‘I Love My Job’: Work-Life Balance, Inclusivity, and a ‘Physically and Psychologically Safe’ Culture

Welcome to I Love My Job, the series where we hear from women who really love their jobs. In this edition, we sat down with Kathy Hidalgo, the Director of Inspections at Southern California Edison (SCE).

Hidalgo joined SCE 10 years ago after pivoting from the aerospace industry in her search for a career with true work-life balance — a balance she found at SCE. While at the company, Hidalgo also had the opportunity to try out several different organizations before finding her current position. 

“I've learned a lot along the way, and I've been really blessed to work with some of the most talented people here at Edison,” she tells us.

My favorite thing about the company is “our focus and intention in our safety leadership,” explains Hidalgo. “Nothing is more important than ensuring that every person who works for Edison goes home safe and injury-free every day.”

And this emphasis on safety applies to all employees, no matter where you work or what you do. “We are committed to fostering a physically and psychologically safe work environment, and it's integral to all aspects of our operations,” states Hidalgo.

In the video below, Hidalgo tells us more about why she loves working at Southern California Edison. We also provide lightly edited highlights from the video discussion in the following article.

In case you have trouble watching this video, please click here to watch it on YouTube.

Can you tell us what you find most exciting about your work? 

What I find most exciting about my work is our people. I have the privilege of leading a great team that is committed to our customers and our community safety through the inspections program of our transmission and distribution infrastructure. This helps us mitigate wildfire risk.

Our company values guide all the decisions that we make as an inspection organization and serve as the foundation for our physically and psychologically safe and very inclusive work environment. Our employees are encouraged to bring their best selves to work every day.

How would you describe the culture at Southern California Edison?

One word that I would use to describe the culture at Southern California Edison is inclusive. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded into our company's culture, our values, and our guiding behaviors.

Inclusivity also guides our business objectives, and is the heart of everything that we do. The diversity among the almost 13,000 people that work here at Edison is reflective of the communities that we serve. We feel a connection with one another and with our communities in decarbonizing power and in electrifying transportation while providing safe, reliable, and affordable electricity so that no communities are left behind as we transition to a clean energy future.

How does Southern California Edison support you?

I feel supported by Southern California Edison because we sponsor and advocate for our 12 business resource groups or our BRGs. As I mentioned earlier, I came to Edison looking for work-life balance. These BRGs play a big role in fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging. They vary in range from our Women's Roundtable to ASCEND, which is the Asian Society for Cultural Exchange, Networking and Diversity; We also have our Networkers, Valor, Caregivers Connect, and Safe 24/7 BRGs, among others.

Our BRGs represent a range of cultures, traditions, ethnicities, genders, generations, life experiences, and different outlooks. So, everyone that works here at Edison is encouraged to get involved from learning about the special interests from each of the BRGs to developing leadership skills in taking on roles within the BRG Board of Directors that have helped many in advancing their career. 

What advice do you have for other women looking to work at Southern California Edison?

Take that first step and get involved by joining our talent network.

Southern California Edison is committed to gender equity — from our involvement with the Paradigm for Parity (which is focused on gender parity at the executive level) to other grassroots programs, such as Men Advocating Real Chance (MARC) and our allyship training. We are constantly looking and finding ways to create a culture that works for all genders and one in which women and men of all backgrounds have equal power, status, and opportunity.

Fairygodboss is proud to work with Southern California Edison. Find a job there today!

Check out other posts in the ‘I Love My Job’ series:

• 'I Love My Job’: I Found My ‘Forever Home’ at a Firm Where Everyone Truly Supports One Another

• ‘I Love My Job’: How 1 Senior Manager Is Helping to ‘Mitigate and Manage Crises Across 6 Continents'

• ‘I Love My Job’: Making an ‘Upsized Impact’ on How Finance Is Done at a Mission-Driven Company

• ‘I Love My Job’: My Company Supports My Development and Creativity — From a Software Engineer

• ‘I Love My Job’: ‘It's Not All About Bugs’ — Why Pest Management Is an Incredibly Rewarding Field