We’re thrilled to showcase Claire Rhead, a credible HR Professional specialising in Supply Chain Logistics. Claire’s worked in the industry for 12 years, predominately within a 3PL environment. Her blog offers key strategies for attracting more female workers to your company, providing valuable insights and actionable steps to enhance diversity in the workforce.
Career Journey
My previous experience prior to embarking on a career in the Logistics and Supply Chain Sector was Retail Banking, spending a large proportion of my time in Operations, not in HR. I literally stumbled into the HR profession whilst in the role of an Operations Manager in a busy Contact Call Centre and it was then that I realised my true passion was the development of people. For me, this was a fundamental career change direction.
Being a successful People Manager and also having the ‘hands on’ experience in a busy operation, provided me not only with the foundation of good leadership skills but also the credibility and respect with other managers. I’ve found this particularly useful especially when building relationships with key operational stakeholder - I understand the complexities of their role as a People Manager and know how best to support their needs.
In August 2012, having taken redundancy a few months previously, I took the role of a HR Business Partner within a large global Supply Chain Logistics company. I had no experience of the Logistics and Supply Chain sector however, despite my lack of knowledge of the industry, it was a very exciting time! At the point when I joined the company, they were introducing the devolved HR model and they were also going through significant organisational change. This provided me with the opportunity to become involved in projects and initiatives, network with key stakeholders and establish who the ‘go to’ specialists were in HR and key influencers in the operation.
Transitioning from the Retail industry into Supply Chain Logistics was certainly challenging, especially culturally but it didn’t faze me, I thrived on the opportunity, asked lots of questions, challenge the whys but more importantly gained trust and credibility from the key stakeholders - the operation, the customer, HR teams and the people. I acknowledged very early that in order to be a successful leader in HR within Supply Chain Logistics, it’s paramount that you deliver on promises whilst managing expectations, gain credibility and be authentic, a trusted partner to all key stakeholders is of paramount importance.
I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with some exceptionally talented individuals at all levels and numerous customers across all sectors of Supply Chain which has enabled me to gain the experience and knowledge to be successful in a number of roles throughout my career in Supply Chain Logistics. Pivotal moments for me have been the relationships and credibility I have built with the unions across various contracts in my career to date at various levels, national, regional and local. Balancing the needs of the customer and managing the Unions is a niche skill I have acquired from my years of experience dealing with the trade unions.
Fostering and building strong customer relationships is also key. Alignment of the Industrial Relations agenda with the customers within an 3PL relationship has been particularly valuable, especially where there is a challenging union relationship within the operation. It is sometimes an area which is overlooked but from my own experience this is a pivotal part, building the customers engagement and trust to ensure a long standing and successful relationship.
A strong team and network support has been key to my own success. Building strong relationships with others and my ability to influence and build trust easily has given me a significant network both internally and externally.
What challenges have you faced as a woman in this industry and how have you overcome them?
The challenges I have faced as a woman in the Supply Chain Logistics industry surprisingly were not as daunting as I initially thought they would be. I believe this was more about my perception of the industry at that time. For the best part of my career in HR I have worked alongside the operation and business partnered at different levels in a male dominated environment which when moving into logistics, didn’t necessarily faze me. However, of the challenges I’ve experienced, these have usually related to having a clear understanding of the operation and how myself and/or my team can add value and support. This is especially challenging when the stakeholder is not an advocate of HR being actively involved in the operation. How I overcome this challenge is to take an active part in understanding the basic principles of the operation, working closely with key operational and senior stakeholders and in doing so forming an effective working relationship.
Working in a Supply Chain Logistics is a 24/7 operation and from my own experience, maintaining a work life balance is undoubtedly a challenge. However, it is important to set boundaries and prioritise self discipline to ensure a manageable and fulfilling career but more importantly maintaining your personal health and wellbeing.
Looking back is there anything you wish you had known at the start of your career?
I only wish I had discovered Supply Chain Logistics sooner. I believe it’s still very much an undiscovered sector in the employment market with fantastic career opportunities. However, despite a high level of presence in the media promoting the industry as a great place to work, there is still a way to go to attract women to the logistics industry.
Industry Insights
From your perspective, what are the most exciting trends in the Logistics and Supply Chain Sector right now?
From my own perspective, the sector has rapidly evolved driven by sustainability, changes in consumer demands and technology advancements. I see the most exciting trends being automation, robotics, AI and the focus on reducing environmental impact of supply chain operations i.e. sustainability and eco-friendly practices such as electric vehicles.
How has the role of technology evolved in your field and what impact do you think it has on diversity and inclusion?
The technological advancement has enabled more efficiencies in terms of accessibility and opportunity for increased flexible working arrangements within the workplace. This by default will create accessibility to a more diverse workforce especially individuals with disabilities who are now more likely to be able to work remotely than ever before. Enhanced recruitment tools with AI enhancements have the advantage of reducing unconscious bias issues within the selection process.
What’s been a project that you've been particularly proud of?
One project I’ve been particularly proud of was a new site start-up in Worksop, Nottingham, of which I lead the HR Workstream. This site was the biggest UK investment made by the company in 10 years, to create the largest COMAH site in the UK, a multi-customer closed book site, fully automated including warehouse, co-pack and transport.
It was a complex project including the closure of three sites into one large modern site. It was a seamless start-up of which the HR workstream proudly received two Company UKI CEO awards, a gold award for significant cost savings and retention of skilled employees and a silver awarded for the exemplary training and onboarding experience.
Diversity and Inclusion
What are the barriers that exist for women entering the sector and how can we address them?
In my opinion, there are still a number of barriers that exist for women entering the Logistics and Supply Chain sector. It’s stereotypically associated with the male gender and can be discouraging to women to pursuing a career within the sector.
Flexibility and work life balance including working patterns still tends to follow traditional working pattern such as rotational shifts and five days working which isn’t necessarily attractive to those looking for a better work life balance in pursuit of a chosen career, especially women who may have additional responsibilities at home. Although, through the pandemic, employers had no choice than to allow employees to work from home where this was feasible. As normality returned, I have found there is less encouragement to continue remote working in the Logistics and Supply Chain sector than other sectors such as Retail, Banking, Sales etc.
In terms of female role models, there are fewer women in leadership positions compared to other industries which can make it harder for employers to attract women to the Logistics and Supply Chain sector.
There’s often a significant pay gap between men and women in the same roles which can be discouraging to women from entering or in some cases remaining in the industry. Also, Maternity Leave benefits tend to be less favourable in Supply Chain Logistics to other industries such as Retail and Public Sector.
Although the attraction of women in Logistics and Supply Chain sector is starting to shift, this is still very much focuses on new entry graduate schemes with very little focus on attracting experienced women in other industries with invaluable transferable skills.
I believe in order to address these barriers and attract and retain women in logistics, organisations need to:
- Review and modernise flexible working to support and enable a better work life balance for existing and new employees.
- Utilise effective media promotion to reference female role models.
- Be conscious and socially responsible within the local community promoting women in logistics and targeting appropriate audience for future opportunities.
- Review attraction and recruitment strategies to include attracting experienced and knowledgeable women in other industries with transferable skills.
- Review compensation and benefits policy to ensure they’re aligned to other industries and competitors i.e. pay, bonus and benefits such as Maternity Leave, Career Break, Sabbatical Leave, Carers Leave etc.
What strategy have you found effective in creating a more inclusive workplace culture?
From my own experience, it requires a number of strategies to take place that promote Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB). A truly inclusive workplace culture requires long term commitment and continuous effort by those involved.
- Leadership commitment - Leaders at all levels are key to creating a more inclusive workplace culture. They need to actively demonstrate their commitment to DEIB and ensure they are ‘bought in’ not just talking the talk. Having the support and resources to deliver this is paramount, as well as holding themselves and others accountable for progress made and implement appropriate measures where needed.
- Recruitment processes – it’s important to ensure unbiased recruitment and selection processes are implemented consistently and effectively and appropriate training is rolled out to recruiting managers. Job descriptions for example need to be reviewed regularly to ensure they’re inclusive and also ensuring candidates are sourced from various attraction method.
- Training and educating – ensure training on DEIB for all employees is implemented. Training such as unconscious bias and inclusive leadership for managers are some examples where I’ve been involved in the role out process in previous roles which have been extremely effective.
- Open communication channels - creating an environment where colleagues feel comfortable and safe to express their view and feedback by way of voluntary employee satisfaction surveys, confidential polls and open forums are important and a useful measure to gauge success of the implementation of an inclusive cultural change.
- Employee Working Groups – creating Employee Working Groups is advantageous where employees with similar or shared identities can connect and support each other and feedback to the employer on generic topics of interest that can be addressed as part of the wider organisation.
- Company Policies - ensure Company Policies and Procedures are updated regularly such as Parental Leave, Flexible Working, Diversity and Equality, People Policies, Code of Conduct etc.
- Diversity Events Calendar - recognising and celebrating cultural events promotes awareness and a feeling of belonging and appreciation of other people’s backgrounds and experiences. A great example of this is Outsource’s digital calendar.
- Bias and discrimination – it’s important to ensure appropriate process for addressing bias and discrimination are dealt with quickly and clear processes are in place to deal with any consequences as a result of these issues.
Advice and Inspiration
What advice would you give to women considering a career in Logistics and Supply Chain?
My advice would be of encouragement. The industry has great opportunities to offer and the variety of roles and potential career prospects are plentiful.
How do you think companies within the sector can do more to attract and retain female talent?
It is becoming even more apparent that there is a need for the sector to become more flexible to the changing needs of the working population in order to attract and retain female talent. The sector needs to become more engaged and open to flexible working hours, remote work options, career breaks and job-sharing arrangement.
Want to continue the conversation?
Claire’s recently taken a short career break in her capacity as HR Director for a large global Supply Chain organisation and is now returning to her profession as a HR specialist consultation. She has a proven track record of delivering large scale HR and organisation change initiatives and leading, coaching and developing successful high achieving effective teams. She has significant experience and knowledge of HR in Supply Chain Logistics to offer to potential clients.
Connect with me on LinkedIn | Claire.Rhead6@gmail.com | 07711 830156
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