Breaking down barriers – why supply chain is a changing industry by Nicole Katsoulis

The business of supply chains used to be all about big warehouses, forklifts and truck routes. Nicole Katsoulis, APAC Head of People & Culture at Körber, explains how digitisation and diversity initiatives have paved the way for a generation of young, bright and technologically orientated minds to shape the industry.

As manual, repetitive tasks become automated, companies will rely more on employees’ strategic thinking, creativity, and ability to derive insights from data. To succeed in the digital world, supply chain leaders are upskilling existing workforces while trying to attract new talent to make the most of technologies like AI, predictive analytics, IoT sensors, and sophisticated software solutions.

A perception – albeit fading – of the supply chain not being as shiny and exciting as other industries does exist, but this is fast changing. Technology is exciting but needs to be supported by a focus on diversity and cultures where all employees feel valued, empowered to innovate, and able to perform to their full potential. Representation from different genders, races, age groups and educational backgrounds unlocks wider perspectives, ultimately leading to better decision-making, and belonging encourages workers to share creative ideas without fear of judgment.

The supply chain is no different to any other industry – people are looking for challenging and rewarding work, flexibility and autonomy, clear goals and expectations, recognition and appreciation, professional growth support, work-life balance and a diverse and inclusive environment. By focusing on these aspects, Körber creates an environment where our people feel valued, motivated, included and productive while operating a collaborative and efficient working environment.

Barriers to women entering the supply chain industry

Unfortunately, barriers remain for women to enter this industry, including a widespread stereotype that these fields are more male-dominated, which may discourage women from pursuing careers. A lack of representation of women in leadership positions within these industries doesn’t help – without diverse and visible role models, it can be intimidating for women to envision their careers in the industry.

Unconscious bias in hiring and promotion can still disadvantage women. All businesses and industries need to address these barriers and find strategic approaches to change their culture to support diverse candidates and provide equal opportunities.

We hope some of these barriers are disappearing with our approach to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) helping more women and diversity in our industry, which will continue to make it a more innovative and collaborative environment. For instance, this year at Körber’s annual conference Elevate, we worked with the University of Melbourne to encourage female students to attend and meet some of the industry’s female leaders.

Körber also continuously hire interns and graduates to minimise barriers in the supply chain industry from the early stages of one’s career. Providing career opportunities to work in different parts of the business helps retain female representatives in the industry.

Prioritising positive change

For Körber, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) has been a priority this year. We want to ensure the business is providing an inclusive environment for women and people of different cultures and backgrounds entering our industry and business.

In 2022, our analysis showed the percentage of women in the business was lower than the industry average and we actioned changes to rectify this. At Körber, we want to become DE&I champions and therefore have set some self-directed targets to achieve by 2026, which include 33% of women in leadership, 33% of women in our total population and 100% of our employees educated on unconscious bias. On top of this, at least one-third of the final candidates in our recruitment process are diverse and underrepresented.

In 2023, our starting points included DE&I initiatives and projects in our townhalls, DE&I panels at our industry events, creating a DE&I committee which included diverse people from all regions and departments led by our CEO, increased female hires from 25% to 29% globally and new recruiting guidelines with a structured interview process. In gauging our success, our June 2023 Pulse Survey yielded a 79% strongly agree response rate for our commitment to a diverse and inclusive culture – it is an ongoing mission to see this increase.

Key initiatives in our region included celebrating events like International Women’s Day, NAIDOC Week, Wear It Purple, and R U OK Day as well as engaging with local universities to work with young students on various capstone projects. From 2024, we are offering Parental Leave benefits that build a supportive and rewarding culture to promote work-life balance to all our people.

A work environment for the future

Digitisation is undoubtedly helping attract young, enthusiastic people who are passionate about innovation to join the Supply Chain Industry. Körber works with local universities that offer a Masters in Supply Chain on initiatives to attract bright students to our business and remain in the industry. Any students engaged in software engineering, robotics automation or IT also have a vital role to play in shaping our industry.

We need to continue to make our industry an attractive place to work for younger people. Like all industries and businesses, we need to ensure we are keeping up with the environment and culture young people are in search of; challenges, flexibility, competitive pay, benefits and the opportunity to progress in their career.