From the playing field to the boardroom

There are lessons learned on a playing field that don’t usually feature on an executive CV.

They include how to recover from a setback, how to make a decision under pressure, how to trust the person beside you – and how to listen, compete, collaborate and keep going when things do not go to plan.

These may be sporting skills, but they are also leadership ones.

And new findings suggest the connection between the two may be hugely significant.

Recent research states 94% of women in C-suite positions had played competitive sport.

It is a striking statistic – because, while sport is rightly celebrated for its physical and mental health benefits, its influence can stretch far beyond the pitch, court or track.

The behaviours it helps develop can follow women throughout their education, into their first jobs and, ultimately, into positions of leadership.

For E.ON, that is hugely significant, as the UK’s energy transition will mean huge change for the sector and the economy.

But technology alone will not deliver the energy transition.

People will.

To make new energy work for everyone, we will need engineers and innovators, technicians and apprentices, digital specialists and future executives.

We will need people capable of solving difficult problems, working across traditional boundaries and making decisions which will affect millions of homes, businesses and communities.

Most importantly, we will also need that talent to come from everywhere.

That is why our investment in women’s sport and our goal of creating a more inclusive workforce are not separate ambitions.

They are different parts of the same challenge – giving talent the opportunity, confidence and pathways to progress.

From the pitch to positions of leadership

That is why our Women in Sport programme encourages greater participation by women and girls, raises the visibility of female role models and champions the transferable skills sport can develop – including resilience, teamwork, communication, confidence and leadership.

Our partnerships with the Lionesses, Nottingham Forest Women and Nottingham Forest Netball, alongside our wider grassroots activity, are helping to build such skills.

We believe when a girl discovers she belongs on the pitch, she may also begin to discover something much bigger – that she belongs in spaces where decisions are made.

Creating space around the table

Today, 37% of E.ON UK’s board is female – and while we’re making progress in this area of representation, we recognise there is much more to do.

As part of this, initiatives such as our Fast Forward development network and Women in Leadership programme are helping more women build their careers across the organisation

Fast Forward was launched five years ago in response to lower female representation throughout E.ON.

It now has more than 2,000 members, while more than 400 women have completed our bespoke Women in Leadership programme, with improvements in confidence and clarity around career goals alongside increased promotion rates.

That progress is vital, but inclusion cannot simply be measured by who reaches the boardroom.

It is also about the pathways that get people there.

That means thinking about recruitment, development and progression.

It means recognising people’s lives and careers are different.

And it means removing barriers which can prevent talented people from seeing – and seizing – opportunities.

Our approach includes equal parental leave, job sharing, specialist maternity coaching and fertility and menopause support.

We have also offered the Level 5 AI Leadership Apprenticeship unit initially to women through our Fast Forward network, helping address some of the barriers and biases surrounding AI adoption and ensuring women have a role not simply in using emerging technology, but in determining how it is implemented.

Powering the workforce of tomorrow

That design starts well before somebody applies for a job at E.ON.

Since 2018, we have supported more than 1,200 apprentices, while £1.2million of Growth & Skills Levy funding has been gifted to help SMEs create apprenticeship opportunities of their own.

There are currently 48 Degree Apprentices on the programme, creating routes into professional careers where people can earn while they learn.

Our New Energy Academy is taking green skills education to 14 to 18-year-olds, alongside a virtual work experience programme, opening young people's eyes to opportunities in a rapidly changing sector.

And as demand for green careers grows, the task is not simply to create those jobs.

It is to make sure people from every community can imagine themselves doing them.

That requires partnerships between employers, educators, local authorities and community organisations.

It requires us to understand why some people encounter greater barriers to education, training and employment – and then do something about them.

It also requires us to rethink what success in the energy transition looks like.

Carbon reductions matter, cutting bills matters, new infrastructure matters and technology matters.

But so do the opportunities created along the way – the apprentices trained, careers developed, barriers removed and communities strengthened.

A transition which changes where Britain’s energy comes from without widening who gets to shape its future would be an opportunity missed.

Helen Bradbury, Chief People Officer at E.ON UK – pictured below – has said: “We know there are still barriers and challenges that need to be addressed to help to build an environment where everyone can thrive. We must continue to lift up these voices in all areas, including sport.”

And as Scott Somerville, Director of External Affairs at E.ON UK, says: businesses have a responsibility not only to recognise barriers – but to help remove them.

He has stated: “It's our responsibility to help drive progress, not just by talking about what could be done but through leading by example. The Powering Performance Survey is an important step towards understanding the barriers women face and identifying where we, as a business and as a community, can act. Our goal is to help make all communities more open and accessible for everyone.”

A bigger definition of performance

We know better decisions come when more experiences are around the table.

The scale of the challenge ahead means Britain cannot afford to leave talent on the sidelines.

Our commitment to achieving this has been recognised nationally, with E.ON recently ranked in the Top 10 Best Places to Work in the UK for the second year in a row by The Sunday Times.

We were also Highly Commended by the Times in the Best Places to Work for Women category, reflecting E.ON’s inclusive, purpose‑driven culture and strong focus on skills, wellbeing and belonging.

We continue to believe creating more space and supporting role models for girls on pitches today and more space for women around boardroom tables tomorrow are not two separate causes – they are part of the same ambition.

One of those role models is Lionesses legend Steph Houghton MBE.

She recently sat down with us as part of our Power Players video series, from E.ON Next in partnership with The FA.

It explores how the energy behind football’s sharpest minds is unleashed and discovers how game-changing influence can lift teams and inspire a nation.

Former Captain of the England Women’s Senior Team Steph spent eight years captaining her country through the highs of World Cup bronze and experienced the lows of brutal injuries.

She opened up in episode two of the Power Players series – titled Staying In Control, and which can be seen in full below and on YouTube here – about the best mistake she ever made and why the best leaders lead by example.

Steph, who collected 121 England caps over 14 years, said she put her longevity in football down to one thing: “Mentality.”

And she thinks that same principle applies to business.

Steph added: “If I’m being honest, to be able to sustain a high level in anything that you do – whether it’s sport, business, anything that people put their mind to – I think it is always about, ‘Okay, how do I push myself? How do I challenge myself?’”

Backing women in sport is therefore an investment not simply in participation, but in the leadership potential the country will need next.

The energy transition will transform technologies, infrastructure and the way millions of people live.

Our responsibility is also to help ensure it transforms opportunity.

That is part of what it means to make new energy work – for everyone.

Click here to learn more about E.ON’s diversity, equality and inclusion policies.