Sodexo and Principle Financial Group Case Study

MGT/312
June 22, 2015
Gregory Lucht

Sodexo and Principle Financial Group Case Study
1. What are some of the ways that Sodexo effectively manages diversity? Diversity Inc. constructed a list of 440 companies, and of the top fifty Sodexo was ranked number one (George & Jones, 2012, Chapter 4). Sodexo is considered the best company to work for minorities, women, veterans, and people with disabilities and the LGBT community. Diversity and inclusion are critical to the success of an organization through efficiency and effectiveness. Being that a business in any market is competitive, it is important for companies to embrace diverse employees who can provide the company with different perspectives, cultures, and solutions. Sodexo manages diversity through conducting mentoring programs, diversity training, various encouragement, and interaction. Different groups are constructed by managers that consisted of those unlike themselves to provide a place for people who share similar feelings and beliefs to come together. Employees can interact through these affinity groups that will increase cohesiveness, trust, and performance. Though Sodexo encourages managers to construct mentor groups they are also trained to assess the groups in regards to effectiveness (George & Jones, 2012, Chapter 4). “ twenty-five percent of top managers’ bonuses are based on how well they do on diversity initiatives such as the hiring and training of diverse employees” (George & Jones, 2012, Chapter 4) Companies who do not encourage diversity whether through training or environment can be affected negatively. There are companies that have received bad publicity because of their working conditions in regards to discrimination. The effectiveness of diversity management at Sodexo is rewarded to those in management and other employees through opportunities and equality while the business benefits from the experiences and cultures of diversity (George & Jones, 2012, Chapter 4).
2. Why is it important for managers and all employees to interact with people who are different from themselves? It's important that managers and all staff work together with people unlike themselves. By having a broad range of individuals from different cultures, new ideas can be created. Without interacting with people who are different than us, there is no way for us to grow or learn anything new. Furthermore, to be educated on those various cultures shows respect for one another which forms a positive business relationship. Treating everyone equal is important, and if people are treated differently, then there is a chance of defiance occurring. "Sodexo is a wonderful company to work for, and they treat everyone as equals" recalls Melinda Cramer regarding her mother's employment at the Missouri State University. By interacting with people who are different than us we can gain so much from each other, by bouncing off new ideas, and sharing our experiences with one another, and introducing each other to our customs and traditions. Our text made an excellent point regarding diversity, "accurate perceptions are necessary to make good decisions and to motivate employees to perform at a high level, to be fair and equitable, and to be ethical" (George and Jones, 2012). Managers and employees perform better when the perceptions are accurate, and unfortunately we all come with a set of wrong viewpoints. A manager should interact with employees every day to provide them with direction, but employees can benefit from interacting with one another. On the personal level, a manager gets to know the people of different diversities to use their strengths in efforts to produce the highest quality of performance as possible.

3. What are some of the ways that Principal Financial Group effectively manages diversity?
Many organizations face the challenge of building a diverse environment. The Principal Financial Group is an organization that focuses on a quality of diversity management. Diversity is no longer just a black/white, male/female, old/young issue. It is much more complicated and interesting than that (Lindenberger, 2015). Diversity is a combination of different barriers such as individual lives, their interactions with one another, and their job performances. A benefit of a diverse workforce is the ability to tap into the many talents that employees from different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities and disabilities bring to the workplace. The managerial team at Principal Financial Group has been the pioneers of the implementation of allowing their employees the opportunity of flexible scheduling in the workplace. Providing the proper training for diversity and focusing on diversity at all levels of the organization is vital for company's success. Another way that this firm managed diversity is allowing their women employees twelve weeks maternity leave after having a baby. The company providing a mentor program at each level of the organization is a way to manage effectively diversity in a firm. After these things have been done, to be effective a company must measure their result and evaluate the progress. Something in the text that I thought was interesting and a very creative way to keep morale at a high for the company. The situation where the young lady was on maternity leave and the managerial staff offers her the job despite the barrier that came along with the promotion. I believe that was the right thing to do.

4. Why, at some companies, do employees find that their career progress is hampered if they take advantage of benefits such as flexible work schedules? Many companies offer flexible scheduling to their employees. Flexible scheduling was designed to benefit employees by allowing them to work on personal matters that may arise. Principal Financial was one of the first companies to offer this benefit to their staff; however, many employees feel their career would be hampered if they took advantage of benefits, such as flexible scheduling. Some employees feel they could miss a job opportunity if they aren't available at the time of the promotion. If an employee is out on maternity leave, she might lose a promotion simply because she was unavailable at the date of the opportunity. The available person receives the promotion on the sole fact that the individual is available during a time of the presented opportunity. Just because this person is available now, doesn't make them the best candidate for the position. Principal Financial feels an employee's career shouldn't be hampered when utilizing benefits and resources that the company offers. If a promotion is available, and the best candidate is out on maternity leave, that person will still be offered the position even if they won't return to the job for a particular period. Flexible scheduling could also hamper customer service and other staff members. An employee might take advantage of flexible scheduling and might not be available during peak times, could affect the client. Taking advantage of this benefit can also prevent the employee from taking part in company meetings and functions where they could have provided input and influence on business decisions, which could create animosity amongst other staff members.

References
Jennifer M. George & Gareth R. Jones. (2012). Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior. Retrieved from Jennifer M. George & Gareth R. Jones, MGT/312 website
Sodexo Diversity and Inclusion. (2015). Retrieved from http://sodexousa.com/usen/corporate_responsibility/responsible_employer/diversity_inclusion/diversity_inclusion.aspx
Lindenberger, J. (2015). Diversity and the Workplace. Retrieved from https://www.experience.com/alumnus/article?channel_id=diversity&source_page=additional_articles&article_id=article_1134069577860