Sodexho wins Corporate Diversity Award for Innovation

19 December 2006 - Sodexho has received the Corporate Diversity Award for Innovation, part of the recently concluded Diversity Tour de France. The award was presented to the company by Mr. Azouz Begag, Delegate Minister for the promotion of equal opportunity on December 14 at the Diversity Tour's closing ceremony.

The 18-city Diversity Tour de France was launched in October to build corporate awareness and support for progressive approaches toward diversity, highlighting positive examples and best practices. The campaign sought to promote dialogue between corporate leaders, young people from immigrant families, senior citizens, disabled people and women seeking employment.

The Diversity Awards are based on five criteria: corporate commitment; the involvement of employee representatives; initiatives to raise awareness, provide training and communicate within the firm; human resources policy and management; and the company's relations with the community.

The Innovation Award received by Sodexho is presented to “the company that has initiated original programs, consistent with one or more of the five criteria, that have produced tangible results and can be easily transferred and/or widely implemented.”

The award recognizes Sodexho's actions and initiatives to place diversity at the heart of the workplace and, in particular, its pro-diversity efforts in France.  

The jury was comprised of representatives from a wide range of government bodies, organizations and associations involved in promoting diversity in France, as well as representatives of Diversity Tour de France partner organizations. 
 
Diversity, a key growth driver for Sodexho
With more than 332,000 employees representing 130 nationalities in 80 countries, Sodexho seeks to foster understanding of the importance of diversity among its employees as well as all of its other key stakeholders.
Diversity has always been one of Sodexho's core values, a commitment formalized in France through the Group's October 2004 signing of France's Diversity Charter.
Sodexho also works to raise awareness and provide training related to diversity throughout its global organization, emphasizing the importance of a diverse working environment in which each individual can develop his or her full potential.

 Download the press release in PDF

About Sodexho Alliance
SODEXHO ALLIANCE, founded in 1966 by Pierre Bellon, is the leading global provider of Food and Facilities Management services, with more than 332,000 employees on 28,300 sites in 80 countries.  For Fiscal 2006, which closed August 31, 2006, SODEXHO ALLIANCE had sales of 12.8 billion euro. Listed on Euronext Paris and on the New York Stock Exchange, the Group's current market capitalization is 6.9 billion euro.

Send an email to Press Relations

or call
Jean-Charles Tréhan
+33 (0)1 57 75 80 24