Dear Karen

Ask PQ’s very own agony aunt Karen Young when you need advice from a real expert. Email your dilemma to graham@ pqmagazine.com, and he will pass on the best ones to Karen

THE DILEMMA

I’m starting to doubt my ability to make a good accountant but I’m still passionate about following this career path. How can I build my confidence?

Thou shall not invest in fossil fuel Church of England pulls investment out of fossil fuel companies

The Church Commissioners for England, which manages the Church of England’s £10.3bn endowment fund, has decided to exclude all remaining oil and gas majors from its portfolio. It will exclude all companies primarily engaged in the exploration, production and refining of oil or gas, unless they are in genuine alignment with a 1.5°C pathway, by the end of 2023.

In 2021, the Church Commissioners excluded 20 oil and gas majors from its investment portfolio. It is now also excluding BP, Ecopetrol,

In brief

Hybrid working crackdown

Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, Pemex, Repsol, Sasol, Shell and Total, after concluding that none are aligned with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

“The decision to disinvest was not taken lightly,” said Alan Smith, First Church Estates Commissioner. “Soberingly, the energy majors have not listened to significant voices in the societies and markets they serve and are not moving quickly enough on the transition.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, said: “The climate crisis threatens the planet we live on, and people around the world who Jesus Christ calls us to love as our neighbours. It is our duty to protect God’s creation, and energy companies have a special responsibility to help us achieve the just transition to the low carbon economy we need.”

KAREN’S RESPONSE

You’re bound to question your abilities from time to time, but it’s important to overcome your inner critic to tap into your potential, and ultimately achieve a successful, fulfilling career.

Recognise any negative narratives that are knocking your self-worth. Don’t let a negative belief such as “I’ll never be good enough to get that job” hold you back from pursuing your passions. Consider the attributes you have that will make you an indispensable asset to an organisation, envision yourself thriving in the given role and apply regardless of your self-doubt. Focusing on your strengths will help you to grow in confidence and feel more optimistic about your career prospects. Hone in on these strengths which you can build upon and utilise throughout your career. It’s also important to address your limitations and have a willingness to learn and upskill accordingly. When uncertainty creeps in, have coping mechanisms at the ready to get you back on track. Speak to a career coach, recruitment expert or someone you see as a role model to get advice and support.

There’s no shame in experiencing a lack of confidence every so often, but if you dedicate the time to empower and believe in yourself, you will inevitably see the long-term benefits within your career and beyond.

• Karen Young is a director at Hays. She is passionate about helping people to find the right job and companies the right person

Google has reportedly started to crack down on those working from home. The tech giant is now tracking its employees’ office attendance and using this as part of their performance reviews.

Google’s people officer, Fiona Cicconi, has emailed staff explaining that working from home was “no substitute for coming together in person”. She explained that its offices are “where you’ll be most connected to Google’s community”.

Google now wants staff in for a minimum of three days a week and has started to send reminders to staff who don’t adhere to the new policy.

We need to go nuclear Europe will not be able to reach its target of net zero carbon emission by 2050 unless it builds more nuclear power stations, according to Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic. It just so happens that his company is developing new small reactors which could play a key role in decarbonising electricity grids across the continent.

Eringbilgic is pushing the UK government to place an order for his small modular reactors (SMR), which are far cheaper than existing large-scale generators. However, the government is running a competitive tender to find the best SMR design and an update on this is expected in October.

Connecting with shareholders

M&S has partnered with interactive investor, the UK’s second-largest investment platform for private investors, to launch a first-of-its-kind pilot project that will connect the company directly with thousands of nominee shareholders, encouraging them to participate and vote at its AGM.

The PQ Book Club: books you should read

Innovating for Diversity: Lessons from Top Companies Achieving Business Success through Inclusivity by Bertina Ceccarelli and Susanne Tedrick (Wiley, £26.99)

This great book is dedicated to ‘anyone who has ever had the courage to challenge the rules when they weren’t fair’. It’s also fair to say that both authors are on a mission to advance racial and gender equity in places where it’s not evident, and disrupt the status quo to build an inclusive workplace.

Ceccarelli and Tedrick say that practices for recruiting, on-boarding, developing, retaining, evaluating and promoting talent are often deep rooted. They are embedded in a company’s way of doing business, organised in playbooks and shared as best practice. These processes are further codified through HR systems, including software tech and training, that will take years and significant resources to change, especially at scale.

So, the first big challenge is to change these ‘Fixed Practices’. Then, there are our ‘Settled Ways’, or fixed attitudes. The pandemic also had a big impact – in the US racial minorities and low-income Americans lost substantial financial ground from 2020 to 2022. This further widened wealth, income and opportunity gaps.

They believe companies now need to create a virtuous cycle of innovation and diversity, which can drive growth: “Diversity leads to great innovation; and innovation drives improved diversity.”

Apprenticeships are looked at too, and the role they can play, creating a ‘trickle-up’ effect.

Mentoring is another key area. It is good for employers too – it increases employee satisfaction, helps identify emerging talent and helps to improve an organisation’s culture.

PQ rating: Although the examples are American, they work equally well no matter where you are. The authors say companies may need to be fearless to engender change, but the arguments are clear –diversity will be good for the bottom line!