How better visibility can help women become leaders in auto manufacturing

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It’s unusual enough to see a woman in a leadership role in automotive manufacturing. It’s even more exceptional for that woman to be in charge of a workforce that itself is approximately 50 per cent female.

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What a cool thing, then, that this is happening right here in Ontario.

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How better visibility can help women become leaders in auto manufacturing Back to video

Erin Buchanan is the General Manager of Manufacturing for the North Plant at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) in Cambridge. She oversees all aspects of vehicle production, from welding to painting and assembly, as well as delivery of supplies, safety, quality control, and productivity.

The Toyota RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid are currently assembled at TMMC North Plant and sold in Canada and other markets, and the next-generation Lexus NX will be added to the line early in 2022. Buchanan is also the Chief Production Manager for the NX, meaning she is responsible for all pre-production preparations. This involves assessing the current equipment and production processes, mapping out the necessary changes, and evaluating the results.

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Buchanan reports to the Vice-president of Manufacturing, and he reports directly to the President of TMMC. In other words, she sits right at the top of the leadership structure.

“I’m a unicorn, I jokingly say,” she told Driving.ca at a recent Lexus NX preview event. “Not for long, though. I’m going to change that.”

Through more than 20 years in the auto industry, roughly half of which has been with Toyota, Buchanan’s work has taken her through roles in paint engineering, production engineering, and management positions. She makes a concerted effort to be public about her career trajectory, and she says that visibility is key to attracting and keeping younger talent, especially women.

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She also oversees TMMC’s Women Impacting and Influencing Toyota partnering group, where she acts as a mentor to female employees and advocates to have them considered for promotions.

“I have been very fortunate with Toyota that I’ve been given opportunities to work in different divisions and in different plants, to see different perspectives and try things I didn’t know anything about,” Buchanan said. “Nobody does this on their own. It’s built from collaborating with people, and everybody can do that.”

Buchanan said she brings her authentic self to the leadership table. She doesn’t feel she needs to suppress her femininity to get ahead, and this shows how the automotive industry is changing.

“[Women bring a] more empathetic side of leadership that hasn’t historically been considered to be valuable,” Buchanan said. “It’s not the domineering, top-down leadership that it was back in the day. It’s much more collaborative and engaging, and that means leadership styles have to change if we want to continue to adapt and evolve.”

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Attracting women into manufacturing and turning those jobs into careers has two key parts, Buchanan said. One is to change the perception of auto manufacturing more broadly and show that today’s assembly plants are pleasant and inclusive places to work.

“It’s not the dark, dingy, curse-words type of environment that it was in early automotive manufacturing,” Buchanan said. “This is clean, bright, with state-of-the-art technology. These are global-first products that we get to produce. It’s a constantly changing environment, especially with connectivity and electrification.”

The second part is empowering women to pursue advancement in their careers. This issue is not exclusive to auto manufacturing: an often-quoted statistic was confirmed by a LinkedIn study in 2018, which found women are 18 per cent more likely than men to successfully apply for more senior roles but on average apply for 20 per cent fewer jobs on the assumption they don’t meet enough of the requirements.

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(Women bring a) more empathetic side of leadership that hasn't historically been considered to be valuable

Erin Buchanan

Buchanan said encouraging women to go for “stretch assignments” is something she considers extremely important.

“I oversee several thousand team members, and I’m often talking to female team members, team leaders, and (saying), what’s it going to take? When are you applying for the group leader position?” she said. “They say, ‘I don’t know if I’m ready,’ and I (tell them), ‘you are ready, you can do this.’ Sometimes, that push is necessary.”

Advocating for resources that allow women to be active members of the workforce also matters, Buchanan said. The term “she-cession” has seen wide use during the COVID-19 pandemic as a label describing how women have had to deprioritize their careers to adequately care for their children and parents amid virtual schooling and lockdowns.

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As life in Canada trends back toward normal, ensuring that women have the tools they need to participate in the workforce is critical, especially in manufacturing where physical presence is a non-negotiable part of the job.

“Automotive leaders have to continue to advocate for good resources in the community, whether it’s childcare resources, commuting options, or flexible work release,” Buchanan said. “We study and do our best to accommodate all of those items.”

And why put in this effort? There are plenty of excellent reasons. Like all manufacturing industries, automotive manufacturing is facing a critical talent shortage. Failing to demonstrate the industry can be appealing to as wide a population as possible means future leaders could be lost to other employment sectors.

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“If we want to continue to grow this industry (and) evolve, we need talent and we need to attract it,” Buchanan said. “The planet is 50 percent women, so we can’t exclude that 50 percent.” She added that it’s important to have a female perspective into building a product that will ultimately be used and driven by women.

“In the automotive industry (and specifically) in the Lexus world, women make up a dramatic majority of the buying power,” Buchanan said. “If you discount what their thoughts and interests and likes and dislikes are, you’re going to potentially impact your bottom line and your business won’t be sustainable.”

And on a personal note, Buchanan is a parent. She wants to play a role in creating a world that gives her daughter the same opportunities she’s had in her own career. “I want my daughter to be able to do whatever she wants in the whole world,” Buchanan said. “I try to make myself very visible to young female talent. If they see it, they can be it.”