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COVER FEATURES of internships and graduate places during the pandemic and in 2021 we partnered with freelance internship provider, Udrafter, to offer microinternships, providing year-round opportunities for young people to gain valuable work experience. In order to take steps to become more ethnically diverse, we ring-fenced an engineering internship for Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, working with our partner the Association for BME Engineers to recruit from their members.
INCLUSIVE SPIRIT Spirit Energy are creating an inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds feel welcome by building a balanced, diverse business, providing equal opportunity for everyone, representing the communities we work in, and delivering better business results. During Covid-19 everyone’s wellbeing has been under pressure and it’s been diverse employees – women, the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minorities, the young and old – who have faced some of the toughest challenges in the workplace and balancing that with their home lives. This has highlighted the importance of viewing inclusion through the lens of intersectionality to better support all of our people. We are focusing on improving our gender balance and our 2020 gender pay gap report demonstrated continued improvements. We have invested in resources which support the financial, physical and mental wellbeing of our people. Our D&I employee resource groups have also provided support by facilitating discussions on topics such as “Black Lives Matter”, “Neurodiversity” and the barriers to equality faced by women in our industry. We are shining a light on a range
We introduced a transparent promotion process, with clearly defined career ladders making it easier for people to develop and achieve their goals and aspirations. Our employee surveys suggested that the different age groups we have in Spirit have different needs, so we are pleased to commence a partnership with Age Scotland on an age inclusion project, enabling us to better support people of all ages.
of inclusion-related subjects through regular podcasts where we discuss topics like LGBTQ+ experiences in our industry. Our D&I book club is also popular and our “Developing Professionals” network provided us with online social events during the lockdowns. In 2020, Spirit Energy improved its “Disability Confident” status, moving from Level 1 to Level 2. We relaunched our LGBTQ+ Vibe network to include “Straight allies”, and continue to support the LGBTQ+ network, InterEnergy. We also recognised that young people have been impacted by the lack
resultantly they share similar blind spots. It is in these blind spots that we believe the true innovation resides. Creating a wider net in the organisational sense requires heterogeneous groups overlapping their diverse experiences to eliminate blind spots and collectively “see” what cannot be seen alone.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. At a societal level, we face one of our most significant challenges as a civilisation as we seek to reshape our global energy mix to achieve a more sustainable future. The range of possible issues and opportunities we face in this environment requires access to a deep collective mind with a diverse perspective. Just like catching fish in the sea, having a wider net increases the possibilities of success. Homogenous groups tend to see problems the same way. They have very similar interpretations of reality, and
www.ogv.energy I July 2021
The confluence of differing ethnic heritage, gender identities, races, sexual orientations, ages, physical characteristics, and mental characteristics, underpinned by personal and professional history, creates a far more powerful recipe for ground-breaking solutions than homogenous, non-diverse groups. Socially responsible organisations seek to establish deliberate systems and processes to encourage diversity in the workplace. At a human level, it’s the right thing to do, and at a business level creating psychologically safe spaces leads to the best innovations and reduces any risky blind spots. It is therefore critical for sustainable success organisationally and societally.
Finally, in 2022 we plan to produce our first ethnicity pay gap report – our D&I network groups are working to help us improve the quality of personal data sets in our HR system so that we can produce a quality report, allowing us to better serve the needs of all ethnicities. The pandemic has been a challenge for us all, but one big positive has been that it has helped us to highlight that a continued focus on creating an inclusive environment is the right thing. By supporting employees of all backgrounds we create happier, higher performing teams that focus on ensuring the safety of our operations and the wellbeing of our people, whilst delivering on our strategy and corporate targets.
We hope that the future of humanity brings organically occurring diverse and inclusive cultures across all areas of society. Society, though, simply isn’t there yet. It is therefore on organisations such as ours to play our part as agents for change. We have created a culture of diversity and inclusion through the establishment of systems and processes for deliberate change, supported by the fostering of an inclusive culture. By establishing our internal Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce and participating and sharing our voice in broader external forums, we aim to be a continued part of the solution for a more inclusive future. This historical and ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion has allowed us to create a varied and broad workforce that has delivered numerous innovations that create value for our customers. Never in the history of our industry have we needed innovative solutions on such a massive scale. We need to work together to help each other see what cannot be seen alone. Most importantly, however, within the PD&MS family, we believe in creating a culture where everyone should be encouraged to be Proud to be You. It's what makes us Proud to be PD&MS.
