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Sodexo/Net Impact Sustainability Fellowship
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As an Integrated Facilities Management service provider, every Sodexo site encounters waste. Sodexo's aggressive waste reduction programs have helped sites reduce their waste by up to 80%. From supplier packaging to food trimming, Fellows will learn about and help sites implement best practices in waste management.
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Job Description
FAQ
Background on the Net Impact/Sodexo Partnership
Job Description
Timing: Winter 2010 (tentative training start date is January 25, 2010)
Type: Fellowship (possible travel to HQ in Gaithersburg, MD, for meetings and presentation of work)
Location: Local and throughout the US - sites will be determined by applicant matchmaking process
Hours: Flexible: 50 hours (approximate number) total spread over 3-4 weeks (depending on interest and proximity to sites, Fellows may extend their work with Sodexo beyond 50 hours)
Submission: Please submit 150-word (or less) cover letter and CV stating specific interests in sustainability performance with appropriate experience to: sodexofellow@netimpact.org
Deadline: December 23, 2009
Overview
Sodexo’s Office of Sustainability and CSR is currently developing SMART (Sustainability Measurement And Reporting Tool), a resource that provides the company’s 6,000 North American client sites with a quantitative and qualitative method of measuring their sustainability performance. In addition to providing reporting functionality, SMART gives site level operators an implementation plan that outlines next steps for continuous improvement. Sodexo’s CSR strategy includes indicators under three interlinked issue areas—(1) environment; (2) nutrition, health and wellness; and (3) local community development. SMART includes an inventory of over 300 best practices in each of these three areas, and provides a framework for analysis.
Program Description
Net Impact Fellows will complete Sodexo’s SMART training modules to gain a better understanding of Sodexo’s overall sustainability strategy and how changes can be implemented to achieve the company’s goals. After successfully finishing the training, Fellows will have the opportunity to serve as sustainability assessors and consultants at 3-5 Sodexo sites across the four markets Sodexo works in: education, corporate services, government and healthcare. Fellows’ work will be reviewed by Sodexo’s Office of Sustainability and CSR, and help inform Sodexo’s sustainability strategy going forward.
Fellows will be able to put their consulting and analysis skills to work in a hands-on environment with a large multinational corporation. The SMART training and subsequent implementation work will allow Fellows to deepen their experience within the sustainability performance field. Depending on interest and proximity to sites, opportunities may exist to continue working with Sodexo for a defined duration beyond the Fellowship.
Requested Skills/Experience
- Solid understanding and/or passion for sustainability performance metrics—waste, water and energy
- Competency with statistical analysis
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Project management experience
- Detailed, organized and flexible
- Willingness and excitement to learn new skills and tools
- Polished MS Office skills, particularly Excel
About Sodexo
Sodexo, Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com) is a leading integrated facilities management services company in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with $7.7 billion (USD) in annual revenue and 120,000 employees. Sodexo serves more than ten million customers daily in corporations, health care, long term care and retirement centers, schools, college campuses, government, and remote sites. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., is a member of Sodexo Group, and funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation (www.sodexofoundation.org), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $11 million in grants to fight hunger in America.
FAQ
Overview
A Fellow’s Experience
How many Fellows will be chosen?
What are the hiring periods?
Is the Fellowship paid?
How Does SMART work?
How will Fellows be trained?
What is expected of Fellows?
Where will the Fellows be located?
How are client sites picked?
Why is this partnership so critical to a successful sustainability operation?
The Sodexo/Net Impact Sustainability Fellowship is a collaboration to recruit and train graduate students and professionals to build their own sustainability skills and experience, and add value to Sodexo’s North American sustainability program. The program will focus on the measurement and evaluation of environmental and social impacts of Sodexo operations at client sites. Sodexo’s Office of Sustainability and CSR (OSCSR) is developing SMART (Sustainability Measurement And Reporting Tool), a sustainability scorecard and implementation plan to be deployed throughout the company’s North American facilities management and foodservice client sites. By leveraging Net Impact’s network of top students and professionals dedicated to sustainability, the program will deliver critical support to the objective of fully deploying SMART across Sodexo’s 6,000 sites in North America. Fellows will receive training and operational expertise on a scalable corporate sustainability endeavor.
A Fellow’s Experience, Briefly
I attended graduate school so that upon completion I would be able to help businesses implement sustainability practices into their operations. The Office of Sustainability and CSR at Sodexo is a team of smart, collaborative, motivated, and passionate individuals with a common goal of making sustainability happen at the company. As it is a lofty goal consisting of major systems and behavioral changes, it is impossible to not get excited when I start work every day. This is what it is all about – combining all those case studies and classroom knowledge with a global organization to work towards making a positive change in the business world! This is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in sustainability and business (I’m talking to you, Net Impact members!) to get a real world, operational perspective of sustainability in action.
- Kim Cariello, Sodexo/Net Impact Sustainability Fellow, Fall 2009
How many Fellows will be chosen?
For the first group (January-March, 2010) we are looking to hire 10-15 Fellows. Based on feedback from Fellows and site managers, we will expand the number for subsequent hiring periods.
What are the hiring periods?
The first group of Fellows will be working for approximately (this is an estimate) 50 hours, January through March of 2010. We expect to continue hiring Fellows on a quarterly basis (April-June, 2010; July-September, 2010; October-December, 2010) and will reevaluate that process as we receive feedback from all parties involved. Fellows will be providing valuable on-site support in the deployment of SMART to managers at accounts throughout North America. Demand for Fellows will be determined directly by sites, through a matchmaking system.
Fellows will be unpaid, but will receive a certificate upon completing the training course and successfully deploying SMART at a select number of sites. We believe the value of the SMART training, the resume-building opportunity to have hands on sustainability assessment consulting and the flexibility of the program will offset concerns over lack of financial compensation.
SMART is a desktop Excel spreadsheet that collects data against rollup indicators under Sodexo’s three pillars of CSR interventions: Environment, Nutrition, Health and Wellness and Local Community Development. The system reports performance numbers overall and by intervention after data has been entered. Once Fellows have conducted a site visit, they will utilize SMART to collect and analyze data. Fellows will be encouraged to analyze results and make suggestions to the OSCSR on how SMART can be improved. With the help of the Fellows, SMART will eventually transition to a more robust online format in summer 2010.
How will Fellows be trained?
The training course will include modules on CSR strategy, engagement and partnerships, nutrition health and wellness, sustainable supply chain, local community, as well as one module dedicated to the use of SMART. While the deployment of SMART at reference sites is the primary deliverable for Fellows, the training course provides both an overall and tactical background to prepare Fellows to immediately deliver value to sites. Trainings will be online and interactive in Adobe Presenter format with follow-up conference calls; the current setup is five modules with five conference calls. The modules will introduce Sodexo and Sodexo’s sustainability strategy, as well as provide in depth operational tactics to improve sustainability performance at client sites. A conference call will happen after Fellows have gone through one module, and the call will consist of a debrief and question/answer session with a member of the OSCSR team. Fellows will be expected to stay informed on sustainability news and collaborate with each other via social media outlets to discover their own best practices. Outlines and talking points will also be provided to assist in Fellows’ work with site managers.
What is expected of Fellows?
Fellows in the first cohort will get trained and deploy SMART at a minimum of three to five sites in their geographic region. The five-module training program will be set up so that each Fellow can complete at his or her own time. The number of site visits each Fellow will make may vary widely based on location, appropriate reference sites and the interest of the Fellow. All Fellows will be expected to be “on call” to support SMART’s deployment at all of the sites they visit. The training course is expected to require 15 hours of work to complete the modules and to complete outside prep work. Initial SMART deployment at a site usually takes two or three hours. Fellows will provide a brief report on each site’s status and will suggest a few moves for continuous improvement at each site.
Where will the Fellows be located?
Sodexo has over 6,000 locations throughout North America. In order to deploy Fellows to sites that demand them, the OSCSR will be matching Fellows with a client site that is in their geographic region (i.e. if a client site is in the DC metro area, the Fellow will be in the DC metro area too).
How are client sites picked?
We have sent a survey to site managers to gauge both interest and fit, and will review the responses and select the sites at that point. The site requirements for the first cohort are that 1): Sites have sub-metering (so that we can create accurate benchmarks in water and energy consumption); and 2) The site managers are enthusiastic about and supportive of implementing sustainability practices at their site.
Why is this partnership so critical to a successful sustainability operation?
Site managers are already busy trying to make budgets and serve clients. While sustainability is seen as increasingly important across Sodexo managers, many lack the resources to start operationalizing sustainability best practices in their day-to-day work. The Sodexo/Net Impact Sustainability Fellows will provide business sense, energy, and an ability to speak to all stakeholders. This intervention will not only assist site level operators in installing best practices, but will also provide an engagement opportunity for Sodexo to demonstrate additional value to the client. Fellows will help site managers make some simple changes to improve their sustainability performance, as well as implement programs for longer term success. Fellows will get the sustainability ball rolling for many site managers. And we all know that once the information starts coming, it is hard to continue with business as usual. Finally, Fellows will assist in the constant improvement of SMART itself, assisting in the transition from desktop to online solution.
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