Our approach to diversity and inclusion (‘D&I’) Our diversity and inclusion ambition is two-fold. On diversity, we want a workforce that reflects the communities we serve, and on inclusion, a fair working environment where everyone feels they can succeed. Our region is home to a diverse population, and we want to tap into all that diversity at Severn Trent. A diverse workforce helps us better understand and meet the needs of our customers, and keep improving how we work, through a greater variety of ideas and perspectives. We’ve made good progress, but we know there is still much work we must do. As our CEO Liv Garfield says, “We can always do more to represent the communities we serve, to be welcoming and inclusive of all, to champion and promote the very best talent. We shouldn’t see that as daunting or dull, but as exactly the kind of exciting challenge on which we all thrive.” Each year we produce a Gender Pay Gap Report, showing the difference between the average hourly pay for men and women across all ages, roles and levels of the business. Our latest figures show a median gap of 9.3% (last year: 9.8%) and a mean gap of 2.3% (last year: 3.6%). The decrease in our median continues to be positively affected by a high proportion of women within our management and senior management roles, and the decrease in our mean gender pay gap reflects a greater weighting towards higher-earning women and a shift in our overall quartile distribution. We’ve raised awareness in attracting and retaining women in senior positions, making them visible role models as we challenge and change perceptions of gender equality. One result is we’re starting to see women go into operational roles that were traditionally seen as male, such as tanker driving, and we are encouraged by the successes so far. Employee Advisory Groups We now have employee advisory groups for LGBTQ+, Ethnicity and Disability. They work alongside external experts like Stonewall, to help define our policies and initiatives. They also help raise awareness of the issues and what we can do about them. Each working group now has an employee Chair and an Executive sponsor, to offer greater support. Ethnic diversity We are at an earlier stage in our efforts to improve the representation of ethnic minorities at Severn Trent. Although our minority representation is stronger than the industry average, it doesn’t yet reflect the ethnic diversity of our local community. It’s increasing across our graduate and apprenticeship schemes, but we need to do more to create a truly diverse workplace. We have signed up to the Business in the Community (‘BiTC’) Race at Work Charter. Also, in summer we are joining the 10,000 Black Interns programme, which offers paid work experience, training and development opportunities, across a wide range of sectors, to black students in the UK. We will be taking 100 of this summer’s UK cohort of 2,000. Social mobility We operate across more areas of low social mobility than any other water company in England. A third of the nation’s social mobility ‘cold spots’ are in the communities we serve, so we can make a real difference by creating opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t be there. We work hard to remove barriers to people joining us, such as removing degree requirements from role specifications where feasible. Also, we’re a founder member of the Social Mobility Pledge and are ranked in the top 10 of the Social Mobility Index for a second year. Gender diversity We are proud to be one of the first two companies in the history of the FTSE100 to have a majority of women on the board – including our CEO and Chair, our Board is now 55.6% female. And of the graduates and apprentices who represent the next generation of leaders, 20.7% are women. Across the Company, 28.6% of our employees are female. Social mobility pledge We’re a founder member of the Social Mobility Pledge and are ranked in the top 10 of the Social Mobility Index for a second year We are proud to be one of the first two companies in the history of the FTSE100 to have a majority of women on the board – including our CEO and Chair, our Board is now 55.6% female female Building a better business Creating a diverse and inclusive environment A workplace where people can be themselves A workplace where people can be themselves A workplace where people can be themselves A workplace where people can be themselves Read more online 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 %