Louise Phelan, CEO, Phelan Energy Group

Louise is the CEO of Phelan Energy Group Ltd, an independent solar power producer that brings low cost clean solar PV power to future generations. The team comprising of over 100 specialists delivering affordable, rapidly deployable, and sustainable clean energy worldwide. Currently operating in over 15 international markets from development to operation. 

Louise has kindly done a Q&A with us, giving us an account of what D&I means to Phelan Energy Group Ltd and how companies need to drive an inclusive culture from the top and down throughout the organisation.

Tell me about your current role

As CEO of Phelan Energy Group Ltd we are a leading international energy developer with an exclusive focus on Solar PV. Our transnational team continues to build our business across an international foot print. We believe we have a responsibility for our environment, for the shared future that we leave for our children. We will power future generations through low-cost, clean Solar PV, this is our promises. 

Why is diversity and inclusion important within an organisation?

Diversity and inclusion is important in every organisation as we all have diverse customers, so we as organisations need to meet the needs of all our customers. Our business, we are constantly looking for a diverse slate for every role and in the Solar business we don’t always get a diverse slate but we make sure we are taking all the steps to promote diversity in our sector.

How can an organisation promote an inclusive culture 

The culture of an organisation is driven from the top of any organisation, and permutates down throughout the organisation, an inclusive culture is only a piece of the overall culture but if the culture is not led from the top it doesn’t get embedded into the organisation. An inclusive culture needs to be driven each and every day. 

What is your Organisation culture 

We foster a culture of entrepreneurship, innovation and accountability without compromising on quality, we make a difference to communities by empowering them to thrive. 

How can a leadership team ensure a commitment to diversifying their workforce?

Leadership teams need to ensure that they hire the right people with the right skills, competencies and the right will to do the job. As part of that, we need to meet the customer needs and all of our customers are diverse.

How can an organisation improve its D&I hiring strategy?

First it has to be part of the overall company strategy. The hiring team must produce a diverse slate for all roles. 

What do you think are the biggest obstacles that an organisation may face when implementing a D&I strategy? 

People in organisations need to understand D&I so that they can embrace it and also they leaders need to be trained on how to understand and deal with D&I in the organisations strategy. If D&I is understood then people can embrace the need to fill the strategy.

What efforts have your organisation implement over the years to promote a more inclusive culture?

We are always looking for a diverse slate in our industry, it’s hard to find, I am very happy to say we 30% of our headcount are females in Phelan Energy Group.

How does a lack of a D&I strategy effect employees individually? 

Well we all want to be inclusive in our organisations and if you don’t have a diversity of thought at your table, you, your customers and your employees lose out. We all own D&I, we need focus on improving our diversity within our organisations but it has got to be of focus all of the time. 

Louise Phelan joins us on the panel for our next WWMB event, “Choose to Challenge” on Thursday 11th March. If you would like to join this webinar please register below for free.