a place where women want to work

Message from Steve Holliday, CEO,

I am delighted to be able to present my personal view on how National Grid recruits and retains women in what is traditionally a male-dominated engineering-based company and industry.  I will set out what inclusion and diversity means for National Grid, the forward strides that we have made over the past few years and our plans to ensure that our company is able to attract,develop and recruit the best talent in coming years.

National Grid is one of the world’s largest utilities.  We own the high-voltage electricity transmission system in England and Wales and operate the system in Scotland.  We also own and operate Britain’s high–pressure gas transmission system and half the country’s gas distribution network serving around 11 million consumers.  Today in the north eastern US we service 3.2 million people with one of the largest electricity transmission and distribution systems in the region and operate a gas distribution system in upstate New York.

One of the greatest challenges facing my company at present is the limited pool of skilled engineers that we have to compete with other companies to recruit from.  The number of graduate engineers and especially those doing power engineering has been reducing in the UK over recent years.  This is a challenge for a company such as National Grid that relies upon the skills of its people to ensure that we continue to be able to design, develop, operate and maintain our complex energy networks safely, efficiently, reliably and responsibly. 

The energy sector itself has undergone significant changes over recent years with privatisation and competition impacting on the structure of the sector.  National Grid itself has undergone six mergers/ de mergers since 2000.  This is reflective of the ownership of the utility sector being in a constant state of flux.  We believe that the global electricity and gas sector has significant future growth and investment opportunities worldwide.  Over the next 20 years, the electricity and gas sectors are projected to need $10 trillion of new investment worldwide – by far the largest single sector, even ahead of upstream oil and gas which is at $5 trillion.  The sector is expected to be characterised by major new build and consolidation. 

However, this growth will take place in the context of significant uncertainty in almost all countries and jurisdictions over the future direction of regulatory and sector reform – including the US where the trend towards liberalisation is uncertain, and Europe where European Union pressure to reform continues to be resisted by many utilities and national governments. 

National Grid recently reviewed its own strategy and agreed that our focus should continue to be on owning and running regulated gas and electricity infrastructure assets in the UK and the US.  So what are the opportunities for growth for National Grid and how well-placed are we to support this through a diverse employee base? 

We have already planned significant investment in our current assets in the UK over the next five years - £4 billion in electricity transmission, including new build, and £5 billion in our UK gas activities – and all of this requires skilled employees to deliver it.  With a strong business imperative already developing, in 2004 we recognised that the profile of our organisation did not reflect the composition of the communities in which we operate and over the next 10 years the communities which we serve will become significantly more diverse.  We need to attract from the broadest population if we are to find and develop the necessary skills to ensure the sustainability of our company and the achievement of our strategy for growth.  A critical factor in our success was being viewed as an ‘employer of choice’ and in particular we wanted to create a place where women want to work. 

Just over two years later there has been a 2% increase in female senior management and an 11% increase in female graduate recruits.  Our recruitment of female apprentices is above the industry benchmark and our Year in Industry programme was 42% female last year.  Our most recent employee survey (2006) recorded a more positive response from females across almost all questions than their male colleagues.  We have been listed in The Times Top 50 UK list of ‘where women want to work.’

We know that we still have a long way to go but how have we been able to make progress so quickly?

At the outset our inclusion and diversity programme has had top level sponsorship from our Executive team.  The enthusiasm of our employees for the programme was channelled through our employee affinity groups – women, disabled, ethnic groups, new starters.  We have developed our attraction strategies to specifically attract women, especially into engineering roles; we have worked hard to improve our culture, with all UK managers receiving training in inclusive behaviours and valuing diversity.  Throughout, we continue to ensure that Executive sponsorship is highly visible providing positive role models for the whole organisation. 

Within National Grid we are much more aware of ensuring that all employees demonstrate the right attitudes and behaviours as well as the necessary technical skills and capabilities.  Indeed, we have recently amended our performance appraisal programme for our most senior managers to ensure that they are not just rewarded on what they have achieved but also on how they have gone about getting the job done, including specific references to valuing diversity.  Running a 24/7 business is a continuous challenge but also provides the opportunity for flexible and shift working. Our extensive flexible working policies have received external recognition from UKRC 'Women in Science, Engineering and Technology' and take up for various working patterns to accommodate work-life balance is increasing.

We recognise that we need to continue to develop and need to better utilise the potential of women at lower management levels, to encourage the diversity of teams and appointments, to ensure a balanced perspective in decision making and initiatives being developed and to value the difference that women bring to the business.  This is still an industry in which graduates and apprentices can build a career but it is now one in which they will be continually challenged to develop and reach their full potential. Engineering in National Grid is an excellent career opportunity for women and men alike.