As part of Women's Day, we met Valérie MACREZ, General Director of France Supply Chain, to discuss the work that the association is initiating on the attractiveness of the Supply Chain among new generations and more particularly among young women.
According to you, what would be the most important factor in the attractiveness of the Supply Chain sector among young people?
Generally speaking, the Supply Chain sector benefits from being better known to younger generations. Our first goal is to make younger generations understand the challenges of our entire sector and the richness of all of its professions. Beyond aspects of physical logistics (warehousing, order preparation and transport), the Supply Chain integrates all flow management, such as forecasting and planning.
https://www.francesupplychain.org/comprendre-la-supply-chain/
It was to bring all these activities together, rather than pit them against each other, that ASLOG (Association française de la Supply Chain et de la Logistique) became, last summer, the French Association of the Supply Chain, France Supply Chain. One of the goals of our HR LAB is precisely to promote the attractiveness of our professions among younger generations with actions to promote the sector among students, and more specifically female students for whom training and careers in Supply Chain seem even less attractive.
What is your view on the place of women in the Supply Chain sector and the challenge of making the professions attractive for the new generation of professionals?
For France Supply Chain, feminization is also an important issue among our valorization actions. Indeed, we are convinced that diversity is an asset to be cultivated to develop efficient Supply Chains in our companies. Feminization is one of the dimensions of this diversity.
Women members of France Supply Chain:
27% of professional contacts are women
21% of students are young women
France Supply Chain wishes to convey a more representative image of the professions and show the new generation that this sector offers professional opportunities that also give meaning and this, in all sectors of activity. For this reason, women of the Board of Directors of France Supply Chain are the perfect example through the diversity of their backgrounds and their professions.
What message do you want to convey to the new generation?
Our ambition is to help new generations in their training process. Even more today than yesterday, we are aware that they need to be guided and supported in the choices that determine their future. France Supply Chain takes responsibility for helping some of them discover their future vocation beyond the clichés.
The current situation has proven to us for several months that the Supply Chain is now identified as one of the key sectors of our society and that it is a real lever of transformation for companies. The trend also suggests that tomorrow's leaders will come from Supply Chain backgrounds or have solid knowledge in the field. It is also a way for young people to project themselves into positions of responsibility.
But the biggest challenge remains to convince those who do not yet know the Supply Chain or the extent of the opportunities it offers. This is the problem we are currently working on. It is the responsibility of every professional in the sector to support women to take an interest.
For students who have already found their way and are integrated into specialized training courses that are members of our ecosystem, they become members of the France Supply Chain association via member schools. This allows them to be in touch with the professional world and to create a network before entering the job market. They also have access to content to improve their knowledge of the sector and professions. Finally, since September 2020, we have also provided them with a “Guide to Higher Education in France” specialized in Supply Chain in order to encourage those who wish to continue their studies.
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We give them a voice
Marie-Laure FURGALA, Director ISLI, KEDGE – Member of the Board of Directors, France Supply Chain
What vision do you have of women in the Supply Chain?
Supply Chain is a fairly young function where new trained talents are becoming more feminine. I have been able to measure the evolution since my graduation from ISLI in 1996, where we were 6 women out of 46 students and the female workforce currently trained at KEDGE which represents 40% of ISLI promotions.
Unfortunately, key positions occupied by women still remain under-represented and the Supply Chain is no exception. Listening, in anticipation and action, they nevertheless have the soft skills essential to succeed in this profession. Invested and demanding of themselves, women are driving forces and constitute fabulous assets for companies.
As a Supply Chain professional and today as Director of ISLI, I wish to demonstrate to students who are embarking on this profession that it is an exciting, booming and promising profession, with many challenges and where the only limits are those that we set for ourselves.
What vision do you have of your job as a woman?
The image of the Supply Chain still remains too confined to an old, technical and industrial vision of the profession, while the Supply Chain is precisely one of the evolving sectors par excellence.
As a Supply Chain Manager, we are required to work with suppliers, subcontractors, customers, etc. and collaborate with different functions: purchasing, marketing, sales, HR, etc. We can work in transport, production, engineering. … Change position or change sector of activity, evolve with new technologies, digitalization. We ultimately have a real impact on current and future business issues. It is a transversal profession undergoing rapid change which is emerging from the shadows and revealing itself as one of the important levers of change.
My ambition is to promote a transversal and responsible Supply Chain. And in my opinion, innovation must be the driving force behind this Green Supply Chain. My hope is to see today's ISLI students take up the challenge of building the sustainable Supply Chain of tomorrow.
Latifa GAHBICHE, Country General Manager France & Morocco CHEP – Member of the Board of Directors, France Supply Chain
What vision do you have of women in the Supply Chain?
Whether in the Supply Chain or in any other sector historically assimilated to a so-called “male” world, it is especially when we look towards positions of responsibility that women are becoming rarer. To counter this in business, unwavering will and support measures are absolutely necessary.
In short, it is about making this state of affairs not only a subject of debate but above all that of the implementation of a concrete and measurable action plan (coaching and mentoring for example).
Things will only change because companies build a “pool” of talent that is both diverse and efficient.
At CHEP, the company's share of responsibility for seeing the proportion of women in management positions evolve is taken very seriously. I am living proof and, of course, I am not the only one. As proof of this commitment, at Brambles, the parent company of CHEP, 30 % management positions are occupied by women. This percentage will increase to 40% by 2025. This is one of its CSR commitments.
Furthermore, CHEP has become an active member of the LEAD (Leading Executives Advancing Diversity) network European and, since autumn 2019, at the national level in order to reflect and act to increase the number of women assuming leadership functions in the mass distribution and consumer goods industry sectors across the education, leadership and management.
What vision do you have of your job as a woman?
I am well aware that I am a pioneer in the sector. In this, I hope to lead the way, to inspire female careers and ambitions. I would like to make women want to open their perspectives to join any sector, above all to not forbid themselves anything, to fight against self-censorship.
As for my vision of the profession stricto sensu, I do not believe that it differs from that of a man simply because, when I work, I do not refer to my gender but to my sole function.
Anne BORDE, Supply Chain Director, Louis Vuitton – Member France Supply Chain
What vision do you have of women in the Supply Chain?
In my professional world of luxury, I meet a lot of women who work in the supply chain, whether in production, logistics or in sales forecasting and stock management. I have also observed with my generation, the strong assumption of responsibility within the company in these professions. We still need to continue to achieve perfect diversity, but we are on a very good path! On the other hand, this is not yet the case in other fields of activity, where women are under-represented.
Ladies, there are places to be taken!
What vision do you have of your job as a woman?
It's one of the most exciting jobs in a company: strategic, transversal, innovative, in contact with the product, in customer service, and in operations!
Behind the word “Supply Chain”, the diversity of professions is great and constantly evolving.
I myself have done several Supply Chain jobs over the course of my career: first in the workshop to plan production based on customer needs. Then at headquarters in more central roles of global production planning or sales forecasting or distribution/stock management. These are professions rich in contact with production, purchasing, product development, our suppliers, logistics, retail, marketing, merchandising, finance, etc.
The covid crisis has shown how important Supply Chain professions are in coping with the unpredictable. This has highlighted functions that are sometimes little-known, with high added value, ahead in terms of innovation and use of data.
I have never considered that the fact that I am a woman differentiates the vision of my job from a man. I think in terms of competence, in soft skills.
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