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Businesses are accelerating their activity in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at a time when gender diversity was hard hit from the Covid-19 pandemic. The global supply chain is feeling the effect.
“For the female workforce in global supply chains, the pandemic has caused multi-faceted issues that undermine women’s economic participation and wellbeing and expose them to discrimination and additional vulnerabilities,” wrote Aymen Sajjad and Gabriel Eweje from School of Management, Massey University, Auckland in a recent journal article.
It’s just good business
Source: Women in Electronics
For years, research has demonstrated the boon that diversity (both gender and ethnic) delivers to business. “The big reason for people to pay attention to the topic of inclusion is not just that there is a really sizable financial benefit, but also it is the right cultural thing to do as well,” said Jackie Mattox, founder/president/CEO of Women in Electronics. “There is no downside to stepping into the DEI movement.”
Consider this:
- Businesses with above-average diversity have 19 percentage points higher innovation revenue and 9 percentage points higher earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)
- Companies with lower gender and ethnic diversity scores underperform
- Diverse organizations see a 12 percent increase in employee discretionary effort over non-diverse organizations
In short, diverse businesses make more money, serve customers better and have a workforce that is more engaged than those that are not. Further, a diverse set of workers does better work.
Diversity may help in a competitive talent market as well—since younger workers expect and demand diversity in their workplace. “Gen Z and millennials tend to prefer to work in a diverse environment. It is an attraction driver for new hires and for retention of current employees,” said Caroline Chumakov, senior principal analyst at Gartner. “Younger workers notice when women aren’t in leadership. Increasingly, it’s not just about shareholder pressure or business performance, but about finding enough and the right people to do the work of the supply chain.”
Walking the walk
In the electronics industry, women still are underrepresented despite clear evidence that representation nets business value. Smart organizations are working toward creative ways of working to toward better representation. “The challenge for al to of companies is that they know they have work to do, but they get stunted because they don’t know how to go about it,” said Mattox. A handful of strategies can get organizations pointed and moving in the right direction.
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Source: Gartner
Start from the top. The C-suite needs to understand the benefits but also have a heart for the topic as well, said Mattox. “If you don’t have both, the efforts don’t usually pay off,” she added. “It’s a big investment in time and funds for it to go through the organization.”
- Create measurable goals and objectives. “Industrial and electronics organizations are less likely to have these than other industries,” said Chumakov. Organizations should have formal goals or general objectives specific to the supply chain. Good targets should be localized to a specific location in the world. There are two categories of initiatives: lean in, which encourage women employees to lean into support such as training, mentoring, or resource groups and pull in, which focus on reshaping recruiting practices and the employee pipeline to ensure representation occurs.
- Focus on personal and professional. Both the organization and the workers need to be engaged to create change. For example, if an organization works to address the pay gap, it should work on its human resource policies (setting standard pay rates for roles) but women workers should also be encouraged to learn to ask for what they need.
- Look for ways that current practices or facilities favor men. Make sure work is inclusive to all people, and be open to evolving job requirements to feel inclusive as well. Leading organizations truly encourage open communication. “We have to listen,” said Mattox. “Leaders need to learn to listen to what the needs are, and create an environment where people can talk.”
- Teach managers to be inclusive. According to Gartner, lack of opportunity and development are the biggest reason that women cite for leaving their jobs. People managers often decide which workers will be given special projects or have access to promotion or training. “These managers are at the center of all the decisions that help build an internal resume that positions the worker for the next level,” said Chumakov. “We have to ensure that people managers have the tools to dole out opportunities more evenly.”
The electronics industry is facing a variety of challenges, including huge talent shortages, increasing demands from partners and shareholders, and an aggressively competitive market environment. Proactively ensuring that women are well represented in leadership of procurement and the supply chain is a smart place for electronics companies to start.
