Thoughts From the 2022 Champion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Energy Storage

By Peak Power

It’s been almost a full year since Peak Power was selected for the first annual Champion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Energy Storage Award at last year’s Energy Storage Canada (ESC) Conference. Per ESC’s website, the award aims to recognize corporations that consistently advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion within their organization or the industry broadly.

In the case of Peak Power, we’ve built diversity into our hiring and internal processes, putting policy into practice.

When hiring, tools such as Gender Decoder are leveraged to detect and correct potentially gendered language in the job description and its corresponding responsibilities. We’ve learned that gendered language has the ability to discourage certain groups, particularly women, from applying to an open job posting. We also targeted recruitment from a range of diverse talent pools: searching job boards, engaging with networking groups, and attending hiring events that focus on marginalized groups.

Additionally, all candidates are asked in their pre-screening process what DEI means to them to ensure the individuals joining our teams share our outlook on the importance of DEI, bringing diverse perspectives and fostering an inclusive environment.

Peak Power’s investment in DEI is present at every step of our team members’ career journeys.

We’ve partnered with consultants like Nomandin Beaudry to create a compensation and career framework to balance our company’s external competitiveness with internal equity.

Another key tool is our JEDI – Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusivity – Committee, which sets annual goals for the organization and facilitates fun and educational programming for team members to ensure everyone is continuing to develop their skills and knowledge of DEI.

One new initiative this year is our monthly Pod-lunch sessions. We listen to a half-hour podcast together during lunch, either in person or remote. Each podcast focuses on a DEI subject, often with a tie-in to sustainability. This is followed by breakout groups where team members can share their thoughts in a safe, moderated setting.

Even as we look ahead, our team at Peak Power aims to continue our commitment to DEI. We’ve already done a lot to ensure that DEI is an integral part of everything we do at Peak Power, but we want to do even more.

We’ve designed governance for committees to provide more structure around term limits and committee roles to ensure that more staff are able to participate and offer their perspectives.

We’re working to align our performance management process with our core values, which counsels team members to “do everything with integrity and make a positive impact on people and the planet.” This focus ensures we’re measuring and supporting the traits we want to emphasize in the company’s culture.

Managers receive training on unconscious bias to ensure they are cognizant of unintentional prejudices that could influence employee reviews. DEI surveys are performed regularly to refresh and refine our goals and action items to capitalize on areas of opportunity.

The emphasis on DEI when Peak Power was founded was pragmatic. We began as a diverse company, and we attribute our success to the diversity of backgrounds and life experiences that constantly bring new ways of thinking to our teams. Diversity promotes innovation and ensures the company stays competitive and a great place to work! However, even if it was there from the beginning, our commitment to DEI requires work, continued learning, and the right tools.

Peak Power’s DEI program and the policies incorporated because of its efforts contribute to a working environment valuing fairness, opportunities, resources, and a voice for employees.

We appreciate the recognition of the effort we’ve made at Peak Power through ESC’s Champion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award and we look forward to opportunities to share our work again in the future.

Peak Power is an energy storage software company founded in 2015 operating in Ontario, New York, New England, and California. If you’d like to learn more about Peak Power’s JEDI initiative or any other element of their company, be sure to reach out or read more at their blog.