Improving the Quality of Daily Life Begins with Our Employees
By Amy D. Brooks, Recruitment Manager, Environmental Services and Kerry Noone, Marketing Communications Manager

At Sodexo, we believe employees who effectively balance work and life demands achieve enhanced personal and professional well-being. Therefore, Sodexo has launched a Flexible Work Arrangements initiative geared towards our exempt employees. Sodexo’s Work/Life Effectiveness Flexibility Initiative allows our employees to align their careers with their personal priorities, and this allows Sodexo to engage and retain a highly skilled and committed workforce.

"With a young child and a husband who travels, I would not be able to work full-time if Flexible Work Arrangements were not an option for me.” That is what Kate Wester, Senior Manager of Communications for the Office of Diversity had to say regarding how she strikes better balance with Sodexo.

Kate’s husband is active-duty military, and during the last eleven years they have lived in Georgia, Washington, DC, Hawaii, San Diego, South Carolina and now Rhode Island. Maintaining a career under these circumstances can be challenging, and growing professionally would be near impossible. In 2000, after a short stint as a stay-at-home mom in San Diego, Kate was looking for a way to reenter the workforce on a part-time basis. She worked for Sodexo several years prior in Maryland and was aware of their nationwide operations. Within a couple weeks after contacting her former supervisor in Sodexo’s Corporate Communications Department, she was employed as a contract employee and telecommuting from her home office 10 hours a week. Five years later, Kate is responsible for implementing the overall internal and external diversity communication plans, as well as developing and delivering communications for Sodexo’s Office of Diversity domestically and globally.

Kate Wester, Senior Manager, Diversity Communications

When asked how she made it work, Kate said, "I did everything and anything the department needed from writing news releases to escorting media through our Southern California accounts. Over the next two years, I progressively increased my hours and level of responsibility. I felt empowered to step out of my comfort zone and look for new challenges. Eventually, my boss encouraged me to begin interviewing for full-time positions. I accepted a position in the public relations department and later joined Sodexo’s Office of Diversity. Working at Sodexo has given me so much more than a job. I have a career that enables me to reach my fullest potential.”

According to Jodi Davidson, Director of Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives for Sodexo, "Flexibility offers enhanced productivity, improved job satisfaction, and ultimately can improve the balance between our personal and professional lives. Through this initiative, Sodexo is well poised to engage and retain a highly skilled and committed workforce prepared to deliver outstanding results.”