No challenge is too great for Paramjeet Rana, whose impressive growth mindset has led him from strength to strength at Sodexo. Starting his journey as a service attendant, he now works as a Village Manager after just three years with the business.
As Village Manager for the past year and a half, Rana has overseen the work of more than 90 team members across six departments. He sees this role as an opportunity to grow the careers of his team and encourage them to take on new responsibilities.
“My leadership style is empathy and empowerment. I’m always motivating my team to learn from our courses and progress in their roles,” he said.
As part of this, Rana prioritises promoting his team internally, before sourcing external candidates for vacant roles.
"Most of my team here have started as service attendants who are now running their own department,” Rana said.
“I believe that growth comes with education and training. Once you have education, you’ll be able to manage certain situations such as dealing with conflict.”
I want to provide the stepping stones for our team to work in different departments and positions. Because Sodexo’s operations expose us to a range of different service lines – including hospitality, retail, cleaning and accommodation – there is always something new to learn.”
Before Sodexo, Rana spent years in roles where it was difficult to progress and found that the upward mobility available at Sodexo has brought him satisfaction and confidence with ongoing opportunities to improve professionally.
“When I was an all-rounder at a previous company, I walked into every single department there but never had a one-on-one chat with someone about the next steps in my career,” he said.
But coming to Sodexo, I had discussions with leadership about my professional development early on. Here, I’ve been provided with every opportunity to learn and progress.
“The support I’ve received has been amazing. If I have any difficult situations, I never hesitate to discuss them with my mentor.”
With a network of support and resources open to him, Rana is eager to continue broadening his horizon and tackle his latest undertaking as a Village Manager at a brand-new site.
“I’ll be starting with only a dozen or so people, but eventually that number will shoot up to 150 team members,” he said.
“I choose not to see this as a challenge, but instead an opportunity. I’m looking forward to building the team, its culture, and values.”
No matter where his career takes him, Rana will continue to be a shining example of remarkable growth in his community. We cannot wait to see what the future holds for him.
Want to join us to be part of the team?