Scottish Water & WB Directors

Here, Terri Ward and Emma Hoare, share the impact WB Directors has had on Scottish Water’s Women’s Network in particular, how they maximise the benefits and future challenges.

Scottish Water has had a Corporate Partnership with WB Directors for many years now.

What are the benefits of a long-standing partnership with us, and your approach to D&I more broadly?

Terri: I feel that our partnership with WB Directors is a great way of getting our Diversity & Inclusion message out there in Scottish Water.

The WB Directors talks and workshops give our women practical tools to succeed in the workplace and in other areas of life. The Board CV and interview support is a real win for those who are ready to tackle the world of boards, but just need that final foot up.

What do you think are the particular challenges for the water industry (&/or wider utilities industry) in creating a diverse workforce and inclusive culture?

Terri : Historically the water industry has been a male dominated environment. This idea seems to manifest when we look at recruitment and low percentages of women are typically applying. The challenge lies in engaging young women and letting them know there is a place for them here.

Scottish Water has been engaging with schools about our industry and I am hoping that by having a range of different people speaking to school children this will enhance our future diversity. It’s all about feeding the pipeline!

We know staff retention is important to you, and key to this is creating clear paths for progression that are accessible to employees with diverse backgrounds.

How does your partnership with WB Directors support this?

Emma : The WB Directors workshops challenge you to think differently about what you want from your career and give practical tools and advice on how to take ownership of achieving your goals. Each session has a different theme or focus area and offer value to people at all stages of their career.

Terri: By having these workshops, it gives move people the support to reach the next steps in their careers.

We have enjoyed delivering workshops for all career stages to your internal women’s network. Yet we also know some companies struggle to make their employee resource groups meaningful and impactful.

How has integrating a WB Directors partnership with yours helped, and what other initiatives would you suggest?

Terri: Within our Women’s network we always try to have tangible goals which will support our vision of greater diversity. This year, some of the areas we are focusing on involve supporting progression, establishing an ally ecosystem and getting new talent in.

WB Directors sit down with us and look at what they can provide to help us realise these goals. For us, having external expertise allows us to understand how we can reach the widest audience and what resources we can promote to help them flourish.

In terms of other initiatives, we would love to understand how we can help our operations community who are not office based but on site for the majority of their day. We would like to look at how to support this subgroup in getting the most out of their careers and to build diversity.

Find out more about how WB Directors Corporate Partnerships can work for your organisation:

With thanks to both for your insights: