Equality in business: a key to success

Leadership Diversity Equity and Inclusion
2023-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

Equality in business – a necessity for a more sustainable economy: ministers Taina Bofferding and Franz Fayot visited Sodexo Luxembourg

On 21 July 2023, the Minister for Equality between Women and Men, Taina Bofferding, and the Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, visited Sodexo Luxembourg. During the visit, the ministers met with the management team, in the presence of the Managing Director, Julien Demoulin, the Director of Operations, Anne Maas, and representatives of SoTogether, Sodexo Luxembourg’s social and cultural diversity (Mixité et Diversité) network, to discuss the promotion of entrepreneurship in Luxembourg and their action plan for gender equality and well-being at work.

In 2010, Sodexo Luxembourg first approached the Ministry of Equality between Women and Men to take part in the Positive Actions program, which consisted in carrying out a study on gender equality at local level:

reconciling private and professional life
treatment in general
decision-making

and which aimed to introduce specific measures to prevent or compensate for the de facto inequalities highlighted by the analysis. In 2020, Sodexo joined the Positive Actions evaluation program, which has two objectives:

to compare the company’s current situation in terms of gender with its situation when it entered the Positive Actions program and measure the changes;
to assess the impact of the positive actions that have been taken and understand how companies have addressed gender issues.

Sodexo’s new long-term commitment will soon be rewarded by the official relabeling of the Positive Actions program. Minister Taina Bofferding is delighted: “Sodexo Luxembourg places gender equality at the forefront of its corporate policy. It is a positive, clear statement to continue to improve on the gains made in gender equality. I can only strongly urge all companies to do the same and to integrate gender equality into their corporate culture.”

The Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, declared: “Equal opportunities for women and men are both a matter of social justice and an economic asset. By creating an inclusive and egalitarian environment in which all employees can thrive, regardless of their gender, companies like Sodexo position themselves as attractive places to work and thus ensure their continued success, while contributing to the creation of a more sustainable economy.”

Sodexo Luxembourg employs more than 2,300 men and women of 41 different nationalities in some twenty different professions. Diversity and inclusion are, and always have been, at the heart of our identity; they’re in the company’s DNA. Whatever our services in Luxembourg, our customers represent the diversity of the country, so we owe it to ourselves to have this same diversity among our staff. And diversity is a lever for a company’s competitiveness, development and economic performance, but above all it is an asset for each and every individual.

Julien DemoulinCEO, Sodexo Luxembourg