Diversity and Inclusion
At PG&E, we seek to promote an inclusive culture and diverse workforce—one that better reflects the diversity of our customers, works to meet different customer needs and builds a strong and diverse supply chain. This commitment to diversity and inclusion is a critical part of our values and how we strive to approach each person every day.
Key Activities and Highlights
Embracing different ideas and perspectives enables us to better anticipate, understand and respond to the needs of our customers, which are among the most diverse in the country. It also helps to spur innovation as we focus on our fundamental responsibility to deliver safe, reliable and affordable gas and electric service.
Through the leadership of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company Vice President, Talent Management and Chief Diversity Officer, and with the support of the senior leadership team, PG&E is making progress toward these objectives. A Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee, comprised of a mix of leaders from across PG&E, provides feedback to help ensure that our action plans are effective and integrated into the business.
Photo: Frank Jang
Hundreds of employees attended PG&E’s 16th Annual Diversity Celebration, which showcased PG&E’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
In 2011, we remained focused on our vision to promote an inclusive culture in our workforce:
- We continued to embed diversity and inclusion principles and processes into the full "lifecycle" of our workforce planning—from initial workforce development and recruiting to performance management to career and leadership development. We also partnered with diverse professional and trade associations and community partners to help us identify and recruit talent for current openings.
- We continued our learning programs, to continue to expand awareness of the unique differences among individuals and groups so we can better serve the needs of our diverse customers. An example is a full-day Inclusion Leadership Workshop for new leaders that focuses on the ways in which diversity and inclusion benefits PG&E and enhances skills to create a more inclusive workplace.
- We launched an internal campaign featuring employees from across our service area, who shared their stories about why diversity matters. The goal of the campaign was to raise awareness about what diversity and inclusion means and inspire others to take action.
- We maintained our network of Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Champions to help strengthen our commitment across PG&E. The network improves accountability by creating and implementing action plans that reinforce support from our leadership, expand learning commitments and allow departments to track and monitor results during the year.
- We continued to expand our Mentoring Program as a tool to advance women and minorities in PG&E—building leadership skills and helping employees grow through networking. We have more than 675 active mentoring relationships in place, a 40 percent increase from 2010. More than 2,800 employees have participated in the program.
Recognizing Diversity Champions
Chris Johns, President of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and Bill Harper, Vice President of Talent Management and Chief Diversity Officer, recognize the diversity champions.
Photo: Frank Jang
Our President’s Diversity Champion Awards recognize employees who have taken the initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace—among coworkers, with clients or with customers—and who exemplify PG&E’s commitment to diversity and inclusion through their behaviors and actions.
In 2011, the awards were presented to employees Janine Lee and Miyuki Iwahashi. Janine is on the board of InspirAsian, one of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), and also serves as the Founder and CEO of a 100 percent volunteer-run non-profit organization, Capture the Dream, Inc., which helps low-income children with their educational endeavors.
Miyuki leads the CFO’s Diversity and Inclusion Council, where she has worked to drive initiatives that promote and raise awareness of diversity and inclusion in the Finance organization. Her efforts include activities designed to increase employee engagement, such as a Finance Mentoring Workshop, department diversity outings and engagement with external diversity organizations.
Two other employees earned honorable mentions: Gina Sierra for her involvement in the BEA ERG (Black) and Ken Trinh for his work in the PG&E Mentorship Program and his ERG leadership.
In 2011, special recognition was given to the ERG Collaborative Field Team for their contributions to engaging employees in field locations.
In 2012, we plan to refresh the content of our Inclusion Leadership Workshop for leaders, add learning opportunities for diversity and inclusion via a series of short videos and facilitation guides and deepen the partnership with lines of business and recruiting to increase diversity in our candidate pools.
Our Employee Resource Groups
For decades, PG&E’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) have helped drive an inclusive culture by leveraging the experiences, ideas, backgrounds and perspectives of our employees. The groups do this through workshops, programs and networking events. They also provide opportunities for employees to develop their careers, grow as leaders and get involved in their local community. The ERGs’ insight has also helped drive important policy changes within PG&E, benefitting all employees.
PG&E’s ten ERGs are: Access Network (people with disabilities); BEA ERG (Black); InspirAsian, Samahan (Filipino); Latino; Legacy (tenured employees); NuEnergy (new to the workforce or PG&E); PrideNetwork (LGBT); Veterans; and Women’s Network. The Veterans ERG was added in 2012.
ERGs are also working together in innovative ways. For example, the Legacy and NuEnergy ERGs cofounded a mentoring program to share knowledge between tenured and newer employees.
More than 3,600 employees, or 18 percent of our workforce, participate in the groups, which saw increased engagement with PG&E’s senior leadership and growing involvement from employees in field locations in 2011. ERGs also grew from 18 to 23 chapter locations since 2010, an 18 percent increase in the past two years.
Together, ERGs awarded $255,000 in scholarships to more than 150 college-bound and returning college students in 2011. Since the inception of the scholarship program in 1989, our ERGs have provided more than $2 million to recipients throughout Northern and Central California.
Employees participated in San Francisco's annual Chinese New Year Parade.
Our ERGs also gave back to the community through food, clothing, school supply and backpack drives, as well as providing basic necessities to veterans. All told, ERG members participated in more than 250 community events, including the annual AIDS Walk, Chinese New Year and Pistahan Parades and international disaster relief efforts.
Working with nonprofit and trade organizations, ERGs are also sharing information with customers on PG&E services and programs. This included information on programs such as the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE), SmartMeter™ devices and emergency preparedness—often in more than one language.
These achievements speak to the vital role ERGs continue to play in PG&E’s success—enhancing employee engagement by recognizing, valuing and supporting each employee’s potential to succeed and furthering our commitment to the communities we serve.
Measuring Progress
As one measure of progress, we track employee responses to three questions on an employee survey that asks if PG&E supports an environment where diversity is valued and inclusion is practiced.
For 2011, we changed the overall questions from the employee survey to be more targeted and wherever possible to enable benchmarking with other employers. In 2011, roughly two-thirds, or 65.6 percent, of employees reported a favorable response to the questions.
The responses from the survey have confirmed that our overall strategy is still relevant and impactful. The responses also help to guide specific plans and activities to support ongoing change, and influence the selection of topics addressed in continued training and communications. Learn more about our broader employee engagement efforts.
Our Diverse Workforce
PG&E is committed to advancing our vision of a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve. Our workforce statistics by race, ethnicity and gender for 2009 to 2011 are presented in the table below, using Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) definitions.
| EEOC Category | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women | 27.9% | 28.2% | 28.5% |
| Officials and Managers | 27.4% | 30.9% | 31.7% |
| Professionals | 38.8% | 35.8% | 36.1% |
| Technicians | 17.5% | 18.3% | 18.8% |
| Administrative Support Workers | 69.2% | 70.1% | 71.0% |
| Craft Workers | 2.6% | 2.6% | 2.6% |
| Operatives | 13.1% | 15.9% | 13.3% |
| Laborers and Helpers | 8.6% | 8.3% | 8.1% |
| Service Workers | 8.2% | 12.6% | 10.8% |
| Minorities | 38.6% | 38.8% | 39.2% |
| Officials and Managers | 29.1% | 27.7% | 27.8% |
| Professionals | 42.6% | 40.3% | 41.0% |
| Technicians | 37.1% | 36.7% | 37.9% |
| Administrative Support Workers | 55.4% | 55.9% | 57.1% |
| Craft Workers | 30.2% | 30.2% | 30.4% |
| Operatives | 41.5% | 41.8% | 41.6% |
| Laborers and Helpers | 44.6% | 46.7% | 43.9% |
| Service Workers | 27.3% | 29.3% | 29.3% |
Source: PG&E Corporation EEO-1 Report, as of July 1, 2011
The percentage of women and minorities in PG&E’s workforce continues to trend above the national average.
| Category | PG&E | National Gas and Electric Utility Average1 |
|---|---|---|
| Women | 28.5% | 25.2% |
| Minorities | 39.2% | 23.4% |
1 Source: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 2010 EEO-1 Survey
| Category | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Indian or Alaskan Native | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
| Asian | 14.4% | 14.4% | 14.7% |
| Black/African American | 6.8% | 6.6% | 6.5% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 15.1% | 15.4% | 15.4% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Two or More Races | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.9% |
Internal Monitoring
The Public Policy Committee of PG&E Corporation’s Board of Directors regularly reviews our diversity and inclusion practices and performance.
Our Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee—comprised of a mix of leaders from across PG&E—reviews our progress on a regular basis. Additionally, we report our workforce statistics to the California Public Utilities Commission annually through a consolidated report compiled by the California Utilities Diversity Council.
Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action
PG&E has a long-standing commitment to employment policies and practices that meet the highest legal and ethical standards. We are also committed to ensuring these policies and practices deliver results. It is our policy that all employees have equal opportunities for jobs, training and promotions, regardless of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information or any other factor that is not related to the job.
We are deeply committed to maintaining a workplace that is free from harassment and discrimination for all of our employees. As a federal contractor, PG&E has a legal mandate to take affirmative action to provide equal opportunity in employment by eliminating artificial barriers to the recruitment, hiring and promotion of qualified individuals, especially minorities, women, individuals with disabilities and special covered veterans.
PG&E complies with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) requirement to maintain Affirmative Action Plans (AAPs). The company’s AAPs are subject to potential audits by the OFCCP in any given year. These plans, along with our other diversity and inclusion initiatives, demonstrate our dedication to affirmative action and help ensure that our full support will be given to the equal employment opportunity for all employees. Our affirmative action programs are also tools to help ensure that we develop a diverse workforce prepared to meet the challenges of the future.
Recognition for Diversity and Inclusion
From employment to philanthropy and purchasing, our diversity and inclusion commitment and accomplishments have been recognized repeatedly over the years by respected third-party evaluators. Most recently, PG&E Corporation or Pacific Gas and Electric Company have been recognized by:
- Black Enterprise magazine—listed as one of its “40 Best Companies for Diversity”
- DiversityInc—ranked second on the “Top 5 Regional Utilities for Diversity,” eighth on the “Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity” and ninth on the “Top 10 Companies for Latinos in 2011”
- Hispanic Business magazine—named to the “Diversity Elite 2011”
- Human Rights Campaign—received a perfect score of 100 on its Corporate Equality Index
- LATINA Style Magazine—named to the “Top 50 Companies for Latinas to Work For in America”
- Minority Corporate Counsel Association—Employer of Choice Award for 2011 for the Western Region
- Profiles in Diversity Journal—named PG&E a “2011 Leading Company for People with Disabilities”
