Sodexo has historically emphasized diversity, equity and inclusion as key point of differentiation, performance and innovation. This commitment is grounded in its corporate responsibility roadmap, contributing to societal and economic development by enriching lives in the communities where it operates.
Over the years, Sodexo has established strong foundations, which instill pride in its employees and make it a reference point in the market.
According to Sodexo’s 2021 annual employee engagement survey, 83.4% of Sodexo employees said they feel Sodexo values diversity and inclusion. While it was the highest scoring question of the survey, Sodexo continues to strive for improvements.
In today’s context, the authenticity of an organization’s approach to diversity, equity and inclusion is becoming an increasingly important measure for employees, consumers, clients, suppliers and investors. Equally, it is becoming a critical lever in attracting and retaining talent, and, therefore, Sodexo is deepening its commitments around driving an inclusive culture and integrating diversity, equity and inclusion into its broader approach to corporate responsibility.
Sodexo’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy is focused around five dimensions: gender, cultures and origins, disabilities, sexual orientation and generations. While the Company has some ambitious targets to achieve in each of these dimensions, Sodexo’s commitments as part of Better Tomorrow 2025 focus primarily on gender.
More specifically, by 2025, Sodexo aims to have empowered 500,000 women in local communities in which it operates, and to have 100% of its employees working in countries that have gender balance in their management populations.
Gender balance is a strategic imperative at Sodexo, which is why it established SoTogether, a global Advisory Board focused on improving gender equality. SoTogether includes 40 members (women and men), representing every part of our business, 20 nationalities and 72% from operational roles. The Advisory Board provides guidance and strategic direction to support the progress and actions of 24 local gender networks, focused on ensuring that both women and men – within its business and in the communities in which it operates – have equal access to growth and opportunities, and that Sodexo continues to promote initiatives to accelerate the advancement of women and other under-represented groups globally.
Through the leadership of SoTogether, Sodexo is adapting business and people processes – such as recruitment, development and employee retention – to drive gender balance in its talent pipeline; encouraging gender networks to take action to improve gender balance locally; empowering women in local communities by collaborating with strategic partners; and striving for thought leadership by communicating its commitments, actions and impact.
Sodexo has an objective to achieve 40% women representation in its senior leadership community by 2025, but ultimately, it is focused on driving gender balance and equity across all aspects of its business – including its broader employee base, supply chain and local communities – and therefore advancing an inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive and enjoy fair treatment and access to opportunities.
