Sodexo wins Corporate Citizen award

Quality Scotland's annual Scottish Awards for Business Excellence was held last month at the prestigious Edinburgh International Conference Centre. The Scottish Awards for Business Excellence allow organisations to assess how well they are doing and to benchmark their achievements against other companies. The Corporate Citizen Award, sponsored by Scottish Business in the Community (SBC) was awarded to Sodexo for its World of Work programme at Lochend. The programme sees students from Lochend undertake a week-long work placement at Glasgow Sheriff Court - where Sodexo also manages the food services - to gain real-life experience of applying for a job, having an interview and holding work related responsibility. To apply for the programme, now in its fourth year, students must first respond complete an application form, undergo a competency-based interview and take a food hygiene exam. If successful, a member of Sodexo staff is assigned as their 'buddy' for the week, to guide them through a range of activities. During the placement, students prepare food, serve customers, wait tables, and operate the till across a variety of restaurants at the Glasgow Sheriff Court including the Sheriffs' dining room, the jury room, public restaurant, and the prisoner meal service. They also watch a live court session, see police cells and prisoners, and meet a court officer, before evaluating their performance with a Sodexo manager, who communicates this feedback to their teachers. Judges said the programme demonstrated the company's commitment to making a significant contribution in local communities and gain real business benefits from solid relationships that are being built with employees, suppliers and customers. Denise Coulter, Sodexo Scotland Learning and Development Executive said: "We are thrilled to have received this award, we are very proud of our work with Lochend and there is no doubt that our managers, chefs and food service assistants benefit greatly on a personal level through the training they provide to the pupils. Their training skills are improved as they have to consider the skill and knowledge level of young people, they become more engaged with our company and its values, and they find it personally rewarding too."