Energy firm E.On has signed up to the energy industry’s Leaders’ Commitment in order to improve equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) for its workforce.
Created by Tackling Inclusion and Diversity in Energy (Tide), which uses insights from across the energy industry to share best practice and drive forward inclusion, the commitment is aimed at chief executive officers (CEO) and those at UK country manager level to encourage them to drive change in their own organisation.
By signing up, leaders commit to visibly demonstrating allyship and promote EDI, challenging fellow leaders and stakeholders in poor EDI practice, include at least one EDI target as part of their performance objectives, and ensure their direct reports do the same, and maintain senior accountability at board level for EDI within their organisation as well as frameworks, policies and processes for reporting harassment and abuse.
Leaders will also be required to ensure the organisation they lead has inclusive recruitment practices, gather EDI data and set targets for improvement within 12 months, embed EDI into their business mission, strategy and values to drive an inclusive culture, and complete the EDI Health Index from 2024. Tide will request evidence of these actions to ensure the commitment is sincere.
E.On currently hosts inclusivity networks, of which more than a quarter of staff actively take part, in order to bring people from across the firm together to share experiences and understanding of areas such as racial inclusion, gender equality, neurodiversity, parenting, LGBT+, menopause and mental health.
Chris Norbury, CEO of E.On UK, said: “I believe we all have a responsibility for creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace where every single employee is valued, respected, and able to thrive as their authentic self. I’m incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made.
“Signing up to Tide’s Leaders’ Commitment is another important step on our journey to ensuring our commitment to diversity and inclusion is continued, as we work with other organisations to help drive our entire industry forwards together.”