2023 performance overview

January

We conducted two experiments with job advertisements to find out whether it is possible to increase the proportion of female candidates in recruitment by making job advertisements more relevant to female candidates. We have noticed that by listing the job title as female first (and male in parentheses), we have attracted attention of women candidates. We decided to continue looking for what adjustments to job advertisements would encourage women to apply for open job positions more often.

To achieve a greater gender balance in IT and engineering positions, we continued our collaboration with the Women Go Tech program. In the 1st quarter, 10 women from our organization improved their technology skills in a 6-month training program, while another 7 employees were mentors to participants from other organizations.

February

We have approved the Group's Abuse and Harassment Prevention Policy. Its purpose is to provide and implement effective prevention measures in order to protect employees from abuse and harassment and to help them clearly understand the possible manifestations of this at work, recognize the signs and know the methods of legal defence. Together with the adoption of the policy, we launched an employee awareness campaign, and organized live training for teams. 

In the integrity declaration of the member of the selection commission of collegial bodies, we included an obligation to ensure equal opportunities during the selection process. The declaration also includes a commitment to form gender-balanced shortlists of candidates as much as possible, requiring the selection agency to adhere to this standard too.

March

After starting their activities in 2022, the number of Wellbeing Mentors has doubled - from 18 to 36. Wellbeing Mentors advise employees personally, conduct training for teams, facilitate discussions, and advise managers. Before becoming wellbeing mentors, colleagues went through a special selection, several days of training, practice and passed an exam. They further deepen their competences by participating in training and supervision and in this way strive for the well-being of both employees and the organisation as a whole.

The Group conducted an employee survey called "Equal Opportunities Ruler", which assessed equal opportunities status in areas such as organizational culture, attitudes to discrimination, HR processes, etc. The "Equal Opportunities Ruler" is certified and managed by the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson of Lithuania. After evaluating the results, the Group was awarded 8.9 out of 10 points (10 points is the highest rating), which shows that equal opportunities are ensured in the Group.

We distributed guidelines to managers on how to ensure equal opportunities in the selection of successors for strategic positions, thereby increasing the share of female successors.

As the number of English-speaking employees in the organization increased, we worked on the inclusive communication and awareness by introducing a monthly newsletter in English. In the middle of the year, we started publishing part of the news on the intranet only in English and increased the number of translated (bilingual) news.

To find out what could increase the inclusion of geographically remote employees, we organized focus groups and during the hackathon we found out that the most useful actions would be the broader network of informational screens and the use of a mobile app - we plan to respond to these needs in 2023.

April

More than 40 Group managers participated in an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program designed to develop managers' attentiveness and awareness. After evaluating the skills before and after participating in the program, it was found that 84.6 percent of managers significantly improved these skills, and 53.8 percent - improved the results of their application (people became more active and feeling they can do more). We continued with a visual campaign promoting employee awareness, during which we communicated in the form of illustrated stories about equal opportunities, harassment, ethical communication, gender equality, microaggression, etc. In this way, we promote a culture of respectful, inclusive communication and encourage employee discussions on human rights topics. This campaign lasted for 4 months.

May

In the Group, we celebrated the International Day against Homophobia for the second year. We celebrated the day by organizing a discussion with representatives of other companies, where we discussed the aspects of inclusion of LGBT people. We also created a rainbow-colored email signature badge and MS Teams backgrounds for virtual meetings – means for colleagues to show their support and send the message that everyone matters in our organization. A rainbow flag was also raised at the head office on this day, showing openness and support for LGBT colleagues.

In 2023, we offered managers the Wellbeing Guru lecture series that were facilitated by experts of different fields. In the series we looked at common phenomena of stress and fatigue through the prism of science, philosophy, sociology, and other disciplines. Evaluation of these lectures was 4.6 out of 5 points.

June

We continued the #EnergiseEquality initiative which was launched a year ago. During it, the Group's employees, who became discussion moderators, led discussions with colleagues working in Kaunas and the Kaunas region about the importance of gender equality and equal opportunities. During the event, there was also a management discussion and a conversation with invited guests. About 60 colleagues participated in the discussions.

We have approved a description of actions that help to ensure gender diversity in the shortlists of candidates for the selection of top-level managers of the Group's companies. The description of actions defines specifically what actions talent acquisition specialists need to take to achieve gender diversity more effectively. 

We developed and presented to managers the burnout risk scoreboard, an innovative tool for monitoring and assessing the burnout risk of teams quarterly. We decided to reduce the number of teams with a higher risk of burnout. in 2022 there were 9% of such teams, in 2023 – 2,49%. Our goal is to have less than 5% of teams with a higher risk of burnout.

We have developed a feasibility analysis and action plan for inclusion of employees returning from parental leave. We set a rule of mandatory pay review for employees returning from parental leave, we made the decision to allow employees to retain the benefits while on leave, we ensured communication with employees on leave and improved a smoother return from leave.

July

The CEO of the Group, Darius Maikštėnas, signed the Women's Empowerment Principles, to which more than 8,000 organizations around the world are committed. The Group became the ninth organization to sign these principles in Lithuania and the first energy company to make such a commitment. This signature means that the Group takes gender equality issues seriously and pledges to make even more efforts to ensure equality and equal opportunities.

As last year, we organized and partially financed weekly day camps for employees' children. We created the conditions to use this opportunity not only in Vilnius, but also for employees of other cities. During the children's summer vacation, approximately 200 children in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda and Elektrėnai participated in these camps.

August

Mandatory abuse and harassment prevention training for all employees has started in the Group. Trainings help employees to get to know the Abuse and Harassment Prevention Policy, better understand the possible manifestations of abuse and harassment at work, recognize the signs and know the methods of legal defense. 3752 (83%) employees of the Group completed the training. 

September

The group became a finalist in the international "ESG Corporate Awards" in the "Best Company for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion" category.

October

We have updated the Group Remuneration Guidelines to make it a rule that when an employee returns from parental leave, his or her remuneration must be reviewed. Until now, this provision has only been of an advisory nature. This change ensures pay equity and helps to close the gender pay gap. 

A survey on the organization culture towards and inclusion of LGBT employees was started and completed by the end of the year. The research gathered insights into both the organizational climate and the experiences of LGBT employees themselves. Based on insights, in 2024 we plan to take actions that would increase the inclusion of LGBT employees and thus improve the situation of equal opportunities in the organization.

On October 10, we celebrated World Mental Health Day and, instead of limiting ourselves to one day, we dedicated a whole week to it. On that occasion, the campaign #WeAcceptAllOfYou was held on social media, where wellbeing mentors discussed the topics of emotional health, acceptance, and openness.

November

For the second year in a row, Group companies were rated as leaders in the field of equal opportunities reporting. The Lithuanian Diversity Charter conducted a new study, during which it assessed how the 20 largest Lithuanian companies are ready to ensure equal opportunities. The Charter investigated whether companies have and are pursuing diversity goals, reporting progress, etc. Due to the specificity of the methodology, the companies of the Group were evaluated separately. As last year, Ignitis took first place. Both second places were taken by ESO (Networks) and Ignitis Gamyba (Reserve Capacities and Green Generation). 

On the initiative of male colleagues, for the first time in our Group, the celebration of November - men's health month - took place. During it, four men grew beards and shared photos of the beginning and end of the month, talked about their relationship on the topic of health and invited other men to take more active care of themselves. There was also a doctor-led lecture on men's health, which attracted male colleagues attention (75% out of all the participants were men). 

A new strategic initiative of the Group was created - the "Wellbeing for Resilience" program. Its purpose is to prepare employees for the challenges that occur in private life and at work, so that employees become resilient and can meaningfully pursue a higher goal - to create a 100% green and safe energy ecosystem. This new program will be implemented in 2024. Indicators of the program's success are a decrease in the risk of team burnout and an increase in the psychological resilience of employees.

The European Institute for Gender Equality selected the Group's gender equality initiatives among 20 good practices integrating the gender aspect in the areas of the European Green Course. Practices were selected from 10 European Union countries. The following initiatives operating within the Group were considered: Inclusive Recruitment Program, #EnergiseEquality initiative and Female Energy Experts Visibility Project.

December

Wellbeing Mentors is now in its second year focusing on staff who work with clients, considering them to be at increased risk of distress and burnout. In 2023, wellbeing mentors visited these teams with lectures on cognitive flexibility and discussed challenging situations with them. 23 such sessions took place. In 2023, mentors had 155 consultations (93 in 2022) and 76 activities for teams (65 in 2022).

An algorithm for responding to employee burnout was outlined, including the dimensions of prevention, intervention and postvention. Its practical operation will be detailed in discussions with stakeholders involved in the algorithm. Another group - more than 30 colleagues - completed the 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program. In the 8-week program, they learned to change their relationship with stress to be more resilient in stressful situations. 

During the year, media citations of female energy experts working in the Group increased from 4% to 19%. By increasing the visibility of women in the media, we aim not only to provide equal opportunities for women and men in the organization to share their expertise, but also to change the public image that energy is a "men's zone".