We're proud to be supporting Pride
Chris Norbury, E.ON UK CEO, talks about inclusion at E.ON and why we’re proud to be supporting Pride.
Each year during the month of June, many countries around the world come together to mark Pride month with a series of events that celebrate the LGBT+ community and raise awareness about the political and social inequalities that many people still face today.
The first UK Pride rally was held in London in 1972 and over the past 51 years, Pride has become a central part of the UK’s cultural calendar.
This year, we’re delighted to be supporting the Notts Pride celebrations and to have sponsored Birmingham Pride in May, having previously been the Main Sponsor of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Pride House last year.
What inclusion means at E.ON
Inclusion in all its forms is at the heart of E.ON life and we’re proud to be a place where our colleagues feel respected and valued for who they are.
We know that we’re better together and that’s why we’re committed to creating a diverse and open working environment and we’ve been named one of the UK’s Top Inclusive Employers for the past six years in a row.
We want to be known as a welcoming organisation where everyone can be their true selves and feel supported. Our open-to-all colleague-led LGBT+ and Friends inclusivity network, which now has more than 600 members, is a great place for our employees to share their experiences and promote understanding and awareness across our entire organisation. The network has also been key in identifying opportunities for E.ON to promote inclusivity, such as its support of Birmingham and Nottinghamshire Pride this year.
But being truly inclusive is a journey – it means listening and doing what’s right so that every single one of our colleagues feels they can come to work and be their authentic self, feel supported and be able to thrive.
George Ward-Kozera, Senior Brand Project Manager
“E.ON really welcomes the differences that people have. You can be the face of E.ON, no matter what your face looks like. When I first started in energy at another company, it wouldn't have been the case that I could parade around, as I do, tattoos on my hands, pink hair sometimes, and still be someone in an influential role.
"Since moving to E.ON, I would say that not once has that ever been a topic of conversation to cover or act differently or be more reserved. They really welcome the differences that people have.”
What we're doing as an employer
Over the past 18 months alone, we’ve listened and introduced a number of measures in direct response to what our colleagues have told us.
For example, we’ve started to introduce gender neutral facilities at our sites, we now have a gender neutral menopause policy, and we’ve updated our parental and adoption leave policies to include shared leave and allow more time off for secondary caregivers. We’ve also refreshed our recruitment processes with an increased focus on inclusion to support people with disabilities or who are neurodivergent. And through our Respect Matters culture, training and guides, we’re helping to ensure that every colleague feels they are treated with the respect they deserve.
We were the first energy company to be recognised as menopause-friendly, are proud to have renewed our Disability Confident status, are committed to the Race at Work Charter, and are transparent about our gender and ethnicity pay gaps and where improvements must be made.
And we’re leading the way in terms of developing talent, from going into schools to inspire a new generation to apprenticeships and open-access, inclusive talent networks which give everyone the opportunity to learn and progress.
Proud supporters of Pride
We’re delighted to support Pride again this year. Pride has become one of the most important LGBT+ festivals in the UK attracting hundreds of thousands of people to events across the UK.
The Birmingham Pride festival was held over the weekend of 27th and 28th May 2023, and Notts Pride will be held on 29th July 2023.