On 14 November 2022, Sunrock joined a number of sustainability conscious companies to sign the Diversity Charter and thereby became one of the 414 businesses that have signed the Charter in the Netherlands. Sunrock is a leading player in the rooftop solar sector that truly believes is part of a clean energy future. Pursuing diversity and inclusion is directly in line with our corporate value to do good. We are convinced of the importance of diversity and inclusion for achieving our purpose. By signing the Charter, Sunrock publicly commits to promote the application of the principles of equal opportunity across the company, and has adopted KPIs for measuring its diversity and the perception of inclusion experienced by Sunrockers. Elisabeth Stevens, Chief Operations Officer of Sunrock, signed the charter on behalf of the company.
In the summer of 2022, Sunrock conducted its first company wide diversity, equity and inclusion survey. 82% of the employees responded to the survey, giving the company a representative view of its diversity profile and the extent to which employees consider the company to be an inclusive environment. The outcome of the survey fed into the KPIs that Sunrock has set for measuring and improving its diversity and inclusion performance on 5 dimensions: age, sexual orientation, ethnic/cultural diversity, gender and workability.
According to research, less than 22% of workers in the energy sector is female. The numbers are even more dire when one looks at the percentage of women in technical roles within the energy sector. We aspire to break the pattern and to increase the representation of female employees across all departments in the company. Sunrock strives to have gender parity at the end of 2028 or at least 40% female staff population. Additionally, it has the ambition to reach 25% ethnic/cultural diversity within the same period.
“Meeting the high ambitions of the energy transition requires a dedicated and talented workforce that is inclusive and reflects the diversity of the society around us. Through the Diversity Charter, Sunrock commits to invest in a more diverse and inclusive working environment that allows each individual to flourish in their uniqueness, whilst benefiting from the strength of the collective.” Elisabeth Stevens, Chief Operations Officer
Speakers at the signing ceremony in The Hague included the Karien van Gennip who is the Minster of Social Affairs and Employment of the Netherlands, Jacco Vonhof of the Royal Association of MKB (representing small and medium enterprises) and Søren Abildgaard (CEO of T-mobile, host of the event). Sunrock’s ESG Manager, Manuella Appiah joined the Minister and other speakers in a panel, sharing Sunrock’s approach for incorporating diversity and inclusion considerations in recruiting efforts in a period of extreme labor shortage.
Following the signing of the Diversity Charter, Sunrock is expected to submit an action plan containing it’s approach for realizing its commitments. Annually, the independent secretariat of that monitors the extent to which signatories are meeting their Charter commitments, will assess the progress being made by Sunrock and guide the company in realizing our ambitions. The Sunrock ESG working group on People Welfare and the ESG Manager of Sunrock lead the efforts of Sunrock on this theme.
Want to learn more?
For more information about Sunrock’s approach to ESG and our work on diversity and inclusion, reach out to:
Manuella Appiah (she/her)
ESG Manager
