An industry-wide organisation for senior-level women in the supply chain field has a released a 16-point agenda to help women progress to top levels of leadership in the profession.
US-based Awesome (Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management and Education) recently joined forces with 250 leading women in supply chain management to design a 16-point agenda for driving change.
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“Women in supply chain face the challenge of navigating their way to top levels of leadership in an industry traditionally dominated by men,” says Heather Sheehan, executive director of Awesome. “We believe the best intelligence about how to create change can come from those on the ‘front lines.'”
The four steps that emerged from the ‘Making Waves’ brainstorming session focused on: increasing the number of women in top leader roles; advancing your own career; engaging men as advocates for change; and increasing the pipeline of women in supply chain roles/careers.
Of the latter, the agenda recommends re-branding and representing supply chain as a desirable field that is “challenging, exciting, and welcoming” to women, be actively involved in recruiting and hiring, and participate in outreach efforts to introduce girls to the field at an early age. Developing and leveraging tools such as internships and scholarships are also highlighted as an opportunity for engaging women in supply chain roles.
More specifically, the agenda suggests sharing more on social media, seeking out diverse candidates, connecting with colleges as a speaker, attend college fairs, emphasise connection to technology and sustainability, and talk about how supply chain impacts bottom line and top line.
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By GlobalData“What we heard from women in our Awesome community is that they don’t believe change will happen if they just watch and wait,” explains Sheehan. “We understand what has to happen. Now we’re ready to focus on how.”
The incentive to take action was supported by the Women in Supply Chain Survey; a collaboration of Awesome and Gartner Research. The survey concluded that while the percentage of women at the highest levels of leadership (chief supply chain officer, EVP, SVP, and chief procurement officer) show a slight improvement, all the other levels (general workforce, first line managers, senior managers and directors, and VP) remain flat.
“We know that a strong pipeline is critical for gaining more women leaders in the future, so having a lack of progress at many levels is a major problem,” adds Dr Nancy Nix, Awesome’s executive director emeritus.
