The world’s transition to a more sustainable, secure energy system is a tough rebalancing challenge. To achieve it, the industry needs fresh perspectives and ideas to drive innovative new solutions. One way to support this is to improve gender diversity across the sector.
Which is why Emberson Marketing is proud to be sponsoring POWERful Women’s 2023 Annual Conference. POWERful Women (Pfw) is a professional initiative working to address the continued underrepresentation of women at the top of the UK energy industry and in the leadership pipeline.
Pfw’s latest data shows that board and leadership roles remain male-dominated, and women in middle management continue to face career barriers. Women hold just 29% of board seats across the top 80 UK energy businesses, and almost a quarter of those companies have no women on the board. Whilst some progress has been made further down the ladder, women still make up just 32% of middle management roles and 31% of leadership roles.
Three members of the Emberson team travelled to London for November’s conference, taking part in a series of workshops and talks examining ways to accelerate the journey to a diverse, inclusive gender-balanced energy industry.
“It was a really thought-provoking and inspiring day,” says Clare Pratt, Group CEO. “For me, three key themes emerged: courage, compassion and curiosity. Women need the courage to speak up and be heard in a male-dominated industry, whilst gender balance can undoubtedly support a more compassionate workplace. To tackle the continued under representation of women in energy, we need curiosity to find different approaches to what is a multi-dimensional challenge.”
“The energy transition needs a wide spectrum of strengths and skills,” adds Emberson Marketing Managing Director, Ian Goodall. “The conference highlighted just how much the energy industry is missing out on the diverse perspectives that a gender-balanced, inclusive workforce brings. Whilst progress has been made, there’s still a lot to be done.”
Sponsorship of the event was also important given our own commitment to diversity here at Emberson Marketing. We’re part of a group with a 57% female team, committed to promoting health, happiness and success through a holistic approach to wellbeing. It’s important for us that everyone is able to keep a visible distinction between work life and home life, and that we all dedicate quality time to our loved ones.
“From our own experience, workplace diversity and inclusion support business growth by fostering innovation, improving decision-making, attracting top talent and building a positive brand image,” says Emberson Marketing Development Director, Natalie Sweet. “Companies that achieve gender balance will be better positioned to meet the challenges and opportunities the energy transition is creating. That’s why it’s important to actively engage in this vital conversation and walk the walk.”
