Blogs

Inspiring the next generation of female engineers

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 11:00:00 +0000

23 June 2021

Blog by Eliane Algaard, Operations Director, SSEN

Today is International Women in Engineering Day, here Eliane Algaard, Operations Director for SSEN's South Distribution Network, offers some advice to the female engineers of tomorrow.

The 23rd June is International Women in Engineering Day – a day close to my heart. Over the years on this day, I have shared my story to help raise awareness of the amazing career opportunities engineering can offer to women. I also try to focus more specifically on the satisfaction of working in industries which deliver massive social and economic benefit to the communities they serve.

In my current role as Operations Director for SSEN’s South Distribution network, I am particularly proud of contributing to building a strong foundation to make a net zero world a reality for our customers and communities.

I chose to study engineering at university partly because a career in science and engineering was seen as a prestigious occupation in France in the 90s. But I chose this direction as much because I thought it seemed a good career choice to solve puzzles for a living – something I always liked to do as a little girl.

I was lucky – unlike the 50,000 girls turning away from an education in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) every year in the UK – I always saw maths and science as accessible. My father, an engineer himself, encouraged my curiosity to understand the world around me.

Despite science and engineering being a desirable and prestigious occupation, throughout my studies both in France and the UK, women were a minority.

Over the last 20 years, critical infrastructure industries like water, rail and electricity have worked hard to attract more women into STEM roles. However, we still represent less than 25% of the workforce.

My advice to any girl who is considering a career in engineering or any other STEM subject is to see her gender as an asset, and to embrace all the experiences which makes her different from her peers. This difference might enable her to approach a technical and management problem from a different angle and find a novel way to solve it.

I would also advise her to work for companies with values like her own, and not to be afraid to put herself forward and take on additional responsibilities and projects. Hard work and positive results always get recognised in a good company. I would also encourage her to embrace change and the opportunities that come with it.

Over the next decade, the UK electricity industry will need to undergo significant structural change to meet the ambitious net zero targets set by the UK and Scottish Governments. Being part of this journey will bring numerous career opportunities and it will also be massively rewarding.

In SSEN Distribution, our Vision is "Powering change through every connection." I believe this vision applies both to our physical assets and our people.

Improving how we work, the systems we use and the processes we follow will be an important part of our journey to net zero. With any change, it is the people who make it happen. Our people are at the heart of us achieving our vision and living our purpose to power communities to thrive today and create a net zero tomorrow. To succeed, we will need to pull on the creativity, agility, and resilience of our talented and diverse team. Attracting more women with STEM skills will boost these qualities. It is also fundamental to keep up with the demand for “clean” energy.

Proud to have Pride

Wed, 02 Jun 2021 11:00:00 +0000

2 June 2021

Blog by Louise Innes, Commercial Director, Energy Customer Solutions

It’s Pride Month – the 51st year of celebration - and a time when millions of people across the world come together in support of the LGBT+ community. Louise Ines ,SSE Business Energy’s Commercial Director shares her thoughts on why inclusivity and diversity is not just culturally important but a smart commercial decision too.

Last June, in the midst of a seemingly endless lockdown, mass protests worldwide condemning the murder of George Floyd, furious Twitter feeds about gender and sex, and trying desperately to continue to do my job while juggling rambunctious two-year-old twins, I found myself wanting to speak to colleagues about something that – being frank – hadn’t been visible to me in SSE. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I was aware that there wasn’t much of a voice or presence for people like me. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted or needed from that, except maybe to be seen.

So out poured a blog that I shared across my team in SSE Business Energy. I talked about my experiences in the workplace as a gay woman and the importance of thoughtful and inclusive language and behaviour, that what you might think is a throwaway comment and with no malintent could be hurtful and place emphasis on the person who is hurt to be the one to speak up. Be excellent to each other. Understand that everyone matters.

Being LGBTQ+ can be complicated! On the one hand, you want acceptance, for your presence to be wholly and completely ‘normalised’. You shouldn’t have to ‘come out’, you shouldn’t need to have Pride parades. But on the other, and this is so important, you want your difference to be celebrated, it to be acknowledged that your rights and your needs and the challenges you might face can and will be different. You want to be out. You are proud to have Pride.

I have been asked why it is important to be out at work. Who cares? I personally believe that if I can be my whole self at work, if I don’t have to take that almost imperceptible pause before I talk about my wife and children (just in case), I will be better at my job. My team will be happier, and the company will get more from me. Now expand that thinking exponentially, to all the people that currently work here, and those that could in the future. How great could this already great place to work become? As a Commercial Director I will guarantee this – being an inclusive and diverse organisation is not just culturally important, it is a smart commercial decision.

It is Pride Month once again, an anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and protest action that galvanised the gay rights movement, and I have been thinking about what feels different this year. As a company we are clearly committing more time and space to inclusion and diversity. We have created communities online for employees to engage with one another and share resources. We are driving more training across the company focused on diverse hiring practices, asking our people to (confidentially) tell us more about who they are so we can have more tailored benefits and be an attractive employer for all people. We have external speakers telling us their stories. I am hugely encouraged.

But we must strive for more. We must have dialogue and action in the boardroom and on the shop floor. We must educate ourselves, and one another, on intersectionality and what it means to be inclusive. We must be unafraid to ask questions to become better allies. We must expand our networks and actively pursue a more diverse workforce. We must power change, and we must believe that we can.

Happy Pride.

Shining a light on our people

Mon, 26 Apr 2021 11:00:00 +0000

26 April 2021

Blog by Alistair Phillips-Davies, Chief Executive SSE Plc

When COP26 opens in Glasgow this November the UK will take centre stage in the fight against climate change.

The world leaders who’ll descend on the city will take their places for a unique opportunity to work together in order to a avert climate disaster.

SSE is sponsoring this critical event but as a principal partner to the UK Government, we’re already playing more than a supporting role.

It is easy to talk about how world leading assets like Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which will be the largest in the world and generate low-carbon electricity for millions across the UK, will deliver net zero.

But it’s the thousands of people behind them that will drive progress towards our goals.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to shine a light on what our people are doing to bring low-carbon electricity to homes and businesses across the country, creating a brighter future for us all.

Our new brand campaign – We Power Change – launched today [22 April], serves to demonstrate that.

We know that change is required and every single colleague across our business is doing just that – powering change.

Change in the ways in which millions of people live their lives and impact the environment.

By facilitating a green recovery with billions of pounds in investment in low carbon assets, like Dogger Bank and the supporting infrastructure, we’re helping preserve our world for generations to come.

But it’s the people who at work in our power-stations, on our wind-farms and maintain the electricity transmission and distribution networks across the country that are at the heart of the action.

Take Jasmine Allen, a young apprentice from Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm, who has starred in the new campaign, for instance.

She and other apprentices have a bright future ahead of them. They couldn’t be setting out on their working lives in energy at a more crucial time, joining an industry at a critical moment in the low-carbon transition, setting their careers up to play a pivotal role in delivering a net zero future.

But it’s not just those in the fledgling stages of their careers, we can all help to power the change the world so desperately needs.

COP26 will be an opportunity for our colleagues to show the world what we’re doing and encourage others, from around the world, to commit to bold action.

Whether it’s building the world’s largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank, developing new low-carbon technology like carbon capture and storage and hydrogen, making the huge upgrades in network infrastructure required to support a low-carbon energy system, or supplying customers with 100% renewable electricity, I couldn’t be prouder of what my colleagues are doing every day to make net zero a reality.

But we want to do more and – with greater ambition and commitment from world leaders at COP26 – we will.

Help us power change

From challenge comes change

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 12:00:00 +0000

8 March 2021

Blog by Nikki Flanders, Managing Director of Energy Customer Solutions:

I love the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day: Choose to challenge.

Challenge is a word that divides opinion. How many times have you heard: he/she needs to be more challenging or he/she is too challenging or confrontational.

I like to think of challenge as being curious to understand, of being prepared to listen with an open mind to others so that we question ourselves, and of being prepared to say how we feel and what we believe, even if it is different from those around us. This kind of challenge has the potential to open things up differently and encourage more thinking and exploring, as opposed to confrontation.

With challenge comes choice. As adults we choose how we respond to others. Not only do we choose what we will say, but also how and when we will say it.

"The thing about choice is that we often can’t clearly see what choices are available to us. Equally, our heritage means that some groups of society have more choices with possibly less consequences than others."

For some, I understand that challenge is much more of a “fight” than “intellectual curiosity”. A level playing field does not currently exist, but we can get there.

As individuals, we can choose to think differently and act differently. As business leaders we can - and I know many are - make decisive interventions to ensure we create inclusion and diversity in the workplace, stimulating curiosity by bringing in different perspectives. In doing so, the playing field will start to level off.

I must be honest, I typically shy away from marking days like this. However, I appreciate that they are necessary... at least for now. I look forward to the day they are no longer needed when we all make a conscious decision to challenge and create change as part of the norm. So let's all use the 8th of March to spend some time really challenging ourselves and others.

Are we being curious when we listen to our colleagues' perspectives?
Are we creating an environment that allows each of our colleagues to bring their views and thoughts to whichever table without being shut down?
Are we challenging others behaviours to allow an inclusive workplace?
As leaders we need to be decisive and work quickly, but that can be done together in an open environment where people feel valued for what they bring. We can choose to make a difference.