Promoting and delivering equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the workplace is an essential aspect of good people management. One of our partners, Rachel Bridge, who is Deputy Chair of the Pipeline Industries Guild (the Guild), hosted a webinar on 7 November to delve into the world of EDI and discuss what needs to be done to ensure that the industry provides opportunities for everyone to create a diverse environment which empowers those in the industry to achieve their full potential.
Rachel was joined by guest speakers Kanthi Ford, a leadership coach with over 20 years of experience and Dan Jefferson from JN Bentley. He is a Site Manager and Past Chair for the Guild and has worked in the infrastructure sector for more than 20 years. All three shared their views on where the industry is at, and their own experiences as well as discussing the importance of creating working environments and cultures that foster inclusivity.
Rachel said: “The consensus is that people are accepting that culture is changing and evolving all the time but there is still a lot of learning to do, just having conversations like this one shows we have started the journey and progress is being made.
“I look back to when I first started working as a surveyor 17 years ago, one of the challenges was the male and female bias and age bias. At the start, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to say anything, got the impression people thought I was there to make the tea or take the notes and not to do a technical job. From then on, I took on the mantra that I needed to be the best I could be which often meant that I was double-checking everything I did to make sure it was as close to perfect as I could get it. It takes a degree of confidence and experience to be confident to challenge others but now I feel comfortable to challenge situations without worrying about what impact that might have on me.”
Kanthi, who mentors female mid-management across all of the utilities, talked about some of the experiences she has had, highlighting examples where she had faced challenges in her career. She said, “I have always tried to pretend these issues don’t exist as I didn’t want to be seen as someone with an agenda. Even now, it is sometimes considered that the female in the room is the minute-taker or the one responsible for making the coffee.”
Dan added: “Everyone should be buying into this now and everyone should be doing ‘their bit’. It shouldn’t be down to an individual to flag situations like this as being inappropriate, everyone in the room should be able to positively influence others around them. We can’t continue to hold onto a cultural bias from generations gone by, but it is obvious that there is a lot of learning still to be done.”
Rachel, who has spent her whole career in energy and infrastructure and did her first pipeline project in 2007 as a placement student, is also a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Ambassador, and often visits local primary schools to talk about her career. Rachel added: “Young children are not born biased, but society and nurture create these biases some Industries are still very orientated towards male and female stereotypes as far as careers are concerned, I purposely turn up in a Hi-Viz jacket and a hard hat which often surprises them. The infrastructure sector needs good people, and we need to break this stereotypical approach at an early age so that children grow up knowing that anyone can do anything.”
“The sector is booming but we are being faced with a lot of challenges whether it’s energy security, net zero, the weather and the impact that is having on infrastructure. If we keep doing what we’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got so we need to attract diverse talent into the industry and make sure that we are providing places to work which are as inclusive as possible.”
Kanthi added: “Having the confidence to ask questions and challenge things changes the dynamic, that’s how new inventions happen. It can be daunting as a young female joining the industry, but we have to be mindful that everyone gets the right support and feels part of something bigger.”
Dan added: “I have to admit that I have not even considered body language and the physical challenges women have but we must reflect on this so that we don’t alienate anyone and prevent them from feeling safe and confident to speak up and make mistakes.”
Rachel referred to a previous PIG event to highlight some of the lessons we could learn and highlighted that the same happens at more senior levels with the second in command doing it the same way as the leader as it’s thought to be the right way rather than being confident enough to challenge them.
Kanthi said: “Great leaders encourage the quietest in the room to speak rather than just listening to their own voice. A great leader is also someone who has empathy to identify others who have interesting ideas and then empower them to become more confident. It’s not about following the leader; it’s about having a leader who follows their people.”
Rachel concluded: “You need to make sure what you do is as inclusive as possible and recognise the contributions other people make. Diversity in thought is vital to make a project successful and having businesses explore different routes for recruitment enables them to create a more diverse team than they could 20 or 30 years ago. There are so many routes now, and exploring all of them will mean you attract people from different backgrounds and cultures, with different levels of experience and knowledge.”
Click here to watch the webinar. Click here to find out more about the PIG, the mentoring schemes and the local networking events.
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