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People & Opinion Utility Week community UTILITY WEEK | 12TH - 18TH JUNE 2015 | 7 Annamarie Petsis-Jones, HR director at Opus Energy, is speaking at Utility Week's HR Forum 2015 in September. What's the most important message you want people to take away from your presen- tation? Communication at all levels is key to the success of a rewards programme. Engaging with employees from the planning stage through to implemen- tation ensures that buy-in Judge Judy (also known as Judith Sheindlin). American lawyer, judge, television personality, and author. As anyone who has ever watched her show knows, she is straight talking and calls a spade a spade. In business, sometimes you just need to tell people the way it is. Stephen Fry. English come- dian, actor, writer, presenter and activist. Not only a man of many talents but also a font of all knowledge. Name four things you keep on your desk: A photo of my husband and me on our wedding day, to remind me of what is important in life; a tub of my favourite Champneys hand cream, to ease the stress away; a choco- late bar of some sort for those days when I need a sugar fix; and hundreds of pens – I'm known for always losing mine and stealing pens from my team's desks! Speaker's corner Annamarie Petsis-Jones, HR director, Opus Energy is achieved at the start and the programme delivers what employees actually want rather than becoming an under-utilised white elephant. What do you feel is the most challenging thing for HR lead- ers in today's utility environ- ment? The most challenging thing is attracting and retaining talented employees. We operate in a very demanding and competitive sector, which means it is vital to ensure that the business col- laborates to create a supportive and stimulating environment that is attractive to new talent and fosters loyalty with existing talent. Employees have a tendency to job hop and economic chal- lenges will make it difficult for companies to maintain high levels of pay over time. HR leaders will need to become more innovative and creative in designing retention and reward programmes that recognise individual needs but support the company culture. Who would be on your fantasy company board? Michelle Mone, OBE, entrepre- neur and founder of Ultimo. She is a great example of how spirit and determination can lead to global success. Michelle's motto is "work hard, play hard and always give something back" – words to live by! Michael McIntyre. English actor, presenter and my favourite comedian of all time. It can be stressful at the top so it's important to have someone to remind you to laugh at yourself occasionally and not take life too seriously. The main event The HR Forum, organised by Utility Week, is taking place on 9 September in Birmingham. For a complete programme of speakers and to book a place, visit: www.uw-hr.net bilities of women in the work- place, across all sectors. Quoting research from Goldman Sachs, she observed: "Eurozone GDP could increase by 13 per cent if barriers are removed which pre- vent women playing their full role in the workforce." The reception demonstrated the impressive buy-in to mak- the Powerful Women campaign ing this happen, with a range of high-profile guests including Dermot Nolan, chief executive of Ofgem, Lord Brough, parliamen- tary undersecretary of state for energy and climate change, and Juliet Davenport, chief executive of Good Energy. An impressive range of companies was also present, from small commu- nity energy co-operatives to the big six. High level commitment to achieving better gender balance in the energy sector was also expressed at the event via the launch of a new Powerful Women mentoring scheme called Power- ful Connections. This is designed to match some of the most senior leaders in the sector with ambi- tious women who want to be in senior roles within five years. Cairnie explained that the scheme is "very much about matching the experience of one person with the potential of another person". She said it was about sharing guidance from those who "had already trodden that path to the top table" in the energy sector. Some of the most high-profile mentors to join the scheme so far include Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive of SSE, and Brent Cheshire, country chairman of Dong Energy. "Eurozone GDP could increase by 13 per cent if barriers are removed which prevent women playing their full role in the workforce." SSE chief Alistair Phillips-Davies: scheme mentor Good Energy chief Juliet Davenport: guest at reception