Warehouse - United Kingdom Warehousing Association

36 Human ResourcesSex educationThe FTA everywoman Accelerate Programme has been launched in an attempt toredress the balance of men and women working in the logistics sectorDescribed as ‘an industry wide genderdiversity solution’, the FTA everywomanAccelerate Programme hasbeen launched in an attempt to redress thebalance of men and women working in thelogistics sector. At present the industry is apredominantly male domain – with, accordingto Skills for Logistics, just 24% of thetransport and logistics workforce made upof females.In establishing the framework for theProgramme, senior industry leaders identifiedfour main obstacles to achieving amore inclusive workforce. They were:• The image of the industry is not conduciveto attracting a young talent poolfresh from formal education;• The industry suffers from a lack offemale role models;• The industry must make more of aneffort to effectively communicate the importanceand business benefits of a diverseworkforce to everyone in all levels of acompany;• The industry needs to provide greateropportunity for personal developmentwhich will lead to enhanced retention of thefemale talent pool.The Accelerate Programme aims toaddress the issues identified, by:• Uncovering female role models toimprove the image of the industry;• Extending the networking outreach andinfluence for senior women in the industry;• Delivering flexible skills developmentand unlocking the potential of all femaletalent;• Positioning organisations as thoughtleaders and giving them the platform to bethe voice of gender diversity in the industry.Speaking at the launch of th AccelerateProgramme, Maxine Benson MBE, cofounderof everywoman, said: “TheAccelerate Programme is unique and is theMay 2013www.ukwa.org.uk