops and reverse men- toring scheme, we are also becoming renowned for our inclusion cards. Designed by our diversity and inclusion champions, these are literally a deck of cards with three thought-provoking scenarios per protected characteristic. They are used in team meetings to ensure an inclusive culture for employees and for our customers. • During National Inclusion Week we o— cially launched our leaving a legacy scheme designed to support employees considering transi- tioning to the next chapter in their lives. From a social mobility perspective, we have pledged to help the nation "level up opportunity" in a fairer society through our educa- tion programme, mentoring schemes, GSAS work experience and by continuously reviewing and improving our recruitment process. We also recognise that we still have a long way to go internally and as a sector. However, by continuing to work together, sharing our learnings and, with the support and sponsorship of our respec- tive leadership teams, we are collectively helping drive equality of opportunity in a fairer society. Everybody feels respected, valued and able to give their best selves, thereby enabling an inclusive culture. Sarah Gosiewska, culture, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion lead, Thames Water This is an extract of the full article available at: www.utilityweek. Our Together the Best campaign also launched our EMPower Community during National Inclusion week in 2018. More than 180 sta joined, including management. Lynne McDonald, chair of the still growing EMPower Community, said: "This is a platform for employees to raise suggestions, issues and improvements around diversity and inclusivity." The EMPower Community suggested we celebrate more awareness days, so we took part in the 50th Pride March in London in July and used a Pride-themed logo on LinkedIn. A new outreach programme was born out of us ask- ing the EMPower Community for ideas. It o ers schools and colleges work experience for female students, "try before you apply" interactive workshops, and tester ses- sions led by female ˆ eld sta . Embracing diversity also extends to community activities – which can enhance employees' understanding of diverse perspectives. UK Power Networks gives all employees two paid days a year to volunteer. We also partner with SCOPE's "End the Awkward" campaign to help ensure recruitment processes and lan- guage is inclusive, train our team to encourage and hire diverse applicants, and provide opportunities for sta to help job-seeker groups for people living with disabilities. Future challenges Every day we continue to address barriers which are not unique to the energy sector. Going forward we need to break down these barriers in order to shape the sector and promote greater diversity to tackle the challenges of the future. Collecting and measuring employee diversity data (it's currently disclosed at 41 per cent). This is crucial if we are to e ect change and understand the impact of our D&I activities. What gets measured gets managed! We plan to introduce a campaign, videos, case studies and key messaging from the top and make it easy to capture this data. Attracting women into engineering (currently 12% female engineers in the UK). We need to in uence careers advice in schools. Engage early with girls with A-C maths and sciences grades and maintain the relationship and sponsor female talent. Challenging/removing unconscious bias in the deci- sion-making processes. Training and understanding our biases (via an "implicitly test") is the ˆ rst step. In a busy environment, we need reminders at key points in the decision-making process. Trained D&I champions are present at selection inter- views and peer comparison reviews. Implementing a "check and challenge" process requires a minimum tar- get for various processes. We are seeing a much more diverse and inclusive workforce at UK Power Networks as a result of our actions, but we are not resting on our laurels. We are moving forward and continuing to break down barriers and promote greater diversity in the workforce of the future. Jean Kelly, learning and development specialist, UK Power Networks "The business should refl ect thecommunity" Sarah Gosiewska

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