International Women’s Day falls this week, with the campaign theme ‘inspire inclusion’. For the distribution and logistics sector, where women represent only 31 per cent of the frontline workforce and 26 per cent of the C-Suite despite making up half of UK labour, inspiring women to feel included should be a key priority of any business looking to evolve, attract the best talent and thrive in the future. Not only is prioritising gender inclusion morally worthwhile, but diversity has proven business benefits, with gender diverse companies 15 per cent more likely to outperform.
While diversity refers to the quantitative makeup of the workplace according to categories like gender, ethnicity and age, inclusion covers whether all these workers feel a sense of belonging, in environments where certain groups have traditionally been a minority. Without an inclusion strategy underpinning it, diversity measures can only get so far. Inclusion ensures that demographics enjoying new prominence in distribution and logistics stay and bring more of their peers. Distribution and logistics leaders should look towards how they can not only employ more women but support them in their careers and foster a welcoming environment for everyone.
Get to know your business
Women in the distribution and logistics workplace face a myriad of challenges, from a misogynistic culture to difficulty achieving promotion, unrecognised health conditions to harassment. However, not all companies will have the same issues. Any inclusion strategy must start with audits, assessing both the metrics – how many women are in different company functions, what are the statistics around progression, what is the gender balance of the C-suite – and qualitative information. Surveys, one-on-one interviews and feedback groups can be used to establish how included women feel and how the situation could be improved. For example, global freight company XPO Logistics launched eight Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), to improve work conditions for minority workers and identify and address challenges. These include a women employee group, with their HR Vice president explaining that through these “you get firsthand feedback about the workplace, and by understanding that you’re able to put in place policies and programmes that strengthen the culture.”
Review and re-educate
Leaders must consider the way the distribution and logistics industry has been shaped by hundreds of years of male dominance. Safe work practices, vehicles, machinery, amenities and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are all likely to be tailored towards male bodies. Company culture, too, is likely to be swayed towards male workers. Diversity and inclusion training and awareness-raising campaigns can address a negative workplace atmosphere, with prejudice often hard-baked to such a degree that individual workers may not understand the damage they cause. Diversity education can take many forms, including bringing it into the interview process and onboarding, and conducting top-up sessions for leadership teams, ensuring executives become champions of the company values.
More than a buzzword
A company inclusion framework should be developed and circulated, but it is also important that leaders integrate these ideals into their practice in a real, impactful way. A brave step for distribution and logistics firms would be actively publicising their gender pay gap, not just reporting it as is legally required– proving that the business is not afraid of admitting its own flaws, in order to address them. Policies around leave and flexible working are also likely to have been devised without women in mind. Your company can make it clear that inclusivity is more than just a buzzword, by evaluating parental leave policies and flexible working options for those with dependents. Follow the example of logistics firm DHL Supply Chain, which extended the length of paid maternity, paternity and adoption leave, and introduced paid leave for miscarriage or baby loss, in order to give staff time to cope with difficult experiences.
As International Women's Day approaches, it is not just a time for celebration; it's a call to action for the sector. By embracing the opportunity to reevaluate and realign, distribution and logistics leaders can cultivate a more vibrant, innovative, and attractive workplace for women to excel in. Those businesses that are most welcoming will reap the benefits of a more diverse workplace and be far more equipped to face the skills crisis. Inspiring inclusion is not only the right thing to do, but a smart strategic decision – with the pointers in this blog a jumping off point for facing the distribution and logistics industry’s gender imbalance head on.