Sodexo Inducted into DiversityInc Top 50 Hall of Fame

GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 16, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sodexo, a food services and facilities management company committed to improving Quality of Life, announced today the company's induction into the inaugural DiversityInc Top 50  Hall of Fame -- an honor bestowed to only six U.S. companies -- for exceptional human capital management accomplishments and superior corporate values and culture.

"With diversity and inclusion at the core of our organization, we see increased business opportunities and enhanced employee engagement across the company," said Rohini Anand, PhD, SVP, Corporate Responsibility & Global Chief Diversity Officer, Sodexo. "Additionally, this longstanding commitment allows us to improve Quality of Life by helping our clients discover and develop their own diversity needs."

Sodexo's placement in the DiversityInc Top 50 Hall of Fame is a result of the company's ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion at all levels of the organization, an initiative led by senior management.  To learn more about the company's diversity and inclusion results, visit Sodexo's recently published 2017 Diversity & Inclusion Year-End Review.

Last month,?Sodexo Women's International Forum for Talent (SWIFt), a committee?of senior men and women executives,?held its?annual?meeting in New York?City?with the purpose of advocating for gender balance,?professional development and career growth for women within Sodexo. SWIFt also helps introduce executives to high-potential talent advancing through the pipeline. Driving?SWIFt's?mission is the organization's commitment to have 40 percent of senior leadership made up of women leaders by 2025. Currently, Sodexo has 32 percent of women in leadership positions including the head of Sodexo North America.??

Additionally, through Sodexo's Employee Business Resource Groups (EBRGs), networks organized by fellow employees around a sense of shared interests and experiences, or a common dimension of diversity, employees have the opportunity to meet peers throughout the company and have access to resources, professional development opportunities and senior leadership. Similarly, through Sodexo's Spirit of Mentoring program, employees are offered the opportunity to proactively support peers through collaboration, goal achievement and problem solving by leveraging technology or mentor-mentee relationships.

Supplier diversity is also an important initiative globally. Currently, Sodexo partners with nearly 2,400 vendors that are led by minorities, women, service-disabled veterans, LGBTQ or people with disabilities across the U.S. As part of Sodexo's Better Tomorrow Plan, the organization has a global commitment to spend 25 percent globally with small businesses in local communities with a focus on women and other under-represented groups as defined by country, by 2025.

Sodexo's longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion has been recognized by third-party organizations and notable diversity publications. For nine consecutive years, Sodexo has ranked in the top 10 on DiversityInc's 'Top 50 Companies for Diversity' list. Additionally, Sodexo was named to the Best Companies for Multicultural Women list by Working Mother Magazine, Bloomberg's 2018 Gender-Equality Index (GEI) -- its first sector-neutral list of 104 global companies, and recognized on three of FORTUNE Magazine lists in 2017, including World's Most Admired Companies, Change the World and the FORTUNE 500. 

Since 2001, the Top 50 list has recognized the nation's top companies for diversity and inclusion management. These companies excel in such areas as hiring, retaining and promoting women, minorities, people with disabilities, LGBT and veterans. Companies with more than 1,000 U.S.-based employees are eligible and there is no cost to participate. Companies are judged in the following areas:

• Talent Pipeline (including recruitment at all levels)
• Talent Development
• Leadership Accountability (responsible for results, communications, visibility)
• Supplier Diversity (percent of tier-I and tier-II spend with minority, women-, LGBT-, disability- and veteran-owned businesses)

In order to maintain one's Hall of Fame status, companies are re-evaluated annually in the Top 50 competition. The Hall of Fame inductees will stand on top of the Top 50. Future number one companies will all be added to the Hall of Fame.

About Sodexo North America  
Sodexo North America is part of a global, Fortune 500 company with a presence in 80 countries. Sodexo is a leading provider of integrated food, facilities management and other services that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life of 15 million customers in corporate, education, healthcare, senior living, sports and leisure, government and other environments daily.  The company employs 133,000 people at 13,000 sites in all 50 U.S. states and Canada and indirectly supports tens of thousands of additional jobs through its annual purchases of $9.2 billion in goods and services from small to large American businesses. In support of local communities across the U.S., the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation has contributed close to $30 million over the past 20 years to help feed children in America impacted by hunger.  To learn more about Sodexo, visit SodexoInsights.com and connect with us on Facebook and @SodexoUSA on Twitter.

SOURCE Sodexo