Case 3 Sodexo, p. 133
1. Please describe the company. It should include its major business, sales, achievementsand etc. Please use its annual report as a foundation and reference the related pages in your report.
2. Do they have a mission statement or core value on diversity from their annual report? Please discuss them. Check to see whether you can find anything relating to diversity.
3. What are their major policies in their management of diverse employees? (use the textbook and references of it as a foundation.)
4. Summary on importance, procedures, and achievements of diversity for Sodexo.
Managers at Sodexo, Inc., a major food and facilities management company serving over 15 million consumers per day in businesses, health care facilities, schools and universities, and government agencies, take many steps to ensure that diversity is effectively managed. 96 Sodexo encourages managers to interact with diverse groups to gain a better appreciation and understanding of their experiences. When Ron Bond attended a meeting of the Women's Food Service Forum with some of his female coworkers, he stood out as one of the few men in attendance among 1,500 women. Thinking back on his own experiences when, for example, he started out his career and women were rare in the management ranks, Bond gained a deeper appreciation of what it means to be different in a group or organization. As he suggested, "That's a profound experience . . . I can begin to feel what it must have felt like to be different." 97 Sodexo provides employees and managers with extensive diversity training, encourages managers to mentor and coach employees who are different from them-selves, and bases 25 percent of top managers' bonuses on their performance on diversity initiatives, including hiring and training diverse employees. 98 Managers are encouraged to sponsor affinity groups for employees that differ from themselves. For example, Bond sponsored the women's affinity group, which provided a forum for female employees to connect with each other and address their mutual concerns (such as a lactation room so new mothers can pump breast milk). Sponsoring such groups helps managers become aware of and address concerns of some employee groups they might never have thought of otherwise. Bond realized that having a lactation room was "just one of those things I'd never thought about." 99 Lorna Donatone managed a unit of Sodexo that pro-vides food services for cruise companies. Of Swedish and German ancestry and raised in Nebraska, she sponsored Sodexo's Latino affinity group and discovered a better way to serve her unit's customers. Dona-tone learned to rely more on more bilingual materials to promote the services she provided to cruise companies and their customers. As senior vice president and global chief diversity officer for Sodexo Dr. RohiniAnand indicated, "To really engage people, you have to cre-ate a series of epiphanies and take leaders through those epiphanies." 100 Sodexo's effective management of diversity has not gone unnoticed in the business community, and the company and its diverse employees have received numerous awards and recognition for their diversity initiatives. 101 Frequently ranked as a best place to work for diverse employees by magazines such as DiversityInc
Working Mother, and Latina Style, Sodexo was ranked first in DiversityInc. 's listing of "The Top 50 Companies for Diversity" in 2013. 102 Principal Financial Group, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, operates in a vastly different industry: financial products, services, and insurance. 103 Yet Principal Financial also has been recognized for its effective management of diversity. 104 To ensure that opportunities are open for diverse employees, Principal has offered its employees flexible work schedules since 1974-decades before many other companies provided this option. And employees who take advantage of this and other benefits, such as having 12 weeks off work after the birth of a child, do not find their career progress hampered as is sometimes the case at other companies. 105 When Valarie Vest was a regional client service director at Principal and on her second maternity leave, her supervisors called to offer her a promotion to a position that included more responsibility, more travel, and relocation to a different city. They thought she was the best candidate for the position and let her decide if she wanted to take it. She was delighted to accept the position, which included managing 10 employees. 106 Principal seeks to hire diverse employees and then gives them the resources and opportunities to help them reach their potential while helping Principal achieve its goals. These resources and opportunities include, but are not limited to, mentoring programs, multicultural celebrations, on-site child care, development programs, and domestic partner benefits. 107 Additionally, there are a variety of employee resource groups that all employees can join to network, engage in career development activities, and become involved in the community. 108 Sodexo and Principal Financial Group are among the growing numbers of companies that are reaping the benefits ofan increasingly diverse workforce.