The world is a big place. It’s home to people of many different cultures, genders, beliefs, physical abilities and ways of thinking.
Unfortunately, the transport industry does not reflect this. Typically, women, young people and people with multicultural backgrounds work in administration roles rather than behind the wheel or in managerial positions. Even then, these demographics make up only a fraction of the aging male-dominated industry.
This puts the NZ transport industry on the back foot. “Research has shown that it [diversity] brings more innovation, better problem solving, and higher levels of productivity,” says Diversity Works NZ Chief Executive Maretha Smit. “It will also make the sector more attractive to younger people and, as such, more sustainable in the long term.”
As a member of Diversity Works NZ, Teletrac Navman is passionate about promoting opportunities to diverse talent, to help them get a foot in the industry door. We have partnered with Transporting NZ to develop the Te ara ki tua Road to success 2022 Driving Change Diversity Programme. This programme selects nominated members of the transport industry, connects them with like-minded people, and trains them to become confident and proactive diversity champions.
Visit the website for more information or read on for tips to help you create a diverse and inclusive transport company.
The company
The first step is looking into the internal processes and beliefs that make up your company culture. That’s because your company must be an inclusive place before you attempt to bring diverse people into it.
Promoting diversity from just an HR initiative to a tangible business decision is a positive step toward an inclusive company. You do this by communicating the value of diversity and inclusion to your employees and clients. Always have it front of mind when it comes to things like hiring, promotions, reward and recognition.
Making use of each employee’s unique talents is another way to encourage greater diversity and innovation. By getting to know them personally and utilising their individual strengths, you can more effectively celebrate their identity while achieving real results. Your company will become a more inclusive and welcoming place.
Hiring
The hiring process is a crucial opportunity for building diversity in your team. To effectively broaden your talent pools, you must be proactive in hunting down any unconscious bias that exists both in you and your company. Talk to your drivers, talk to your team, and figure out the beliefs and assumptions that are impacting the decisions you make.
When it comes to choosing candidates, there is a lot of opportunity out there for your company (and by extension, the transport industry). When you are next confronted with a range of impressive-looking CVs, it pays to look at the ones who will bring something new and different. By choosing candidates with various backgrounds, you open your company up to fresh ideas and valuable new perspectives.
Retention
Let’s say you have a team who hail from a range of different backgrounds, abilities, cultures, and genders. It’s important to keep them engaged and productive, by making sure inclusiveness and job satisfaction are at an all-time high. Work flexibility has proven to be an effective strategy. By remaining flexible, and accommodating personal lives, you open opportunities up for people like soon-to-be or returning parents, those that prefer part-time work or individuals with disabilities or illnesses. That way, you don’t miss out on high-quality talent and valuable skillsets you might have otherwise disregarded. A little flexibility can go a long way.
Driving can be a lonely job, particularly if one of your drivers does not feel connected with the rest of your team. A daily check-in could be a simple but effective solution. By encouraging your drivers to share challenges or feelings of exclusion with you and fellow drivers, you can address issues and work with them to find a solution.
It could be as easy as forming special interest groups, where your drivers can connect over shared interests and similarities. For example, if there are several drivers from a shared minority background, connecting them could prevent feelings of isolation. Through broader interests, like sports, or even food, your drivers can identify similarities with one another and form strong working friendships.
Ultimately, each of these steps start with you. Your choices within your company and your hiring processes will have an impact on the diversity of the entire transport industry. Untapped talent and solutions to the driver shortage are in arms reach – it’s time to act.
While you’re at it, we encourage you to nominate employees, fellow workers, (or yourself) for the opportunity to receive quality training and support to become a diversity champion. Every nomination is a step toward a powerful, sustainable and diverse transport industry here in New Zealand.
* Nicole McCrory is the global vice president, people and culture at Teletrac Navman. This column appeared in the June edition of TransportTalk.
