Promoting and delivering diversity, equality and inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace is an essential aspect of good people management.
It’s about creating working environments and cultures where every individual can feel safe, experience a sense of belonging, and is empowered to achieve their full potential.
In the UK it is the Equality Act 2010 that is supposed to provide DE&I protections across nine specific areas, that is: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
In the workplace, it seems so blindingly obvious that effective DE&I practice is good for its people and benefits the organisation regardless of whether it is in the private or public sector; whether an energy company or an NHS hospital, or a shop on the High Street.
Trade unions across the land continue to man the mistrust of management on a very large scale for its failures in this regard, and that includes Big Energy.
Over the last decade or so, they have become deeply concerned by the scale of our apparently fast-growing gig economy with its DE&I implications.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the UK gig economy in 2023 employed just under half a million people (463,583). In a labour force of over 32.5 million, workers in the gig economy therefore accounted for just 1.4% of total employment.
This is in sharp contrast to TUC research in 2021 which found that 14.7% of working people, estimated at 4.4 million people, were working for gig economy platforms at least once a week in England and Wales. This, however, was based on a survey of just 2,201 participants.
Which does one believe? That depends upon your perspective.
The real figure is likely somewhere between, though the TUC figures appear to be the most often quoted. Might the gig worker count shrink under the Starmer Administration? That remains to be seen, but trade unions with government will be reasserting at least some eroded worker rights.
To be clear, there has always been a casual element to the workforce. What is different now is that company bosses are trying to slide past worker rights by basing their workforces on the gig model, maximising the number of casual workers, though not even in the UK have they been able to avoid 28 days’ worth of statutory holiday a year.
Brands like Amazon and Deliveroo exploit gig working on zero-hours contracts unashamedly, claiming it suits many people to work this way. The “Lump” was the foundation stone of the building industry though is less prevalent today. It’s commonplace in tourism too.
However, the zero-hours contract’s days may be numbered and, in any case, do they really fit with a DE&I culture? After all, half of all UK gig workers apparently earn less than the statutory minimum wage. And that is where the headlines tend to focus.
The connection between a lack of income and the rise of gig work is corroborated in the Deloitte Global 2022 GenZ and Millennial Survey, which reported that almost half of Gen Z and millennial employees are currently living payday to payday.
And with many younger employees worrying about covering monthly expenses, over a quarter also report working two or more jobs, with more than 73% working 40+ hours weekly.
Deloitte found that, while many of us assume gig work is limited to menial delivery vans for big brands, ride-sharing and other personal services, more professionals have recognised the opportunity to engage giggers and career launchers for support on real, short-term, professional assignments.
Beyond providing on-demand support for busy professionals, this type of gig work helps companies engage and assess potential future employees, while allowing gig workers and career launchers to lend their talents and gain valuable experience.
“The gig economy serves as a pathway to driving other benefits, whether it’s hiring effectiveness; employee retention; or improvements to diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies,” says Deloitte.
This would appear to fit with DE&I quite well, but it probably takes open minds in the boardroom, management and the smart, highly qualified gig worker who could very well have a couple of degrees and know precisely what they want.
But then there’s a twist to the gig story.
She calls them “gig mind-setters” and argues that the COVID-19 pandemic forced corporates and other organisations to change their business models and, above all else, become flexible.
“Flexible companies can assemble teams quickly, draw on collective knowledge and find expertise inside and outside of the organisation, communicate strategic messages to the workforce, and collect information from employees in the field in real-time,” argues McConnell.
“To build those capabilities, constant learning needs to be part of the company’s culture.
“Large-scale change or learning programs aren’t the answer. While they’re well-intentioned, they’re generally structured from the top down, and the majority of them fail because they don’t enable people to take individual initiative.
“Instead, companies should enable employees to become ‘gig mind-setters’, what I call a bold new breed of full-time, salaried employees who think and act like freelancers.
“Gig mind-setters are constant learners — they self-manage, take spontaneous initiative, focus on skills more than roles, feel free to shortcut processes, and don’t hesitate to question the status quo.
“They share what they learn with others, take ownership of their own personal growth, and feel confident in their ability to influence people.”
In essence, McConnell is telling us that a gig mindset learning culture starts within individuals and grows to serve both people and the organisation.
It is perhaps a stealthy way to achieve DE&I without necessarily realising it, and highly effective at least so long as there is buy-in at all levels.
There is a school of thought which argues that DE&I perhaps works better in high-tech, high-value industries than, for example, retail where, even John Lewis staff, correction, ‘partners’, and their bosses increasingly struggle to make their unusual approach to retail work. At its heart is what today we would recognise as DE&I.
In its Belonging at JLP report 2024, the partnership stated: “‘We’ve set ourselves the high ambition of being the most inclusive employer in the UK.
“We believe it’ll make the Partnership a more attractive place to work and make us more commercially successful as we’re able to draw on a broader range of views and perspectives and attract more customers.”
JLP says DE&I is working, and this is from a corporate with a 2023 gender median pay gap of 4.4%.
Energy and gig workers
What about the energy industry? Does casual working have a place in the workings of Big Oil? And what about renewables, Big Wind especially?
Let’s start with offshore oil and gas and, specifically, the Cost Reduction Initiative for the New Era (CRINE), launched in 1993 when the North Sea was in trouble following the first global oil price crash in 1986.
It is said that, when DE&I principles are at the heart of energy initiatives, the results have the potential to be transformative. Solutions become more sustainable, ensuring that they are not just short-term fixes but long-lasting changes.
Moreover, with a focus on inclusivity, these solutions are tailored to the needs of diverse communities.
This pretty much describes CRINE, as the solutions developed and often co-operatively offered and adopted across the UK’s offshore industry – operators, tiers one and two contractors plus hundreds of smaller firms in the supply chain – even involved the shop floor.
It boiled down to trust and, though history treats CRINE and the operational successor CRINE Network harshly, these grand initiatives did have a real impact.
No one used DE&I-speak; most in the industry had likely never heard of it.
The point is that the industry took the proverbial bull by the horns and got results.
Moreover, future ‘we’re in this together’ initiatives like the Oil & Gas Industry Task Force, Pilot and so forth, right up to the present day, may be why DE&I principles and practices possibly work better in this industry than in most other sectors of the UK economy, even though often deeply fraught and angry on the workforce front.
It has never worked on the production platforms, though it seems generally accepted by shopfloors onshore.
Turning to the next era of energy here in the UK, therefore renewables, there are masses of fine-speak.
Here’s what Ørsted of Denmark says about DE&I: “Diversity, equity, and inclusion is embedded in the core of our approach and global growth.
“We continuously work to improve our organisation’s gender balance and expand our diversity efforts and initiatives beyond our own workforce, and not limited to gender.”
All other major wind players are claiming much the same thing, but they need to have a care. Big Wind is clearly struggling with DE&I, not least because of its well-publicised, often hostile attitude to the offshore oil and gas industry’s workforce.
For now, at least, the following quote from the Winds of Change study by the University of Hull published this year is a good place to end this article.
“Through the offshore wind sector deal (struck with the UK Government in early 2020), the industry committed to increasing diversity in the sector.
“But it faces challenges in attracting diverse talent into the sector and ensuring individuals remain in the sector and reach their full potential.”
And the telling observation, “While many organisations are working hard to increase diversity, there is little evidence of what approaches are effective and can be scaled up.”
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