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10 | 3rd - 9th OctOber 2014 | UtILItY WeeK Interview For Baroness Verma, however, there's more to the argument for attracting more women into energy careers than plugging the skills gaps. There's a bigger business case for diversity, she says, which is not appreciated widely enough or deeply enough, but which could help the energy sector face up to press- ing challenges around customer satisfaction and trust. "Any business – whether in the energy sector or beyond – that includes a range of different kinds of peo- ple looking for ways to take the business forward will always do better than businesses that are full of people who all look at things in the same way," she insists. It's a strong belief based on Verma's own early career experiences. Having been pushed into marriage at the age of 18 rather than being allowed to pursue her dream of going to university and becoming a doctor, she found herself determined to prove her abilities to her tradi- tional father. Supported by an enlightened husband, she "decided to set up a business in competition [with him]", she says. "I wanted to show him that I could do better than him, and earn more money, because I was better at look- ing at what the customer wanted." Verma proved highly successful. Within three years she had earned her first million and devised a life plan, which included a target to step back from business at the age of 40 to enter active politics. This too she achieved, but Verma says she has never lost sight of that core lesson. Success relies on under- standing the perspective, experience, needs and wants of the customer. In government, she says, a failure to do this blocks the effective delivery of policy. "All the departments in Whitehall are a long, long way from reflecting what the general population is actually about," she observes. Verma is seeking to effect change from within, and is joined in her efforts by Theresa May and other senior members of the Conservative party, she says. Verma hopes that Powerful Women will build momen- tum behind a similar transformation of the energy sec- tor and enable it to understand and respond to a wider range of demographics. "Unless we understand the way that different cus- tomers look at their energy use and understand their consumer buying power, we will not understand the nar- rative between the supplier and purchasing patterns," says Verma. "This means we won't achieve the customer experience that many energy companies are looking for. A more nuanced understanding of customers will reveal what they want from service and how they want energy delivered." The logical knock-on effect of this improved under- standing will be an increase in public trust in energy suppliers. "The basic problem has been that the sector has not understood how easily you can lose trust or gain confi- dence, simply by displaying how well you understand the end customer," Verma says, before urging compa- nies to "wake up" to the fact that today's savvy custom- ers, with access to far more comparative and competitive information than ever before, will need a bigger range of approaches and service delivery mechanisms to be convinced they are being shown understanding and appreciation. So what will Powerful Women do to ensure the female energy consumer is at least better represented and perceived by decision makers in energy companies? For starters, it is following in the footsteps of similar campaigns in other sec- tors seeking better gender balance: advocacy by senior leaders (male and female); inspi- rational role models and mentoring; sharing best practice, and so on. More tangible advice for energy leaders about how to mandate change within their organisations should emerge from research currently being undertaken for Powerful Women by professional services firm PwC. This research will identify a range of reasons why the energy sector fails to attract and retain women. The study will scrutinise the sector's ability to inspire and recruit young women and patterns in career pathways for those that do make it through the door. Particular focus will be on decision-making and support mechanisms around middle management and senior executive appointments. "Let's let the research do its work," says Verma. "Then we'll know how to act." What is certain ahead of the report feedback and rec- ommendations is that Verma and Powerful Women will not advocate the introduction of mandatory targets for the appointment of women. "If we put in mandatory targets, do we actually get change? I'm not so sure it delivers," she comments, explaining that her belief is based on the experience of other countries, including Scandinavia, which is widely acknowledged to be in the vanguard when it comes to gender balance. While we must wait for further clarification of Pow- erful Women's recommended mechanisms and policies, Verma urges companies and individuals not to twiddle their thumbs. Delivering an inspirational keynote presentation to a group of female energy professionals at the Everywoman network's recent Everywoman in Energy Leadership Academy, Baroness Verma shared the perspective she has gained on effecting change through her work fight- ing sexual abuse of women. "Being a victim means that your ability to make choices becomes less and less," she told her audience. "What has this got to do with energy? A lot. Everything we do is shaped by experience and unless we expose ourselves to both good and bad experiences we will not feel confident to effect change in our environment… be the change that you want to see." "All the departments in Whitehall are a long, long way from reflecting what the general population is actually about" Everywoman in energy Last month, Everywoman, a network that supports female career progression in a range of male-dominated sectors, held its first Energy Leadership Academy. The event was hosted by EDF Energy, which already has a mature internal women's network and which wanted to go further to promote networking, experience sharing and ambition among women in the wider sector. Attended by around 100 women, the conference provided advice on career planning and access to potential mentors or role models. In addition, it can- vassed the views of attendees about the barriers they thought were holding them back. A range of issues were identified, including fear of failure, family commitments and not wanting to be forced to take on a masculine role. But by far the most common barrier was simply "lack of confidence". This was closely followed by a perceived "lack of opportunities to climb the career ladder". When asked what barriers stop women achieving their ambitions in the energy sector, examples of delegates' comments included: "Negative female stereotypes held by 'old boys' in sector"; "A lack of girls studying STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] subjects and a lack of role models"; and "None if we have confidence, self-belief and strategy".