People Awards 2024: Employer Brand Award – Sodexo UK & Ireland

Shortlist

• Dakota Hotels
• RBH Hospitality Management
• Sodexo UK & Ireland
• Soho House

Sodexo UK & Ireland has taken its reputation as a leading employer and transformed it into a recruitment strategy, putting existing team members’ voices at the heart of its campaign.

The caterer’s strategy was born out of recognition that cultivating a loyal, motivated and engaged workforce would not only drive commercial success, but also help to attract new talent to its ranks. Authenticity lies at the heart of the caterer’s campaign, which meant it needed to ensure the employee proposition it was offering new recruits was experienced by every existing team member.

The three pillars of that employee value proposition were ‘belong to a team, act with purpose and thrive in your own way’. The proposition has focused on creating clear progression plans for employees and implementing recognition programmes that celebrate achievement across the business.

Internally this resulted in an increase in employee engagement from 65.5% in 2021 to 71.2% in 2023; and a reduction in employee turnover from 19.2% in August 2023 to 17.4% in May 2024.

The employee value proposition was then placed at the centre of recruitment campaigns, with job postings, career websites and recruitment materials all displaying prominent messaging, backed up by testimonials from existing employees.

Sodexo continues to build on its value commitment through its onboarding process, which includes a combination of online and in-person sessions about its company history, mission and values. Those values are then followed through with each recruit given a customised role-specific training plan, setting out regular check-ins with managers to track progress and address concerns. New employees are also paired with a mentor and buddy for guidance and to ease social integration. The result has been a 1.8% reduction in turnover rates within the first six months and an increase in new hire engagement scores of 5.7%.

Sodexo’s onboarding experience was rated as "excellent" or "very good” by 100% of new managers. The caterer’s success in using its employee brand as a recruitment tool has been rooted in the success of bringing its values to the fore for all team members, boosting not just recruitment but retention and employee satisfaction. It’s no wonder our judges were impressed.

Judges’ comments

Dawn Browne, people and talent director, Fuller’s: “Really solid entry with a well-defined employee value proposition that was co-created across the business, lives in all stages of the employee journey and is continuously evolving in response to feedback.”

Trudi Parr, head of people and development, Mollie’s: “I loved the clear pillars, how they relate and have had impact. The approach is clearly values led from interview and throughout [employment] leading to higher retention. I also loved the role-specific regular check-ins and that everything is clear and joined up, looping back to the pillars.”