| |October 20198Over the last many years, human society has evolved on numerous fronts. And one of the notable features of our progression is our growing understanding and acceptance of the diversity in people. We've always known that there are people who are different from us, with different set of beliefs, choices and practices. But what is increasingly changing is our embracement of this difference and acknowledgement that it can be leveraged for our continual progress rather than be an impediment.Organisations are a microcosm of our larger society and have to mirror this diversity. Global companies need not only to reflect this more deeply as the people get to interact and work with colleagues across continents, but also advocate for it. And as with what is happening in the world outside, organisations are realising that diversity is integral to their success & growth and a mere lip service will no longer be effective. My own journey with diversity and more specifically gender diversity, started when my Global CEO asked me on one of my first interactions with him, "Do the women in Sodexo India have equal opportunities?" This question was as important to him as was the question on our business performance! With diversity comes Inclusion - they are two sides of the same coin. It is not enough to show diversity in our hiring; that would be just half the work done. Every individual that is hired needs to feel valued by the organisation, which means getting appreciated for the work they do and getting opportunities to grow & succeed with the support of the organisation. This means companies need to be inclusive also. For example, in Sodexo, when we started on the D&I journey, we realised that we didn't have enough women in leadership roles. To change this, we implemented a mentorship program to build a healthy pipeline of women who could take-up leadership roles. We also simultaneously THE IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY & INCLUSION IN A WORKPLACEBy Sunil Nayak, CEO - Corporate Services Worldwide, SodexoA strong proponent of gender diversity & sustainability, Sunil has been associated with Sodexo for over a decade now, prior to which he was the CEO at Radhakrishna Hospitality Group.THOUGHT LEADERSHIPSunil Nayak, CEO - Corporate Services Worldwide
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