Composition of the organisation
We are building the energy system of the future for everyone and with everyone. We therefore actively aim for a diverse workforce. We work on this through leadership development, training and awareness, and in our recruitment and selection.
Our HR policy pursues diversity on the basis of three pillars. Firstly, we seek to achieve diversity at all levels. We do so by focusing directly on recruiting women and moving women into technical and managerial positions, and we offer support to cultural talent through mentoring in conjunction with our partner Agora. Regarding employment benefits, we conduct an equal work/equal pay analysis each year. This year, we went through remuneration with a fine toothcomb to bring salaries up to the same level. The final pillar is the inclusive organisational culture, which involves leveraging across our various employee networks. We actively target KPIs such as women in leadership positions and the number of jobs we create for people with poor prospects in the labour market.
An organisation where everyone feels at home
Alliander aims to be a diverse company where every employee can perform to the best of their abilities. We seek to have a well-balanced, diverse workforce at all levels. We believe that diversity makes us an attractive employer for talented individuals, gives everyone the opportunity to show their best side, and contributes to the quality of our decision-making and innovative capacity. That is why we encourage the recruitment of women to managerial and technical positions, employees with a migrant background, and people with poor employment prospects.
Employee breakdown by gender and age
Cultural diversity
In order to present our company to current and potential employees with a migrant background, we explicitly focus on the diversity within our organisation. To do so, we make use of the external networks of ‘Wij zijn Nexus’, Echo (a mentoring programme for graduates with a migrant background) and Agora (a network organisation that supports diversity and inclusion). We do not measure cultural diversity as yet.
The partnership with Echo takes the form of a mentoring programme for final-year university students to introduce them to Alliander, and also gives employees in leadership positions within Alliander an opportunity to broaden their knowledge and develop their cultural sensitivity.
Internal employee networks
Our internal networks for diversity & inclusion and connection actively encourage employee participation and thereby contribute to an inclusive culture. There are five networks within Alliander: ‘Wij zijn Nexus’ (a multicultural network), Lianne (a women's network), Pride (an LGBHTQ+ network), Tension (a youth network) and Mission Possible (for people with occupational disabilities), which went live on Diversity Day.
Offering opportunities to people with poor employment prospects
We employ people with poor employment prospects who are covered by the Labour Participation Act, because having work gets them more involved in society. Alliander also endorses the significant societal importance of the government’s job promise scheme (‘banenafspraak’) that aims to create permanent positions for people with an occupational disability. In 2022, we offered a total of 90 people a job or work experience placement (2021: 77). This is lower than the target, mainly due to incorrect assumptions and expectations regarding the deployment and supervision of people with poor prospects in the labour market, and the support they require. The HR department is working on this issue in consultation with the business side.
Alliander wins awards for diversity
Alliander is one of the companies that endorses the Diversity Charter drawn up by SER Diversity at Work. In 2022, Alliander won the SER Diversity at Work Award for its ‘Through Different Eyes’ initiative. This interactive workshop consisted of sessions to discuss the question: ‘What is an inclusive culture and how do we create it?’ The panel of judges praised the ‘step-by-step approach’ and the use of VR glasses to make the experience more penetrating. In addition, Alliander and E-Care Reverse Logistics won the 2022 Inclusive Business of the Year Award. The reason for the award was the joint work-learning programme, which gives people with poor job prospects an opportunity to develop further in technical subjects.
Diversity Day and Coming Out Day
On 4 October, we celebrated Diversity Day. This is the day on which we ask for particular attention to be paid to the differences and the similarities between people. The theme this year was ‘I see what you don't’, and employees were able to participate in a virtual reality experience, online webinars, master classes and live streams, among other activities. Additionally, we focused on diversity and inclusion on Coming Out Day, which was 11 October in 2022.
Diversity targets and achievements at the board and senior management level
The Dutch Diversity Act came into effect on 1 January 2022. The Diversity Act seeks to achieve a better balance in the ratio of men to women in the management boards, supervisory boards and senior management of large companies (such as Alliander). For 2022, Alliander set itself the target of achieving a ratio of at least 31% women and at least 31% men on the Management Board, on the Supervisory Board and at the senior management level (the first hierarchical layer below the Management Board).
At year end 2022, 25% of the Management Board members were female. The percentage of women on the Supervisory Board was 40%. For further details, please refer to the Supervisory Board report. The percentage of women in senior management was 28.6% at the end of 2022.
Objective for 2021 | Performance in 2021 | Objective for 2022 | Performance in 2022 | Notes | |
Supervisory Board | At least 30% is female | 2 women (40%) | At least 31% is male, at least 31% is female | 2 women (40%) | No vacancies and/or new appointments in 2022 |
Board level (Management Board) | 1 woman (25%) | At least 31% is male, at least 31% is female | 1 woman (25%) | No vacancies and/or new appointments in 2022 | |
Senior management (N-1) | At least 31% is male, at least 31% is female | 8 women (28.6%) | New specified target for board level and senior management following new gender diversity law (Ingrowth Quota Act). Previously there was only a general target for women in leadership positions. |
This section explains Alliander's approach to diversity and the policy on diversity in a broad sense. It highlights the targeted management action to fill leadership positions by recruiting female candidates and internally promoting female employees, and to ensure equal pay between men and women as important instruments for increasing the percentage of women in these positions.
Percentage of women in leadership positions
The percentage of women in managerial positions at the end of 2022 was 28.3% (2021: 28.1%). The target here is to have women in at least 33% of leadership positions by 2024. To achieve this goal, we are putting extra effort into retaining female employees and taking action to make sure women make up half the influx of new managers (which is currently one-third women and two-thirds men). Although this is challenging in today's tight labour market and within an industry that is seen as a male domain, this situation will not change fast enough if we fail to act and the perception that engineering is men's work will continue to prevail. Alliander is convinced that the energy system should be created for everyone, with everyone.
Master classes for inclusive leadership and development programmes
As part of our leadership programme, we offer diversity and inclusion master classes and practical tools to ensure active discussion of the topic and encourage concrete action to improve the gender ratio and achieve an inclusive work culture. This includes specific interventions through which we support and challenge women with potential and ambition. For example, there is a cross-mentoring programme and boardroom coaching in partnership with Talent to the Top, a leadership programme run by Direction, the annual nomination of a Young Talent by Stichting Topvrouw van het Jaar and Agora network's mentoring programme. In addition, women can participate in the activities organised by Lianne, our women’s network.