Top Employer 2022: "At Elia, we embrace the future"

Elia obtained its fifth consecutive Top Employer certificate with a stunning overall score. It rose from 78 to 87 percent. The Belgian transmission system operator made the biggest leap in terms of diversity & inclusion and leadership. We chatted to proud CEO Chris Peeters.


Fair share in talent 
Over the past year, Elia has gone through an enormous evolution in the field of diversity & inclusion. This is something CEO Chris Peeters and his management want to continue to work on. “We always start out with the talent and never from a set percentage. Diversity is a reflection of the so-called fair share of talent within your organisation. It is important to know where barriers exist. Why do certain target groups not apply? Why are women less likely to move from middle to senior management? Is our evaluation process failing? Do we take sufficient account of the family situation? We want to systematically eliminate the glass ceilings in many places within the organisation.”

“We started with an internal scan on ‘Diversity, Equal Opportunities and Inclusion’, in order to identify the points for attention and develop specific actions. We are taking small but important steps to raise awareness across all levels of the business. We do this through our D&I ambassadors, through working groups on this theme and through external experts,” says Chris Peeters.
 

Ambiguous environment demands more leadership 
The energy transition is accelerating. Governments are deciding to integrate more renewable energy. We are seeing the emergence of electric vehicles and heat pumps. It is an ambiguous new environment and at the same time Elia needs to move towards innovation and keep all stakeholders on board. 

“In Europe we are mainly observing an acceleration in offshore wind. In just eight years, we have to quadruple what we achieved over the past 20 years. There are also major changes on the demand side due to increasing electrification of mobility and heating. If we want to make sure the lights stay on, we need to ensure that not everyone’s consumption behaviour is the same at the same time. Digital services allow you to shift consumption over time so that you adapt demand to renewable generation at that particular moment. It involves inventing the future. We anticipate change. We involve existing employees and supplement them with new profiles so that we can allow the organisation to evolve. This offers incredible opportunities to do great things with us and provide input.”

“Because we want our employees to help develop the vision of the future, we have designed a specific leadership programme,” Chris Peeters explains. “You need the support of a broad group of employees to tackle something as complex as the energy transition. A lot of young people are concerned about global warming. With us you can work specifically on removing CO2 from the electrical system. If you want to decarbonise society, Elia is the best place to make an impact. The growth we are experiencing also guarantees our people great job security,” concludes Chris Peeters.
 

Record number of recruitments despite Covid-19 
The view at Elia is: we wouldn’t be Top Employer without Top Employees. “We want to thank all our people for their commitment over the past year,” says Chris Peeters. “Our colleagues have shown great resilience, both in relation to the floods in Wallonia and in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis. To achieve our growth ambitions, we are very active in the labour market. Approximately 100 new employees joined us in 2021. In January 2022 alone, we welcomed 35 new employees. We are playing a leading role in the energy transition. That is something that appeals to people.”