Utility Week

8 | MAY 2023 | UTILITY WEEK Networks Analysis Want to retain female staff ? Change the culture Recruiting and retaining women to work in the energy sector is proving a hard nut to crack. Some senior DNO managers tell Utility Week where they think the problems lie. D espite the efforts of energy companies to attract more women into the sector, there are serious concerns about poor retention rates among female employees. "I'm a woman working in energy, and I've lost count of how many times I've been asked to make the tea." If there was ever a quote to summarise why the energy sector has such a poor retention rate of female employees, it's this shocking anonymous anecdote from an upcoming report by the Royal Academy of Engineering. With some companies showing slight decreases in the number of women in their workforces in recent years, and others only marginal increases, making energy an attrac- tive career proposition for women is high up on the agenda for distribution network oper- ators (DNOs). But for Louise Parry, director of people and organisational development at Energy & Utility Skills, it's retaining women in the sector that is the real challenge. "We can see women are joining the sector. But what we can also see is that they're leav- ing pretty much at the same levels as they're joining. So the diversity of the workforce, as a result, isn't going to change," Parry tells Utility Week. She cites the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics which show that while there was an improvement in the numbers of women in the power sector overall between 2017 and 2021, there was a decline from 2020 to 2021. Furthermore, she adds, the number of female managers, directors and senior offi- cials has fallen by 24% since 2017. "Why aren't women staying in the sector? What are the reasons that women are leav- ing? The deductions that you can take is that the culture isn't right. "Is it that they're not getting the opportu- nities to progress, they're not getting the pro- motions? Or is it simply that the culture, the working hours, doesn't suit their personal circumstances. "There will be many drivers for that, so I want to see a greater understanding of the reasons why women then leave." She points to an upcoming report by the Royal Academy of Engineering in which a female employee is quoted saying something along the lines of: "I'm a woman working in energy, and I've lost count of how many times I've been asked to make the tea.' It is that that we need to change." Role models According to Parry, some of the cultural bar- riers include the fact many women can't see themselves in a more senior role, and this is an area National Grid and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) are keen to combat. Cordi O'Hara, incoming president of National Grid Electricity Distribution, says: "I think as a more personal observation, companies that have set targets for repre- sentation and have a lot of female repre- sentation in their leadership ranks create role models and that attracts more women into the organisation. There was that classic phrase, 'if you can't see it, you can't be it'." Women make up 38% of National Grid's senior leadership group, while its board is 40% female. Meanwhile, the company's lat- est available statistics show that the overall proportion of women in its UK workforce is 28% – an improvement of just over 2% since 2018. O'Hara says National Grid has some "phe- nomenal female engineers" in its organisa- tion, pointing to Alice Delahunty, president of electricity transmission, as well as Roisin Quinn, the first female engineer to run the real-time operation of the Electricity System Operator's control rooms. "I think we actually have engineering female role models in the company, which is fabulous," she says. "The more role mod- els you have at higher levels is then more attractive for the future generations to say 'I can see myself represented at those levels'," agrees Jenni Stephen, head of HR at SSEN. According to its latest figures, just under 27% of SSEN Distribution's workforce is female, while across SSE as a whole women account for 29% of its workforce – down from just 31% in 2018, although the company has since sold its retail arm. Its board mean- while is evenly split. The company believes in the power of imagery to showcase its diverse talent, ensuring different groups are represented in its media output. Stephen says: "We've done a real big piece about share of voice and share of imagery around gender balance in every- thing that we're putting out into the media. "I'm sure if I look back 8-10 years, any imagery around the power sector would predominantly be white male and it's not anymore. We are deliberately forcing that representation of real people, real staff who want to do this, who want to role model." Flexible shi patterns The country's biggest DNO meanwhile, UK Power Networks (UKPN), recognises the role of flexible working patterns in helping to retain its female employees. Its latest figures show men make up around 79% of staff, with women accounting for the remaining 21% – up only slightly on the 20% reported in 2018. Jean Kelly, learning and development spe- cialist at UKPN, says the ability to work flex- ibly is "an important factor in attracting and retaining women". She adds: "Following the experience of the pandemic, we now run a blended work- ing model to enable home working. In addi- tion, a project is underway to identify and increase the number of roles offered as flexi- ble (eg job share, part-time) to support work- ing mothers to progress." Kelly adds that UKPN undertook a review of the experiences of maternity returners and parental leave takers, which has led to the introduction of in-house coaches to support both this group and their managers. "We are currently progressing other rec-

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