Sodexo, world leader in quality of life services, has been awarded NESA’s Champion Employer of the Year award for 2016, announced at NESA’s 2016 National Employment Services Awards for Excellence dinner in Melbourne last night.

Sodexo won this award for its commitment to helping Indigenous Australians find meaningful employment. In 2014, Sodexo was the first organisation in its sector nationally to commit, deliver and employ VTEC Certificate II Hospitality trainees. Sodexo’s second VTEC hospitality program was completed in 2015, and to date the organisation has employed 27 Indigenous jobseekers.

Sodexo’s multi-pronged approach includes directly and actively increasing employment across all areas of the business, offering developmental pathways, offering apprenticeships and traineeships, provision of mentoring, and importantly boosting cultural awareness, knowledge and understanding in its non-Indigenous workforce.

Nick O’Callaghan (Country President, Sodexo Australia), Wendy Dawson (GM Indigenous & Community Engagement) with Martin Hehir, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Employment, who presented the award.

Nick O’Callaghan (Country President, Sodexo Australia), Wendy Dawson (GM Indigenous & Community Engagement) with Martin Hehir, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Employment, who presented the award.

 

Nick O’Callaghan, Country President Sodexo Australia, says: “Sodexo is incredibly honoured and proud to have won NESA’s Champion Employer of the Year award for 2016. We acknowledge our partners in this success, the Australian Government and GenerationOne, atWork Australia, and Polytechnic Wes and importantly, the communities with whom we work.  It is only through such enduring relationships that we are able to deliver meaningful and sustainable opportunities to improve the Quality of Life of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and the communities in which we work.  Midway through our ten-year reconciliation commitment, we are proud of the outcomes we have achieved and we continue to fully embed our Reconciliation Action Plan as a key component of our business strategy and our organisational purpose.”

Michael Kolomyjec, Divisional Manager, atWork Australia, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Sodexo has won NESA’s Champion Employer of the Year for 2016. atWork Australia and Sodexo, together with Generation One, South Metropolitan TAFE - Polytechnic West and the Australian Government have been working collaboratively for over five years to help Indigenous Australians find meaningful and sustainable employment. Sodexo demonstrates the highest level of employer commitment to closing the gap of disadvantage for Indigenous Australians and we are thrilled that their win last night recognises this significant achievement,” said Michael Kolomyjec, Divisional Manager, atWork Australia”.

 

This award is testament to Sodexo’s commitment to improve Quality of Life for its employees, clients and the local communities within which it operates. 

The NESA National Employment Services Awards for Excellence are a symbol of the strength and resilience that it takes to face incredible hurdles to gain employment, and the persistent hard work of employment consultants and employers who support job seekers on their journey. 

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