I am pleased to announce that DiversityInc magazine has chosen Sodexo as the #2 company for diversity & inclusion.
As I reflect on this honor, I can’t help but be extremely proud of the progress we have made. Being a top company for diversity and inclusion validates our work and confirms that, as an organization, we are moving in the right direction.
This year Kaiser Permanente was ranked tops, Sodexo was second, followed by PricewaterhouseCoopers. We now share a place with these and other top companies.
But as I’ve shared many times, diversity and inclusion is a journey – a journey of continuous learning, experience, and growth. As an organization, we still have lots of work to do internally. In addition, we are always seeking to learn from the experiences, opportunities and challenges of other external organizations.
The awards are nice, and actually, are wonderful recognition. But the important thing is that they help us to stay focused. Sodexo has experienced a decade of outstanding progress in advancing diversity and inclusion as a key business driver. We have deliberately and diligently undergone a cultural transformation, making our organization a recognized and sustainable leader in this area.
Today, the Sodexo brand may be synonymous with leadership in diversity and inclusion, but we can’t get comfortable. Now is the time for us to set the bar even higher and look for new opportunities to imbed diversity and inclusion even deeper in our organization – for instance, working on key initatives to increase and promote more women into leadership roles.
We have created a culture where people enjoy coming to work, are engaged and productive.
We should ALL be very proud of these accomplishments because they would not have been possible without a true team effort – a 120,000-person team! As I often say, give our people a sound business reason to make something happen and we are UNSTOPPABLE.
George Chavel is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sodexo North America.