Paving the Way for Diversity and Inclusion in Supply Chain with Ilias Simpson, CEO, Radial

Heads Up

There is a recognized disparity among corporate America -- only 3% of C-Suite roles are held by black people.* In this episode of Heads Up, we discuss the importance of inclusion and diversity in the workplace, especially in the operations and supply chain industry.

Join Ilias Simpson, CEO at bpost and Radial, and Heads Up host Alex Reneman, CEO of Mountain Leverage, as they dive into why diverse talent truly results in the best talent, how supply chain companies can better prioritize inclusion in the workplace, and what it’s been like to lead an eCommerce operations company during a global pandemic.

Show Notes

00:00 - Meet Ilias Simpson and learn about his role at Radial and bpost

02:43 - Prioritizing Radial’s employee safety while thriving on the rapid growth of online shopping during COVID

07:22 - How buying online, curbside pick-up, Best Buy’s model and other trends have come out of the pandemic and are here to stay

09:46 - The diversity disparity and unconscious bias in the workplace: Why less than 1 percent of chief executives running America’s top 500 companies are Black

13:41 - What’s working? What are companies who are successfully focusing on diversity and inclusion doing?

15:42 - The data proves it -- diversity is key to success in business, innovation, identifying the best talent and keeping them

21:15 - Speaking up, owning your own career and other advice for professionals of color

24:13 - Recruiting with inclusion in mind, from tapping into wider networks to rewriting your job postings

29:08 - Education’s role in increasing diverse representation in supply chain

32:38 - Ilias’ book recommendations for leadership (Gallup’s StrengthsFinder and Colin Powell’s It Worked for Me)

34:17 - Gratitude for family and a world that’s looking up for today’s kids

*according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission