UTILITY WEEK | 13TH - 19TH MARCH 2020 |
21
Operations & Assets
the true value of human capital
ambition to ensure diversity across all the
main societal groups, but the community it
serves and employs, is everything but that?
The two resulting questions were how
to be genuinely inclusive (something that
sounds easy but offers painful lessons from
other industries) and how to best collaborate
as a sector internally and externally.
The Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership
Inclusion Commitment already counts 42
major utility businesses among its signato-
ries. And going forward it will use the Royal
Academy of Engineering audit mechanism to
ensure that the pledge is not a mere "playing
to the gallery", as some initiatives unfortu-
nately are, but a business-relevant initiative
seeking to deliver and monitor change. If the
whole UK sector works as one, it will succeed.
Diversity pays dividends
Insights were shared by attendees on the
irrefutable benefits that diversity in the work-
force brings. The employability of those with
learning difficulties stood out as an inspiring
case study. In addition to the obvious social
value and personal wellbeing enjoyed by the
individual employed, such recruits were also
proving better outright performers, with a
stronger mental focus, more reliable attend-
ance records, and displaying attitudes and
behaviours that most employers value.
This was no simple task either, with
employer checks and balances put in at
every stage and use of emotional intelligence
paramount. The reality is that the end cus-
tomers were happy and commercial business
operations improved.
The roundtable ended with
an upliŒing declaration of the
value of human capital diver-
sity, as a water company and
an energy supplier set out their
clear and compelling beliefs in
the vital role that their people
– their human assets – play
in delivering the strategies,
business plans and ultimate
sustainability of their future business
models, and why they will be consciously
investing in their capabilities and wellbeing.
Nick Ellins, chief executive, Energy & Utility Skills
• The "As I Said To The Board" events
continue this autumn.
