Changing the status quo

A definite rise in the number of women in Indian logistics industry has been witnessed and the day is not too far when women would have equal participation. To commemorate Women’s Day on March 8, we trace the status of women in the industry.

The New Year brings fresh hope, aspirations and a new direction. Ergo, the Indian aviation industry also witnessed change, when an announcement on January 1 declared that the first woman chief of aviation regulator DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation), M Sathiyavathy, is likely to take charge from the incumbent Prabhat Kumar. Formerly, serving as additional secretary and financial advisor to the ministry of civil aviation, Sathiyavathy has been appointed as DGCA head for three years till 2017. And recently, at the Air Cargo Forum of India convention held in New Delhi, it was heartening to see two veteran women of the industry sharing the dais with key players of the cargo fraternity – Renu Singh Parmar, Economic Advisor of Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tulsi Mirchandani, Managing Director, Blue Dart Aviation. These instances have proved that Indian logistics industry is on the verge of change and it is no more the sole bastion of men alone.

Setting examples through demonstration According to industry estimates, the share of women in Indian logistics industry is a mere 20 per cent. However, trends are changing and more women employees are being hired in the industry. Divya Jain, CEO, Safeducate Learning, who has been running the organisation with over 100 employees, believes that she has been in this profession by design and not default. She always wanted to get associated with a worthy ‘cause’ and what better than providing ‘training’ in a sector that is highly unorganised. She avers, “Logistics is lucrative and if we begin to understand the intricacies of this sector, women can excel in matters of analytics, trainings, strategic planning, relationship management, administrative functions and of course, IT.” According to Divya, out of the total work force in logistics sector, only 20.5 per cent of employees are women and a mere 10 per cent women are found in top management positions. Shruti Namjoshi, Marketing Services Manager, Kale Logistics, mentioned an interesting fact stating that it’s only since 2007 that workforce studies on transport industry undertaken worldwide have revealed the fact that the workforce in this industry is not only male dominated but also ageing like that of other industries. Given that, ‘Transport and Logistics’ is one of the oldest known industry or business segments and one with the farthest reach to metros and rural areas, there is a diverse range of career options available to both men and women. Sunila Yadav, Managing Director, Anil Mantra Logistix is another female player who has been in the industry for 17 years. With a career planned in international business, Sunila today handles project cargo such as charter flights, AOG cargo, break bulk movement and end-to-end solutions for overseas customers. With her vast experience, she says, “Women have made their own niche and are doing great guns in departments like overseas networking, HR and to everyone’s surprise in sales and marketing too.” Talking about the 2015 republic day parade that showcased the power of women in all areas from the Air force to the Navy to the Army, Vandana Singh, Regional Commercial Director, Asia Pacific Region, ECS Group, optimistically expressed, “In current times, we have seen a positive increase in the number of women in this industry as women are, on average, well-known for being good at prioritisation, organisation and communication and all these are the key skills they possess and which are the crucial link needed to work in the sector.” She further shared, “I believe that, my background of 15 years with Lufthansa Cargo in a senior role has been a disciplined run and a journey where on every turn, I have learnt something new and now with European Cargo Services which happens to be the largest Cargo GSA in the world, it is an opportunity where I am actively networking and building on assisting my clients to remain and retain profitability and growth, which are close to my heart.” Women overseas hold top positions in logistics companies and logistics departments, this change yet has yet to seen in India, believes Sarini Sachdeva, Chief Operation Officer, Aardour Worldwide Logistics. When she first started in logistics, she was more conscious of being female than she is now. “I once noticed at an internal meeting that, aside from the HR representative, I was the only female present. I wondered at the time if this was likely to be a regular occurrence. But as the competitive landscape changes, delivering for a customer is fast becoming the single most important measure of success.” “It was indeed not easy to fight this battle as a young growing sales woman logistics professional with experienced men professionals, who could see me as a threat,” added Sarini who has tremendous experience in the freight forwarding fraternity.

Opportunities galore Last year, Airports Authority of India demonstrated the spirit of equality between men and women by operating unique all-women air traffic services at Delhi, Mumbai, Amritsar and many airports across the country. Initiatives like this have led to a changing environment, where we can see women achieving success in logistics because of their acumen and projecting themselves as role models. Established players in the industry are making a conscious effort to become equal opportunity employers in terms of gender equality and should have a greater number of women taking up operational responsibilities too. Vandana outlined a diversified role of women in logistics, which is now not limited to limited to secretarial, manifest keying, invoicing roles etc. “Globally women have displayed their capabilities practically in every function of the business right from operations to business development. In fact in many cases women have been better performers than their male counterparts.” says Seema Bhaskar, General Manager – Operations, Mahindra Logistics. At Mahindra Logistics Limited, they are recruiting women supervisors and forklift drivers for their warehouses. E-commerce is a window of opportunity for the logistics fraternity and also for women in the sector. The perfect epitome of women empowerment through e-commerce is the pact signed between Bangalore based online furniture marketplace Urban Ladder and Daakiyaa, a marketing and logistics company signed last year in August 2014 to create opportunities for women. Divya said, “With the booming e-commerce and the necessity to facilitate value supply chains, more women will be seen taking up roles in key account management, customer service, support functions and integrated warehouse operations.” Echoing similar thoughts, Shruti also believed that the internet and e-commerce technologies will define new supply chains and create fresh employment opportunities. In addition, citing an example of working in the US, Shruti emphasised on ‘women in trucking’, highlighting an outfit in US called ‘Women In Trucking’ which encourages the employment of women in the trucking industry, not just in the area of logistics, but in all aspects of transportation. Shruti avers, “In those nations, the equipment has changed, the work environment has changed and it is a much more female-friendly industry.”

Education & accessibility needed With tremendous opportunities, in a changing environment, the need of the hour is to focus on the mission right from the education level, assisting women with shaping their career in logistics and initiatives are required to make the industry more accessible and attractive to women. Divya, who is herself involved in training and skilling programmes, mentioned that educational entities are now more focused on providing industry integrated courses which prove to be a win-win situation for both students and the campus recruiting companies. Supply chain management and logistics is now being offered as specialisation course in MBA. This can enable women to build their career in the logistics profession. “In addition, skilling programmes should have mandated women participation and appropriate internship and job opportunities should be worked out by way of discussions with the HR of various companies,” avers Divya. Seema believes that increasing interactions between the industry and educational institutes will definitely help in promoting the cause to begin with. Shruti avers, “Since, women tended not to participate in informal male networking, men should make an effort to open dialogue with their women colleagues.” For Sunila, education courses are not sufficient to uplift the status of women in the industry. There is a need to focus on a strong education system with more PG courses in logistics. In contrast, Vandana is quite satisfied with the education system and courses available, but she suggested some strategies which should generally consider while advancing their careers like get as much education and training as you can, leverage communication and interpersonal skills, making networks, finding a mentor and cultivating and projecting confidence and self-motivation. The silver lining There is a need to bring about a change in mindset of the people at large. Though the government is taking initiatives and the share of women is increasing across all the sectors including logistics; there is need to create awareness from educational fields with more courses. Appropriate training is also required and the need to explore upcoming opportunities likes e-commerce. Then, more appointments and more speakers at key logistics conferences shall script a success story for women and gender equality in India.