International Women’s Day 2021
Our Commitment to Gender Equality and Diversity in the Workplace.
As a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, at AqualisBraemar LOC we recognise the importance of gender equality and diversity in the workplace and are committed to offering equal opportunities to everyone. Workplace integrity is very important to us, namely creating a fostering and protecting corporate environment that is inclusive, professional and safe for all genders.
During 2020 we have tried to bring our women engineers and STEM professionals to the forefront. We celebrated International Women in Engineering Day (INWED20), a campaign that brings together engineers and their supporters from across the world, joining to raise awareness of the work opportunities and achievements of women engineers. At the AqualisBraemar LOC group, we wanted to take this opportunity to praise the excellent work that our female engineers do across the globe and celebrate their efforts to shape our world into a better, safer, more innovative, and exciting place to be. We have encouraged and assisted female members of staff to successfully apply for GWEC’s development program Women in Wind, which will promote diversity not only in the workplace but also in the industry that we work in and helping the development of our employees. We have also encouraged participation in women’s clubs and learning hubs, including POWERful Women (showcasing women in the energy sector) and RenewableUK’s Switch List (a directory of spokeswomen from the energy sector to increase diversity in speakers for events).
In terms of training and development, we have rolled out an online training course on stress in the workplace and diversity and inclusion to encourage awareness. We have also developed a new training and competence procedure globally. As the business grows, we will be able to provide further career and development opportunities for our female staff. We encourage all our staff, with a focus on women, to participate in accredited training programmes to further their understanding of the business and their roles.
2020 was a difficult year with much of our staff having to adapt to new ways of working and sometimes in unusual and challenging conditions. From this way of working, we have understood and realised that our workforce can be far more flexible and our job roles more adaptable. Flexible work arrangements support our employees in their efforts to balance work commitments with their individual living circumstances and needs. Research has shown that working mothers are particularly affected, with their quality of life deteriorating when working from home. To mediate this negative effect, we have implemented more structured policies around flexible working and working from home. We maintain that the newly adopted way of homeworking will not hinder any female employee’s chances of further development and career opportunities within the organisation.
Although we take pride in the gender equality and diversity policies that we have put in place, we are at the start of our ESG journey, with more improvements and additional monitoring work planned.
For 2021, AqualisBraemar LOC intends to review and assess topics around the gender pay gap and look at our recruitment strategies to make sure we are upholding fair employment practices. We will be reviewing our internal appraisal review system and would like to further educate line management in recognising development needs for our employees, especially if more businesses adopt a more flexible approach. This will help with setting further goals for SDG 5 – Gender Equality. Going forward, we also aim to put in measures to monitor and report on the demographics of our management and employees by diversity factors.