Female Supply Chain Leadership in Disruptive Times

Women have made a strong comeback at nearly every level of supply chain leadership in 2023. Especially good progress has been made at the C-suite and executive levels, with women now holding 26% of CSCO/SVP/EVP/CPO roles. This is an all-time high, up from 19% in 2022. However, frontline roles still lag behind in terms of recruitment and retention, according to new research from Gartner.

Chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) routinely report challenges with attrition at frontline roles in manufacturing and logistics, especially compared to desk-based roles. The ability to attract more women to such roles – and especially to leadership roles in the ranks of physical operations – could form a material competitive advantage.

Providing flexibility was found to be the most effective means of attracting and retaining women in frontline roles, significantly outperforming other initiatives such as fringe benefits, employee engagement programmes and even a focus on pay equity. However, only 41% of supply chain leaders had implemented a workplace flexibility initiative in their organization.

Register for this interactive SCM Webinar Wednesday and learn the importance of female supply chain leadership in disruptive times.