Sodexo Remote

Competitive globally, rewarding internally

This multi-national food services and facilities management company was founded in 1966 by a gentleman named Pierre Bellon in Marseilles, France. Headquartered in Paris, Bellon grew the company organically and through acquisitions over the years but the remote sites go back about 30 years. “We are currently at about 29,000 employees on 1,200 sites across 40 countries around the world,” tells Marit Teigland, vice president of remote sites in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.

--Service solutions company has finger in different pies of the market--

Globally, Sodexo operates in many different segments namely, corporate services, education, health care, seniors, sports and leisure, defense, justice, as well as remote sites which are mostly oil, gas and mining clients, as well as big construction projects and some military contracts. The remote sites team sets up the infrastructure, supply chain, as well as an accommodation unit or camp, laundry and other maintenance facilities across the world. The general manager of remote sites, Teigland first joined the company in 1997 and started up remote site activities in Norway. “I built that market up for eight years before I moved to Singapore to do some business development in Asia. A few years ago, I came to North America and worked in between the US and Caribbean,” says Teigland.

On the international scale, Sodexo has close to 400,000 employees operating in over 80 countries across the world. “We are still operated to a certain degree by family and the company is on the stock exchange in Paris,” says Teigland, adding the company’s founder Bellon is still active as chairman whose strategic approach has really been all about providing a quality of life service for employees and clients. “We are investing a lot into our frontline to make sure our staff feels empowered and have the skills to provide quality service,” says Teigland who adds a great deal of focus has been on increasing customer service as well as fostering a fun environment for employees to work in. With roughly 120,000 employees across all segments in the US, those at the executive level manage about 80,000 employees on its clients’ sites in addition to its remote sites.

Global competitiveness on the global scale

With functional headquarters in New Orleans, Sodexo Remote Sites operates on about 80 platforms in the Gulf. “We have a gold mine project in the Dominican Republic and some off-shore operations in California as well as operations in Nevada. We also have a partnership in Alaska and we have a small contract in Colorado. “We are also running a long supply chain and that’s part of the strategy plan to make sure we have a benefit or competitive niche, compared to our corporate competitors,” says Teigland.

 

Economic up hurdles faced off with success

In a time of great economic hurdles, the general manager acknowledges some of the changes in the economy are also driving changes amongst the company’s off-shore clientele. “I know it is a challenging environment right now but it is also a very exciting time when you are the core founder of developing a market,” says Teigland, enthusiastically adding that her experience has also been a fun opportunity. “I feel I have been able to partner with a lot of our clients, which is really an exciting thing when things come along,” she says.

Nevertheless, this challenging environment has had its impact. “I’ve seen a lot of clients close down operations.” says Teigland. “We’ve lost business but we’ve also picked up mutual client business. They see our approach to be very proactive and how it can help them save money,” she says. Clients range from major oil companies in the Gulf such as, Shell, BP, Exxon, Chevron, major drilling companies such as Noble, Parker and other construction companies. The increased cost in transportation for goods and services has been a challenge, fiscally speaking. “Yes, it had an impact last year when we saw the gas prices go through the roof. This year, the prices have been stabilized and overall, we’ve seen a global increase compared to previous year,” tells Teigland.

Work culture gives competitive advantage

At Sodexo, management believes in having a unique work environment that adds to its global competitiveness. “It’s a huge company but at the same time it has a very flat hierarchy, if you will, all the way to our chairman and CEO. It’s very, very invested in its people even in tough times,” says Teigland who adds prime examples are the competitive benefits package it offers employees in addition to  professional development opportunities.  Another important aspect of building a strong work culture, she says, is hosting annual internal conferences for staff to stay in touch with each other and foster a sense of collaboration.  Interestingly, Sodexo has not only been able to avoid lay offs due to the recession in the southern part of the country but also increase its level of productivity as a whole.

‘Aggressive growth plan’

Corporate objectives for this year are currently laid out in a strategic growth plan, according to Sodexo management. “We definitely have an aggressive growth plan here in the Caribbean. We had a big win in a competition last year, so mobilizing and starting up now, about 25 percent of our sales next year,” says Teigland adding the company is ready for business in our Gulf of Mexico market.  Current projects include a major contract in which Teigland’s team is mobilizing for a big remote site but she says the next step is to determine whether or not any of their performing clients in the Gulf may have new business, or if timing is right to form partnerships.

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