Ofwat chief executive Rachel Fletcher has warned the utilities sector that it will not achieve genuine diversity until it resolves its persistent struggles with gender equality.
She called gender equality the first step towards a diverse workplace and admitted the industry is “surely a very long way from achieving equal opportunities” for people from black, Asian, minority ethnic (BAME) communities, those with disabilities or from unprivileged backgrounds.
Women, people with disabilities and those from BAME backgrounds remain underrepresented within utilities at a time when the sector, according to Fletcher, needs “people who think differently” to address the mounting challenges of climate change and corporate social responsibility.
“We need to be able to draw the very best talent, wherever it is, and not be limited to drawing from pools of people who look like us on paper or in the flesh. We also need to be able to show the communities we serve that we are just like them if we are to win their trust and really be able to serve them.”
Speaking at a Women on Water event Fletcher, who previously worked at Ofgem, said the personal aspirations of many people could be limited by a lack of visible diversity within the sector.
She said it is important to make the sector more attractive to all applicants in order to reach its full potential.
Despite a growing number of women in high profile positions, Fletcher said there is more to be done.
“I’ve been working in utilities for 25 years and it still feels more male dominated than many other sectors. While it’s great we will soon have six water company female chief executives, it is only in the last 12 months we have got the first female board chair.
“Female executives are still in the minority and mainly limited to customer-facing roles. It feels like we’ve punched some holes in that glass ceiling but it is still looming over us and this worries me because if we look up the ladder and we don’t see anyone like us, it can really limit our aspirations.”
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that 17 per cent of energy and utilities sector workforce was female, compared to a 47 per cent UK average. For ethnic minorities, the sector’s figure was 5 per cent, compared to 12 per cent nationally.