Inclusive Recruitment creating Diversity in Spirit

Spirit Energy has stepped up its focus on building a truly diverse organisation by forming a team dedicated to creating an inclusive business.

The Development, Resourcing, Talent, Diversity & Inclusion team has hit the ground running with a number of initiatives to make Spirit Energy – and the oil and gas industry as a whole – an attractive and welcoming place to work for anyone from any background.

Led by Susan Grayson, the team has built an inclusive recruitment approach, changing Spirit Energy’s job adverts to reflect the culture within Spirit, ensuring we use gender neutral language which tells everyone Spirit Energy is the kind of place they are welcome.

That approach continues into the next stage, where in the candidate selection and the interview process we insist on a diverse selection of candidates for presentation at interview stage. We also ensure that diverse interview panels take place.

Similar to our peers, we have also introduced unconscious bias training for our leaders and anyone making hiring decisions. We have gone a step further however, launching inclusive recruitment training sessions this year, with interview skills training to follow.

At Spirit, we recognise there is a talent shortage within our industry – we’re behind Vision 2035 and are planning for the future. Our well-established early years programme for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) involves partners like the Stemettes and Developing the Young Workforce to deliver activities within our communities, attracting young people into our industry.

For our teams today, advances in technology mean we can offer flexible working and a better work/life balance. We also have an employee led D&I Network – which focuses on diversity & inclusion in all its forms. It’s been working hard, engaging with external speakers, networks and running personal development events since Spirit Energy was formed to raise awareness of the business benefits of being a diverse company.

Susan Grayson, Head of Development, Resourcing, Talent, Diversity & Inclusion, said: “There is no single solution to improving diversity at all levels in an organisation, but by combining the D&I function with Resourcing, Talent and Learning & Development, we believe that we are creating a co-ordinated approach and bringing better balance to our workforce.

“We have already made great progress, but we are looking forward to building on those strong foundations in the years to come.”