Every year, panel sessions, webinars, and seminars celebrating International Women’s Day often focus on the dwindling numbers of women in the C-suite and middle level management, and the glass ceiling aspiring female leaders must break to take their careers to the next level. However, the reality is that women must compete fiercely in the corporate space against their male counterparts, facing additional challenges such as balancing home responsibilities and personal ambitions. These challenges further highlight the importance of a level playing field for women that provide the necessary support that will enable them to succeed in their careers and on the home front.
APM Terminals Nigeria Chief Commercial Officer, Caroline Aubert-Adewuyi advises that firstly women must address this concept of a glass ceiling. She said the more women focused on a glass ceiling; the less time they spend on things that could help them progress in their careers.
Admitting that the container handling business was indeed male dominated, she said the terminal having a majority male workforce should not be an area of concern for ladies.
“It should be a strength, in a way that it is not because of a lack of gender balance, that things that can’t work. On the contrary, we should be asking how we can make the best of the situation without thinking that men can progress their careers faster than women because there is no such thing at APM Terminals.
“Career women have real issues which they openly share. Things like work-life balance, how to navigate career progression, how to behave professionally, how to network. It is for these reasons and several more, that we have a mentoring program in APM Terminals Nigeria for women. I believe by having these discussions with a mentor and openly sharing perspectives, this program can help women grow in their career and get ready for what is coming their way. Because they must be ready. The program is not a one-way street. It is really based on conversations between a mentor and mentee to open perspectives.
“By having the right conversations with a mentor, the women will stop thinking in terms of glass ceilings, limitations and gender equity and would understand that they are following their own path and way. What is best for them can only be decided by the women themselves and they can be guided accordingly,” Caroline says.
While APM Terminals Apapa recently kicked off its mentoring program for women, at the West Africa Container Terminal Onne, it is about to enter its second session having launched the pilot session last year.
Senior People Business Partner, West Africa Container Terminal Onne, Chinelo Obienyem, says, “At inception, WACT was predominantly a male-only terminal. However, in its over 20 years of operations, there had been a significant shift that announced female representation in the workforce. With the active participation of the ladies, it was time to focus on supporting and empowering our women to grow and contribute.
“The mentoring program started in 2023 with the aim of accelerating the gender balance/diversity goals in WACT and to connect WACT ladies to other senior female leaders in the A.P. Moller Maersk Group to gain and share diverse experiences.”
She added that the program provided WACT female workforce with better clarity on their career progression, enabling greater participation in the terminal’s transformation journey.
“It was really a great experience for our ladies whose leadership skills have improved as we have seen them navigate challenges with a high level of confidence and interact with different spheres of leadership.
“We are also working on an approval for our female operators to work night shift, which is part of creating an enabling and inclusive environment for our ladies. We are committed to supporting and empowering our ladies to break down barriers which may hinder their career, in line with our core value – ‘our employees,” Chinelo says.
In 2019, APM Terminals Apapa had obtained a permit to enable hiring of women to work the night shift in the terminal. A provision in Nigeria’s Labour Act prohibits night work for women in an industrial setting.
At APM Terminals, other positive initiatives besides mentoring, are being adopted to encourage growth and a sense of belonging for its female employees.
Stating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a core part of the organisation’s integrator logistics vision, mission and corporate culture, Senior People Business Partner, APM Terminals Apapa, Omolara Olatunbosun, said the organisation provides leadership development programs for women, creates mentorship opportunities while ensuring equal pay and advancement opportunities for all employees regardless of gender. Since 2020 till date, APM Terminals Apapa has seen 250% rise in women in leadership.
Describing inclusion capability building as a leader led agenda at APM Terminals, she says women only programs enable the organization to target female talent and provide the skills, tools and techniques to help maximize the potential of an underrepresented talent pool.
“The AP Moller Maersk group, of which we are a part, has implemented various initiatives to promote inclusion for women in the workplace. This includes setting diversity and inclusion goals and the DEI Policy.
“These policies have helped create a supportive and inclusive environment where women feel empowered to pursue leadership positions and thrive in their careers,” Omolara said.
Other programs such as unconscious bias training for employees, employee resource groups for women, and leadership development initiatives specifically targeted at women, aim at increasing representation of women in leadership roles.
She listed some of these positive initiatives to include the WIL program – Women in leadership which develops Women in Leadership, taking their career to the next level and driving them through a rich development journey, and the S4S – Strategies for Success program which was rolled out globally in 2012 with workshops in Singapore, Mumbai, Copenhagen and Panama.
As part of the terminal’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, Omolara added that it had recently expanded its team of mechanics to include skilled and talented women in the field.
The feat was achieved through the terminal’s partnership with LMI Lady Mechanic Initiative, an NGO indigenous to Nigeria established to empower females with mechanical and technical skills.
“Our new female mechanics will be responsible for maintaining terminal trucks and heavy equipment. They will also learn the new terminal automation systems, hydraulic systems and power generation.
“They bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our organization, and we are confident that their contributions will have a positive impact in our organization,” she said.
For Omolara, this year’s International Women’s Day serves as a reminder of the ongoing need to Inspire Inclusion and create a truly equitable and supportive environment where all employees, especially aspiring female leaders, can thrive and contribute their unique talents to the organization’s success.
APM Terminals Apapa, Terminal Manager, Steen Knudsen said winning in today’s market was dependent on diversity; diversity of gender, background, nationality, culture and education.
He said, “These are all enablers for our decision-making processes and competitive advantage. While we have made some progress in the middle and senior management on this, we need much more diversity in our frontline business – the place where we are really turning strategy into customer experiences and outcomes. Many of our current managers and leaders have grown up through frontline roles, so it is key for our success that we focus on this.
“It requires the organisation to ensure we have the right facilities for a diverse workforce, which we are currently investing in both in WACT as well as in Apapa. It also requires us to move away from a traditional way of looking at shift rosters and apply more flexibility to ensure we can offer our employees a good way to manage their life’s both at work as well as privately with their families.”
APM Terminals Nigeria Country Managing Director, Frederik Klinke, noted that while the organisation had come some way in ensuring more equal representation at management and office level for women, it is still far from there when it comes to the front-line staff.
He described adequate facilities as the only minimum requirement to promoting the inclusion of more female operators and technicians in the industry.
He said, “We need to also adapt how we organise work to be a more attractive place for women, so that ports and terminals may become as a normal occupation for women as working in a supermarket or nursery. At the country leadership level, we have made significant progress as the Country Leadership Team has over 40% female representation.
“IWD is an opportunity for us all at APM Terminals Nigeria to reflect on how we individually can make our working place more accommodating for women. This is how we as part of Maersk, very concretely improve life for all; for our colleagues and society around us.”
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