Women in logistics

By Cheranka Mendis              

Following the world trend of recognising women in the logistics and transport sectors, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Sri Lanka last week launched Women in Logistics and Transport (WILAT) at The Kingsbury.

With the country aiming for logistics hub status, the industry stands to benefit greatly with the ongoing and planned development projects and is expected to create a large number of job opportunities for the youth.

Even though there are no statistics on how many women are engaged in the field today, WILAT Co-Chair Gayani De Alwis noted that 12% of the CILT membership numbering 1000 is women, a minimal number in a growing industry. Acknowledging the reason for the low representation as the lack of awareness of the opportunities that exists for women, De Alwis assured that the aim of WILAT was to break through these self and socially imposed boundaries to create a platform for women to engage, learn and further their careers within the field.

Role of WILAT

“The main reason to not get in to the field is the lack of awareness. There are different career opportunities available in different sectors in the industry,” she said. “It is a known fact that improving gender balance helps organisations bring diversity and fuse ideas for value creation. In some organisations they actively pursue women representation within.”

Launched with a forum in the presence of a large number of students and female employees working within the industry, WILAT intends to provide a platform for women engaged in the industry to maximise their potential, both professionally and personally.

With a number of activities planned under this exercise, De Alwis said: “We want to create awareness on career opportunities in the industry, provide training and mentoring opportunities for women through networking, and continuous professional development by giving access to information sources through CILT to enhance career opportunities so that we, together with men can develop the sector.” This will help develop and nurture a talent pipeline for logistics and transport in the country.

Membership of WILAT is open to all women in public, private sector and the academia in the area of logistics, transport, supply chain and supporting functions such as engineering, HR, accounting, IT, etc.

Representation of professional women

Astron Limited Managing Director Marise Deckker delivering the keynote address noted that according to a survey published online; 63% of professionals in Sri Lanka are females even though from the top 25 companies in Sri Lanka there are only 10 female directors out of 198, which is only 5% of the entire group.

“This is extremely low considering the fact that in Sri Lanka the economy is run by women,” she said. “What brings Sri Lanka money is remittance from overseas. This comes from housemaids, garment industry, tea industry, and the hospitality industry.”

Noting that the situation is no better internationally, Deckker remarked that out of 195 heads of states currently only 17 are women.

In Fortune 500 companies, women representation remains low growing from 1.5% in 2003 to 20% in 2012. Taking into consideration the Board of Directors and seats in the Fortune 500 companies, in 2003 the percentage was only 14% which has grown marginally to 17% in 2013.

Agreeing with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg who made headlines in the recent past with her book ‘Lean in’ which empowers women to lean in and follow their dreams, professionally and personally with gusto and confidence, Deckker observed that the party to blame for the low representation of women in business are women themselves.

Be driven and motivated – just like a man

“It is because women are not pushing themselves forward and taking charge of their careers that the number is poor.” Deckker who started her career in the 1980s recalled her position as the only woman in meeting rooms on business in the early days and noted that if a woman is to progress she needs to take responsibility and drive themselves forward, without asking for special treatment or concessions for being of the fairer sex.

“During my career I have never thought of myself as a woman in particular when going in to meetings. You cannot expect to get special concessions because you are a woman.”

“Having babies is good and fine and you should do those things, but if you want to go further in your career you need to factor that in and plan on how you are going to achieve what you want,” she said. “In any career field you are in, you are competing against men who are not asking for special concessions. They will travel, come to work, and not take holidays when babies are sick – because of this you cannot ask for concessions and promotions. That is how I look at it.”

To go up the ladder women must compete and show that they can do just as well, or even better than men. Deckker expressed that if a woman takes more than the given three months for maternity leave, her career is at a standstill which could affect her even two or three years later when considered for a promotion. “Ladies must change with more people wanting to go up the ladder.”

Teach equality to children

Expressing that women only came into the world of business after World War II in the late 1940s, Deckker asserted that over the past 50 years women have gained more access and control in the field.

However the mindset still remains on ‘men for business and leadership’ and women are often questioned of their place if they achieve a top leadership position within organisations.  “We are all brought up to think that women should not be in leadership positions; and if there is a woman at the top they question it. Often they would think you are promoted for your looks, etc.”

Deckker opined that it would take two more generations before women can be more or less equal in any field, be it at work or at home. This too would depend on the present generation, she said. “You have to teach your children to treat girls and boys on an equal basis. If you are going to progress, the next generation’s mindset must be changed to what girls can or cannot do. Of course we don’t want to be like men in everything but when it comes to jobs you must be treated equally.”

No glass ceilings

Deckker also observed that there are no real environmental obstacles placed in the way of women climbing up in a male dominated world. Noting that everything is in the mind, she stated that she does not categorically think of ‘obstacles’ in her way but work hard to achieve her goals.

“If you think you have obstacles in your way you will always come across some. I don’t not know if I was lucky to get the positions I did, but I know I worked hard. It is all in the mind really.” She assured that women do not have to ‘fight’ for a place but work hard and do things in a manner that would present them in a positive light when opportunities come.

The biggest barrier

The biggest barrier for women who are interested in pursuing a career in transport and logistics is the socio cultural perception, Head of Human Resources NDO Lanka and NDO India – JV with JKH Romesh Ranasinghe.

“It is primarily a male-dominated industry,” she said. “The biggest barrier is the socio-cultural perception people have where they think females cannot handle some of the stress of the logistics trade like working in different time zones, going to sites when there are operational issues. It is up to us to decide if we want a career in a fields with such issues or not.”

From a HR perceptive, Ranasinghe noted that when applying for positions in such lines of works to mention the willingness to face such challenges in the curriculum vitae. “There is something we call a ‘red flag’ in HR which are the unspoken questions in an interview. If you are willing to overcome those barriers highlight them and not wait for the HR team to ask because they won’t.”

Government support

Road Development Authority (RDA) Deputy Director Planning Namalie Siyambalapitiya who counts 25 years of experience in road infrastructure development under the Government sector noted that the women representation within RDA too is minimal even though the number has increased over the years. 15% of the engineers in RDA are women while 30% of the higher management within the institute are also women.

Speaking of the Transport and Management Honours Degree Program offered through University of Moratuwa, Siyambalapitiya noted that since its inception in 2006, female students studying the course have increased from 12% to 30% in 2011.

“We must encourage the female students to do more research and improve the opportunities at work places. We still haven’t convinced the Government authorities of the students and their capabilities and this is something that must be done in the future,” Siyambalapitiya said.

Pix by Upul Abayasekara