WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Cultivating Women’s Leadership in Food Service
By Sara Wildberger F
ood service is one of the top employ- ers of women. Yet how many of these women are leaders in this industry? A 2017 McKinsey & Company study of
the industry reports that while women make up 49 percent of employees at the entry level, women represent only 23 percent of the food industry’s C-Suite executives. Understanding and addressing that gap
is the goal of Lead the Way, an initiative launched in March 2018 by the Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF), which for nearly 30 years has advanced women leaders in the foodservice industry by off ering prod- ucts, services, insights, and information for emerging and existing leaders. With their goals to raise up new leaders, both WFF and the Lead the Way initiative have the potential to introduce research and solutions to help avert rising senior living workforce challenges. One of the forces behind Lead the Way
on the WFF board is Dawn Sweeney, presi- dent and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. Here, she off ers information on the initiative, its importance to the industry, and how senior living leaders can support women’s advancement in food service.
Accelerated change needed An impetus for Lead the Way was the numbers revealed in the 2017 Women in the Workplace study by McKinsey & Company. The study, Sweeney said, “reported it will take at least 100 years at the current pace of change to reach gender equality in the C-Suite.” And the industry can’t wait that long.
“The Lead the Way program is committed to accelerating change in the food industry and reducing that timeline,” Sweeney said. To that end, the initiative aims to close the gap by 2025.
Other McKinsey research, Sweeney pointed out, “reveals that 90 percent of
38 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE MAY/JUNE 2018
organizations say they prioritize gender diversity because it leads to better business results.” In addition to creating industry best practices to help close the gender gap and open the path and prepare women leaders for success in the food industry, the initiative plans to create a Gender Equity Index to track and encourage progress.
Partnerships and collaboration Lead the Way is a joint initiative, supported by several groups, including the Internation- al Food Manufacturers Association and the International Food Distributors Association. “Through the Lead the Way initiative,
WFF is working with partner companies as well as research alliances and trade as- sociations to establish industry metrics and benchmarks, implement best practices, and measure year-over-year gender equality progress for the industry.” And, of course, another major partner is the
National Restaurant Association. “Working with groups such as the Women’s Foodservice Forum, we have an opportunity to engage with those who share the goal of promoting gender equality in the workplace,” Sweeney said. “The restaurant industry is the nation’s second-largest private sector employer, and if we continue to offer opportunities for success for every employee, we can aff ect positive change across the entire industry.”
Getting on board “Senior living organizations can join the Lead the Way initiative by partnering with WFF to
Change Agent Profi le
Dawn Sweeney President and CEO, National Restaurant Association, Board Member, Women's Foodservice Forum
support the mission,” Sweeney said. Among the more than 150 WFF partners are compa- nies familiar to senior living and health care leaders, such as Sysco and Aramark. To learn about the extent of the challenge
and start implementing solutions, senior liv- ing leaders “can leverage WFF’s extensive learning and development portfolio of events, programs, networking opportunities, and products tailored to suit the needs of all career levels,” Sweeney said. The WFF holds an annual executive
summit with programming designed for executives on rising trends and topics such as developing mentors to build the next generation and best practices to close the gender equality gap. The group also holds an annual leadership development confer- ence as well as leadership development workshops at multiple locations. WFF members can take webinars and courses and join communities of interest, such as for women of color or working mothers.
WOMEN IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY Data from the 2017 Women in the Workplace Study shows:
• Women account for 49 percent of employees at the entry level, but represent only 23 percent of the food industry’s C-Suite
• Women of color account for 14 percent of employees at the entry level and hold only 3 percent of C-Suite positions
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
