Introduction by Sian Jenkins, Head of Human Resources

In a 24/7 365-day-a-year service, people are our most important asset and that’s why we continue to focus on attracting top talent, growing our teams, and promoting first-class career development opportunities.

Our apprenticeship programme continues to go from strength to strength, offering fresh opportunities for new starters as well as the chance for existing employees to upskill. Last year nearly half of apprenticeship applicants were women. By year end we had 66 apprentices on our programme, representing nearly six per cent of our current headcount and we aim to increase this to 10 per cent by 2025. Over the year 19 apprentices have completed qualifications, gained skills and a career with us. In a first for our company, Thames Water has collaborated with us on an operations apprenticeship programme and we also took part in an industry pilot event for National Apprenticeship Week to showcase the opportunities available.

To help us meet our business’s future and changing needs, 68 existing colleagues undertook upskilling programmes through our Aspire, Inspire and Lead career development routes, with women accounting for 42 per cent of those on upskilling programmes.

In May we launched our new Inspire to Lead programme for future managers. Women made up 58 per cent of the initial 24-strong cohort. In January, 23 colleagues completed phase two of our Leading for Change senior management development programme and 21 colleagues have undertaken our Foundation for Leadership programme. We’ve also developed an Aspiring for Professionals programme for nine graduates who’ve joined us as engineers to ensure they can develop through structured CPD activities, supportive mentoring and peer-to-peer learning. Plans are in the pipeline for a new route for specialists within our business to enhance their technical skillsets.

We’ve joined The 5% Club this year in recognition of our investment in future talent which enables colleagues to earn and learn at the same time and we’re aiming for gold employer status when we’re officially audited as part of our membership.

We continue to outperform our industry on gender diversity, with women making up 42 per cent of our workforce against an industry average of 33 per cent. Women accounted for 42 per cent of our job applicants and 49 per cent of these joined our team. However, we know there is still more to do to address the gender imbalance in our operational roles. That’s why we’ve started a major shift pattern and on-call review to see how we can adapt our working patterns and environment to attract more women into these roles.

Our gender pay gap has improved by one per cent to 21.6 per cent. Although above the national average, we know there is more work to do to make a lasting change in how women are represented at our company. On a positive note, we have seen a two per cent increase in women taking up managerial roles and women also account for 67 per cent of our recent succession planning activity.

During the year we launched a Menopause Policy and Domestic Abuse Policy and we support online Safe Spaces, a discreet way to access domestic abuse support. As a Disability Confident Committed Employer, we continue to support Leonard Cheshire’s Change 100 programme, providing secondments to disabled graduates prior to entering the jobs market.

We’re investing in a new HR IT system to future proof our business and improve efficiency, effectiveness and visibility of workflow/scheduling services. This will connect all business areas through employee services including recruitment, on-boarding, payroll and a self-service portal.

Our Wellbeing Strategy launched three years ago continues to be valued by all colleagues in the business.  This was endorsed by South East Water winning a Gold Kent & Medway workplace wellbeing award and 84 per cent of our employees who stated in the latest employee survey ‘I feel that South East Water supports and cares about my wellbeing’.

We have continued to focus on what matters to our colleagues through our four pillars supporting with practical advice and support on the cost of living crisis and how to improve and maintain physical and mental health.

External experts and charities provide their expertise; for example, All Able have completed sessions and drop ins with colleagues, providing digital accessibility tips to improve how we communicate internally and with our customers and deliver accessible and inclusive services that work for everyone.

Our key measures:

• Improving Health, Safety and Wellbeing of our people and communities
• Ensure Fair pay, reward and recognition for all our employees
• We are compliant with health and safety regulations
• Trusted corporate governance (responsible business)
• Transparency of reporting (responsible business)

For previous years reports, click here.