International Women's Day and 100 years since women obtained the right to vote. Should these events have a place in a transport magazine? My view is that most certainly they should.
The transport industry portrays very much a male image, which is understandable, given that less than 10% of the workforce is female.
We all know that we have a skills shortage, which unless we take action will only get worse in years to come. Gone are the days when sons went out in the truck with their fathers and then followed in their father’s footsteps. Schools seldom promote transport as a career choice, especially for girls!
We therefore have no natural flow of youth replacing our aging workforce. I believe the transport industry needs to change its image, adapt and embrace change in order to attract and retain employees.
Change does not come over night, but we as an industry must start now by promoting our industry in schools to both boys and girls
We now live in a multi-cultural society and therefore in order to be a more appealing industry and address our issues the workforce should reflect the world in which we live, engaging with people of all genders, cultures and ages.
This case for a change in our workforce to ensure growth and development is no different to the need to adapt to changing technology. It is not surprising that companies who have embraced change, with greater gender diversity are performing better.
Change does not come over night, but we as an industry must start now by promoting our industry in schools to both boys and girls, improving our image by better conditions on the roads for our drivers and creating an inclusive work culture.
Inclusion is simply about creating an environment in which everybody feels welcome, appreciated, motivated and able to contribute. This alone will attract a more diverse workforce. We cannot address our skills shortage unless we tackle these issues.
Statistics evidence that management teams with an equal balance of men and women perform better.
To equalise the demographic of our teams and remove the male stereotype perception we need to celebrate, develop and empower the women within our industry, women of every age, job role and skills set, and create role models to attract others to make transport and logistics a career choice.
- Lesley O’Brien is a partner at Freightlink Europe and Freight Train. She is a founder member of She’s RHA. Follow her @freighttrainllp on Twitter.
