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Women Leaders in the energy industry are increasingly advancing awareness about the relevance of gender equality and diversity in companies as a vital element for a deep and meaningful transition.
Air Liquide, championing diversity and gender equality in parallel to energy transition
Sabrina Kristobak, Business Development Manager - Large Industries at Air Liquide shares with us her insights about the relevance of diversity and gender equality in the energy industry.
The energy transition is a multi-factor event that requires not only the shifting to cleaner energy sources but a complete change of paradigms to harness true creativity and new perspectives for the future. Women Leaders in the energy industry are increasingly advancing awareness about the relevance of gender equality and diversity in companies as a vital element for a deep and meaningful transition. To speak about the matter, Sabrina Kristobak, Business Development Manager - Large Industries at Air Liquide, sat with us to highlight what leaders can do to maintain and strengthen their workforces in this transitioning context and her role in the Women's Energy Network (WEN).
Energy Capital: Sabrina, you started early in your career as an intern at Air Liquide. Could you tell us more about it and the Air Liquide Leading Excellence Program that you were part of?
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Sabrina Kristobak: The opportunities are a big part of what keeps me in Air Liquide. In my experience, the company takes an active role in developing its employees and pushing them on to take new challenges. As you mentioned, I started in Air Liquide as an intern. I was outside of San Francisco with our electronics business, working specifically in the semiconductor precursor industry.
Then I finished my chemical engineering degree for Penn State and joined Air Liquide in the ALLEX program you mentioned, a two-year leadership development program designed for recent graduates to move to a different position and geography every six months.
During that program, I worked for four different Air Liquide entities and gained experience in both engineering and business roles. My roles were in Philadelphia, Houston, our US corporate office, and in Paris, France, which is our global head office. This exposure so early on in my career allowed me to grow my network and quickly understand the company. The program's structure challenges you to learn quickly and become a value-added asset.
EC: Congratulations! Currently, Sabrina, what is your role at Air Liquide, and what activities does this position involve.
SK: Sure! I am currently a Business Development Manager for Air Liquide Large Industries. I am responsible for developing large-scale business across the US with chemical, petrochemical, refining, cement, and metals customers to build new Air Liquide facilities. Along with identifying new businesses and working with customers, this role includes negotiating contracts and getting the projects approved internally. I'm also actively involved in developing solutions to support our customer's energy transition goals.
EC: What is the relevance of boosting female participation in this transitioning context, in your opinion?
SK: Almost every active project I'm on is related to energy transition in some capacity. This is both an exciting and challenging time. We are facing new situations that require us to think differently, and in that sense, creativity and different perspectives are critical to developing innovative solutions. For the energy transition to be successful, it will require a collective effort and engagement of the best talent from all backgrounds. I think it's not just gender diversity but diversity in all forms that will enable companies to adapt by bringing their unique perspectives to the conversation. EC: On a similar background, we would like to ask you what do you think about the number of women in your workspace and also in the energy industry.
SK: I really think it is important to champion diversity in a variety of forms, not just gender diversity, as I said earlier. However, from a gender diversity perspective there is still significant amount of work to be done. The US Department of Labor data shows that only 15% of full-time engineers are female and that women make up just over 25% of all STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. McKinsey wrote an article called 'Women in the workplace 2020' that echoes this same message with statements that at the beginning of 2020, the representation of women in corporate America was trending in the right direction. This was most pronounced in senior management. Between January 2015 and January 2020, the representation of women in Senior Vice President positions grew from 23 to 28%. The representation of the C suite grew from 17 to 21%. Consequently, women remain dramatically underrepresented, particularly women of color. However, numbers were slowly improving.
Before 2020 research consistently found that women and men leave their companies at comparable rates. However, due to challenges created by the Covid-19 crisis,
Employees Who Believe Senior Leaders Are Supportive Of Their Flexibility Needs Are Less Likely To Considering Downshifting Their Carriers Or Leaving The Workforce.”
as many as 2 million women are considering leaving the workforce. So, if these women feel forced to leave the workplace, we will end up with far fewer women in leadership and far fewer women on track to become future leaders. All the progress we have seen over the past six years could be erased.
EC: With these numbers that you share with us, and from your perspective, what do you think could companies do to increase female participation, especially in leadership positions.
SK: I really appreciate this question. I think it is extremely important that we don't just solve the numbers as they stand today but that we shift the conversation to focus on what we can do to bring about change. So, in this context, I feel extretny like Air Liquide, where we have programs and initiatives that address these types of issues. For example, we have business resource groups, one of which is our women's resource group that holds events and organizes a mentoring program. We recently had a company-wide survey called Women in the Workplace to share our experience as female employees and how Air Liquide can improve. We also have a strong number of talented and driven women in leadership positions, which is highly encouraging. All of that being said, going that to the McKinsey article I referenced earlier, we are in unprecedented times and some of the most critical things that companies can do are support employees facing burnout, and eliminate the stigma around flexible work arrangements; minimize gender bias through bias training and adapt and educate on resources available to employees.
McKinsey states that even when these flexible options are available, some employees worry that
there may be a stigma to using them. To mitigate this, leaders can assure employees that their performance will be measured based on results, not when, where, and how many hours they worked. Leaders can also communicate their support for workplace flexibility; better yet, leaders can model flexibility in their own lives, which sends a message to employees that it is okay to take advantage of flexible work options. Employees who believe senior leaders support their flexibility needs are less likely to consider downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce. In my opinion, these practices impact gender diversity, but companies that adapt this mindset will far outperform their competition in the long run because they will attract and maintain the best talent from all backgrounds.
EC: Sabrina, besides working at Air Liquide, we know that you actively work with the Women's Energy Network (WEN). So, we would like to ask you, can you tell us about your work as Director of Educational Programming at Houston's WEN?
SK: Yes! My work at WEN is something I am very proud of and passionate about. WEN is an international organization with 20 chapters across the US and Mexico. We have over 6000 members, of those about 2000 are in Houston, and our mission is to develop unique programming, networking opportunities and foster carrier and leadership development to women who work in the energy value chain. For the past three years, I've led a team to organize about 20 educational events per year. Our events feature industry speakers that can provide insights into energy trends, emerging strategies, and technologies, global energy
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outlooks, marketing influencers, etcetera. We have featured women like Dr. Helen Currie, Chief Economist at ConocoPhillips; Lees Rodionov, Global Director Sustainability at Schlumberger; Robin Fielder, Noble Midstream Partners's President, CEO, and Director, and more. We aim to highlight companies that are committed to diverse workforces and promoting professional women in the energy industry.
EC: Finally, in your opinion, how do organizations like WEN help increase gender equality, awareness, advancement, and of course, networking.
SK: Organizations like WEN increase gender equality and awareness by creating a space for women to learn and ask questions about topics they might not be exposed to in their current role. But what attracted me to WEN was the caliber of the events. It's a highly intellectual group, and the events provide a broad exposure to support the development of business acumen. I've been to talks on what makes a good deal for private equity firms, the business of pipelines for business companies, and the similarities of skillsets required for deep-sea and space exploration. These topics are not necessarily tied to industrial gases, which is the business that I am in, but they help me to understand better my customers and the markets they are part of.
WEN also creates a network of peers and establishes mentoring relationships with women who are more advanced in their careers, and these personal connections allow us to navigate difficult situations. Now that we have champions in the industry that want to help us succeed. This is extremely valuable when we are moving through challenging times in our professional and personal lives.
