E.ON on the data behind equal promotion rates and 400 women in leadership

At E.ON inclusion isn't a standalone programme but part of how the business understands its customers and develops its people. Here the Diversity and Inclusion Lead tells HR Grapevine just what makes their DEI programme so successful...

Rebecca Percy, Diversity and Inclusion Lead, E.ON UK has spent years building the approach to diversity and inclusion around three things: data, colleague insight and co-creation. Here she explains what that looks like in practice, from menopause support to parental leave.

What prompted E.ON's DEI strategy and how does it link to business goals?

Our purpose is to lead the transition to a cleaner, fairer and more affordable energy system - one that is inclusive by design and works for all households, communities and businesses.

Today, we run two menopause cafés every month, typically attended by between 25 and 40 colleagues, and we've continued to evolve our support based on colleague feedback

Rebecca Percy | Diversity and Inclusion Lead, E.ON UK

Inclusion is integral to this transition and we're working hard so no-one is left behind. We can only do this if we have an inclusive culture and our diversity, backgrounds and life experiences reflect those of our customers, so we understand their needs and can deliver solutions and products that work for them and their lives.

Can you describe one practice that you'd describe as best practice and how was it rolled out?

Rebecca Percy

Diversity and Inclusion Lead, E.ON UK

I'd point to our approach of combining data, colleague insight and co-creation to drive and embed meaningful change. Our menopause support is a good example of that approach in practice. We became one of the UK's first menopause-friendly employers in 2017, but quickly learned that policy alone doesn't change people's experiences. What stands out is not a single initiative or headline announcement, but the consistency of effort over nearly a decade. We recognised that lasting change would require sustained commitment, ongoing engagement and continuous improvement.

Today, we run two menopause cafés every month, typically attended by between 25 and 40 colleagues, and we've continued to evolve our support based on colleague feedback.

As a result, the proportion of colleagues who believe E.ON is a menopause-friendly employer has increased from 59% to 96%, while 86% say they feel comfortable talking about menopause at work and 89% believe their manager is supportive. For me, that's evidence that lasting change comes from listening to colleagues, acting on what they tell you and continuing to build that progress over time.

How do you get leadership and staff buy-in for DEI initiatives?

Leadership and colleague buy-in comes from showing that DEI is not a standalone initiative, but a critical part of our people strategy: one that helps us improve the business and deliver better results.

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Buy-in is created by using colleague insight to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement, then focusing effort where it can add the greatest value. Priorities are set based on where the greatest improvements can be made to colleague experience and business performance.

We have fantastic support from our leaders, but we also have colleagues across the business who are passionate about driving change. Our inclusion networks play a huge role in that. They share ideas and help us understand where we can improve. Importantly, they also help us co-create initiatives and solutions, ensuring colleagues have a genuine voice in shaping our approach.

For me, it's about making inclusion relevant to people's everyday experiences. When colleagues can see tangible action, whether that's better support, development opportunities or changes to ways of working, it builds trust and confidence with colleagues, which helps to empower people.

A great example of this is our Women in Leadership programme which was designed and co-created by leaders and HR, with our Fast Forward network. It's now in its 5th year and delivered by the network itself. Over 400 women have completed the development programme, and it's been a huge part of how we've been able to improve women's promotion rates, so these are now equal to men's.