Enbridge’s initiative can be summed up in one word: transparency. In 2016, Enbridge acknowledged employee demand for greater transparency about gender representation. This resulted in the creation of the Gender Dashboard—an interactive online tool showing gender representation across all levels. In 2019, Enbridge expanded transparency to include additional dimensions of diversity, such as people with disabilities, veterans, and people from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups.
Enbridge shares its Diversity Dashboard with all employees, with the ability to segment the data by job level, functional area, and geography, including trending information on hiring, promotion, and turnover rates. Enbridge further shares its representation goals publicly and reports on progress against them. Within the energy industry, this level of transparency is groundbreaking.
While there is a strong support structure in place, embedding inclusion as the fourth pillar to their organization-wide values (along with Safety, Respect, Integrity) has codified the organization’s dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
The initiative was driven by an executive-level Enterprise Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee, with the Human Resources specialists in Diversity, Talent, and Analytics enabling its implementation.
Highlights of Enbridge’s initiative:
- Strong leadership commitment from CEO Al Monaco, the Board of Directors, and other executives has created a culture that encourages open communication and dialogue. There is very strong buy-in from leadership, as well as employees, company-wide.
- Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) make it possible for many employees to lead, engage in, and benefit from the initiative, with the support of ERG executive sponsors who are very involved and committed to their groups.
- Enbridge has successfully created a shift in culture that supports the investment and acceptance of the importance of DEI throughout the company at all levels. The company has made visible commitments to DEI through its Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Strategy (IDEAS) and integrated Equity plans.
- Robust leadership programs such as the Women in Technology Program, Women’s Leadership Program, and the Leadership Development Program have made career development transparent and assisted in creating individual development plans for employees.
Since launching the initiative, Enbridge has already exceeded their 2022 goal of 30% women in manager-and-above positions. Enbridge’s representation of women in Canada increased between 2017 and 2021: 25% to 33% at the vice president and senior vice president levels, 24% to 31% at the director level, and 27% to 35% at the manager level. Enbridge’s representation of women of color in Canada increased between 2017 and 2021 from 2% to 8% at the manager level and from 2% to 5% at the vice president and senior vice president levels.
About Enbridge
Enbridge’s vision is to be the leading energy delivery company in North America, delivering the energy people need and want to heat their homes, keep their lights on, and to keep them mobile and connected.
Enbridge operates across North America and globally, fueling the economy and people’s quality of life. They move about 25% of the crude oil produced in North America, transport nearly 20% of the natural gas consumed in the United States, and operate North America’s third-largest natural gas utility by consumer count. Enbridge was an early investor in renewable energy and has a growing offshore wind portfolio in Europe.
At Enbridge, they work collaboratively every day to provide safe and reliable energy. Enbridge connects energy supply with growing markets in North America through our four core businesses:
- Liquids pipelines
- Natural gas pipelines
- Gas distribution and storage
- Renewable energy
Enbridge was named to the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Energy Leaders in 2018, was selected to Bloomberg’s 2019 and 2020 Gender Equality Index, was ranked among the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada for 18 years running, was named to Canada’s Top 100 Employers list 19 times through 2020, was awarded Forbes’ best diversity employers in America, and was named to Canada’s Best Diversity Employers list seven times.
Enbridge is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. They have a workforce of more than 11,000 people, primarily in Canada and the United States. Enbridge is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.
To learn more, download the full report on this Award-winning initiative.