Sodexo’s Nick Thompson wins inaugural Encouraging Equality award

04 March 2015 Last night, Nick Thompson, divisional managing director for Sodexo, the world’s largest services company, was named Encouraging Equality champion by Women in the City and BIFM’s Women in FM (WIFM) group.

Launched to coincide with International Women’s Day (March 8) these two bodies joined together to identify, recognise and reward male champions of equality and diversity in the workplace by running a national campaign to find an ‘Encouraging Equality’ champion.

A respected member of Sodexo’s corporate services executive team, Nick was recognised for championing the role of women and his continuous support in bridging the gender diversity gap by providing opportunities to women.

On receiving the award, Nick said: “I am thrilled to receive this award. Sodexo has a strong and established diversity and inclusion approach and it is great to have bodies such as Women in the City and BIFM’s WIFM group which we can work with to help encourage women and other under-represented groups to develop and grow within this industry.”

Nick was up against some leading players from the FM industry and beyond all of which had to demonstrate that they:

Provide support and encouragement to help individuals develop their career and increase their contributions to the organisation Instil an inclusive culture in the workplace Campaign for equality Equip others with the skills/confidence to challenge inequality and discrimination Enforce equality policies and best practice methods Empower women to fulfil their potential

Sodexo supports International Women’s Day with a number of initiatives, Thursday (5 March) will see around 120 people gather for Sodexo’s fifth Women Work conference with the them ‘Equality for women is progress for all’.

A social media campaign based on the theme #notjustforboys will also run on Sodexo’s Twitter handle with photos of women from across its business in roles that traditionally are thought to be for men. Follow the #notjustforboys at @SodexoUK_IRE.