What it takes to be a leader on gender diversity

In our latest 'Luminous Spotlight' podcast, Rachel Madan talks with Richard Eadie at Severn Trent on how the FTSE 100 company became a leader on gender equality – and what companies can do to strengthen diversity.

February 2021 saw the final release of the Hampton-Alexander Review in the UK, an initiative to increase the representation of women in senior leadership positions and on boards of FTSE 350 companies to at least 33%. Some 220 of the FTSE 350 now meet that target (up from just 53 in 2015), and there are no longer any all-male boards in the FTSE 350.

But is this good enough? We sat down with Richard Eadie, Head of Corporate Strategy, Sustainability & Group Transformation at Severn Trent, to hear from a leader on gender diversity and discuss some of the key actions that companies can take in order to enhance diversity across the board. Having role models, allies, and a plan to combat inertia are just a few of the topics we discussed.


 
 
 

Listen to the podcast on Soundcloud, Spotify or Anchor

How we can help
Our teams across Sustainability & Impact, Investor Engagement & ESG Disclosure and Brand & Culture can help you think through your communications and engagement strategies for gender equality. For example:

  • Gender pay gap reporting
  • Strengthen your employer branding to support diversity and inclusion ambitions
  • Help review or create your strategies and programmes to strengthen your company’s approach to diversity, equality and inclusion
If you would like to discuss how Luminous can help you on
these or related issues, please get in touch.