06 Nov Leading energy employers say pace of change to a gender-balanced industry needs to be accelerated
- 2024 annual report sets out Energy Leaders’ Coalition’s progress on female representation in the industry
- Companies highlight initiatives that have made a difference to diversity and inclusion and persistent challenges
- To achieve 40% targets, coalition pledges renewed commitment, leadership, advocacy and collaboration to support UK government’s agenda on skills for the energy transition
This year’s Annual Report from the Energy Leaders’ Coalition (ELC), published today [1], reveals stronger ambitions on gender diversity from the sector’s largest energy employers, but continuing challenges recruiting women and developing them into senior roles.
The ELC is a unique gathering of 14 energy company leaders [2] – between them representing nearly two-thirds of the UK energy workforce, plus the CEOs of Ofgem and the North Sea Transition Authority – working together to drive better diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
The report of their work in the past year shows a focus on investing in the diverse skills, strengths and talent needed for the UK’s energy future. Highlights include:
- Bolder ambitions: the ELC has supported a renewed push towards gender balance and their own targets are now very closely aligned with POWERful Women’s 40% by 2030 target, with data on progress closely monitored and reported.
- Open to learning and collaboration: the CEOs on the ELC are honest about the challenges they face and open to learning from each other and this year’s external experts.
- Engaging the majority while spotlighting the minority: ELC members have recognised their powerful advocacy role in reaching out to the majority of the workforce – i.e. white, male employees – and how they can make a stronger case for DEI. A series of webinars have also showcased inspiring women having an impact in the energy sector.
What the data shows
When it comes to the companies’ performance on female representation, the ELC is, on average, ahead of the UK energy sector as a whole. Seven out of fourteen companies have met the 2025 FTSE 40% target for women on boards and two have reached gender balance at board level.
When it comes to POWERful Women’s 40% by 2030 target, three companies have already met this for women in leadership but none have yet done so for women at middle management level. Some companies have stagnated or fallen in certain areas of female representation over the past 12 months, but driving change is not an overnight exercise and requires a continual evolution in culture and leadership.
Actions that have made a difference to women in energy
The companies have shared their ’top 3’ good practice activities that are having a positive impact on their own diversity, equity and inclusion, such as:
- Well thought-out recruitment practices, such as training for hiring managers, showcasing women in non-traditional roles, targeted development for women and removing bias from CV assessment
- Effective and visible leadership, such as inclusive leadership training, allies programmes, executive level D&I strategies and gender-balanced succession plans
- Capturing the right data, including through better voluntary disclosure and selfID surveys, and the use of DEI dashboards
- Creating nurturing and supportive networks, including through targeted networking events for women and spotlighting women in field roles
Ongoing challenges to greater gender DEI
- Companies also show where difficulties persist and there is more work to do, including:
- the slow speed of change appointing women into leadership roles, due to the contest for talent, slow turnover rates and unbalanced application pools
- addressing the ongoing gender gap at middle management, making the industry attractive and supporting women through inclusive policies and culture • filling, in particular, traditionally male-dominated and isolated field roles with talented women– and keeping them
- engaging ‘the majority’ on the value of DEI, particularly in light of the growing anti-DEI sentiment, and bringing the disengaged into the conversation
- addressing persistent non-inclusive behaviours and ‘banter’, particularly in traditional male roles and locations
- gathering comprehensive data, particularly for global companies and decentralised business units
- supporting hybrid working while still achieving employee engagement
- providing greater intersectional opportunities for women in additional minorities and nurturing better cultural understanding as companies become more diverse.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, CEO of SSE and this year’s Chair of the ELC, said;
“As a forum, the ELC is unique in being the only time we, as UK company leaders, get together on a very important topic. The meetings are an opportunity to have open and honest face-to-face discussions about the challenges we face as leaders in driving change towards common goals on gender diversity, and in support of POWERful Women’s objectives.
This year we have seen record levels of attendance and a greater growth mindset, with more in-depth discussions informed by external research and experience. We have benefited hugely from the external speakers we have invited to our meetings, providing great insights and advice on how we can grow as leaders and deliver progress – and, in particular, how we reach a wider audience of change-makers with the DEI message.”
Cordi O’Hara OBE, President of National Grid Electricity Distribution and incoming Chair of the ELC for 2025, said;
“Achieving a successful and equitable transition to net zero, and supporting the UK’s clean energy plan for 2030, means we need to access the very best talent available. We can see from this year’s report that progress is being made to increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace, with ongoing commitment from leaders.
My ambition as incoming Chair of the ELC is to harness the progress that has been made to date and build on it to further accelerate the pace of positive change that we are seeing.
We will do more to elevate the role we all play as business leaders and change-makers in the sector. We will continue to challenge and learn from others; sharing what works, exploring what we don’t know, and working collaboratively to build a diverse workforce with the skills and innovation the UK needs for the future.”
Priorities for the coming year include:
Leading change: championing solutions to the key DEI challenges we have identified and increasing our visibility and influence through our own public profile, social media platforms and networks
Supporting UK net zero ambitions: aligning our own activities with the government’s ambitions and activities, by engaging with Ministers and civil servants on skills, talent and equality
Maximising our collective efforts: strengthening linkages and driving collaboration across the sector to ensure that efforts are focussed in the most effective way to deliver all our goals.
Katie Jackson, Chair of POWERful Women, said;
“This year, as we celebrate POWERful Women’s 10th anniversary, we are proud of the ELC as a unique initiative that is committed to greater representation of women in the UK energy industry. There is recognition that there is much more to do – and the numbers don’t lie. While there are great examples of good practice initiatives, it is vital in the coming year that, firstly, companies don’t go backwards on their female representation or DEI as a core business priority; and, secondly, that we all work together to accelerate the pace towards our 2030 goals”
The ELC Annual Report is being launched today at POWERful Women’s 2024 Annual Conference: ‘Bridging the gaps to 2030: the bold and rapid actions that will drive gender equality in energy’, where Minister of State Sarah Jones MP (DESNZ and DBT) will give the Address. Panels will feature distinguished speakers from energy C-suite ad D&I professionals from other sectors, including PfW Co-founder Baroness Sandy Verma. The full programme can be found here, and you can join the livestream direct on the day (10am – 1.15pm) here.
CONTACT FOR MEDIA ENQUIRES:
Anna Stanford, Communications Adviser: +44 7961 234634, anna@powerfulwomen.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- Report available to download here.
- The Energy Leaders’ Coalition, formed in May 2018, comprises: Louise Kingham OBE, SVP Europe and Head of Country UK, bp;; Chris O’Shea, Group Chief Executive, Centrica plc; Will Gardiner, CEO, Drax ; Mark Hartley, Managing Director, EDF Nuclear Operations; Miya Paolucci, UK Country Manager & VP Member GEMS Executive Committee, ENGIE; Cordi O’Hara OBE, President National Grid Electricity Distribution; Stuart Payne, CEO, North Sea Transition Authority; Jonathan Brearley, CEO, Ofgem; Duncan Clark, Head of Europe Development, Ørsted; Tom Glover, UK Country Chair, RWE; Keith Anderson, Chief Executive, ScottishPower; Parminder Kohli, UK Country Chair, Shell UK; Simon Oscroft, CEO, So Energy; Alistair Phillips-Davies, Chief Executive, SSE; John Evans, CEO, Subsea 7; Craig Shanaghey, Executive President – Project, Wood
About POWERful Women
POWERful Women (PfW) is a professional initiative, based at the Energy Institute, working to achieve a gender-balanced, diverse and inclusive energy sector in the UK to meet the needs of a net zero future. Our target is for at least 40% of middle management and leadership roles to be held by women by 2030. To deliver this we work with business leaders, DEI experts, government, the regulators, aspiring women and partner organisations to accelerate change. Find out more at www.powerfulwomen.org.uk