Hello Team,
This month, we officially crossed the threshold from what we refer to as H1 – the first half of the fiscal year – to H2.
I have always found that this moment in the year is the most critical reflection and decision point for full year success. By P7, we’ve had enough ‘runway’ to know what’s a fad, versus what is a trend. We start to see what efforts are paying off and, likewise, what challenges we are struggling to get our arms around. Similarly, if adjustments are made in P7, you have enough runway left to overcome deficits in sustainable ways. Waiting until P10 to make change can lead to rewarding the wrong behaviors or dictating wholesale mandates such as travel freezes or hiring freezes… always effective in the short term, but with questionable impacts on the longer term.
So, how are we doing as we reflect on P7? As always, we have both tales of record year-over-year performance in some venues, and material cost overruns in others. We have familiar but unwelcome bedfellows like warm weather on ski hills, or undersold concerts in music venues, contrasted by record visitor counts at events and conventions.
The bottom line is, no matter how your venue is operating to budget or against YOY, every great leader can use this mid-year reflection point to scan for areas of improvement or opportunity, assuring the best outcome for all through the actions of one.
Imagine the change in pressure disbursement if, instead of driving more value out of the ‘Top 10’ or driving more focus out of the ‘Bottom 10,’ we all agreed to:
- Acknowledge that there are always opportunities… ones that we’ve missed and ones yet to be harnessed.
- Reflect within our leadership teams to collectively review what is working based on the first half of the year, and what could work better for the back half of the year.
- Plan a course of action to attack no more than three critical areas of improvement (ideally one) with focus and energy over the next 12 weeks.
- Review our progress made each week and/or month, refining our actions as we see what results have been achieved.
We have much to celebrate as we say goodbye to H1. At the top of that list is the incredible accomplishment of delivering our annual growth goal already, helped in no small part by an incredible win involving our great Hub city of Nashville and the upset of not one, but two incumbents as reported here by Sports Business Journal.
But H2 is not without challenge, and meeting that challenge will take every member of our great family treating every moment of truth with the reverence it deserves. Every time we second guess a spending decision, we allow a venue in need to maintain a critical investment. Every time we review our cost cards again or reconfigure labor scheduling, we allow a talented supervisor to be recognized more fairly. Every time we pause what we are doing and engage our team in a reflection exercise, we are growing the capacity of the people who will lead this business a decade from now.
This is the job of leadership and, in my experience, it is never more valuable than at this point in a fiscal year. Thank you for yours in advance.
Belinda
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Welcome, Kate Thomson!
With more than 20 years of experience in various integrated marketing, brand development and management positions in the hospitality industry, Kate joins our team as VP of Marketing! She most recently served at Chartwells K12, and previously spent time curating digital advertising campaigns for Oracle. She has a proven track record for leading energized and impactful teams, and we’re thrilled to add her to our growing team.
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Welcome, Sam Stewart!
Sam joins our team as Director II, Supply Management in charge of alcoholic beverages. He joins us after a significant career in the industry, developing and managing programs for Levy, MGM Resorts, Buffalo Wild Wings, and most recently with BevSource. Sam brings operational and supply management experience which will allow for a results-driven approach to category development while staying focused on operational buy-in and compliance efforts to drive maximum benefit across both Sodexo and Sodexo Live!.
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Magic Johnson Meets with DELTA ATL Team
Leaders from our lounges team at the DELTA Sky Club in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport had the opportunity to meet with Magic Johnson at the DELTA GM conference where he was a keynote speaker. The team had a great time networking, exchanging best practices, and being involved in such an important event.
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Ohio State Hospitality Visits Our Paris Venues
Through our partnership with Ohio State Hospitality, a second group of students visited our renowned venues in Paris like Roland-Garros, the Eiffel Tower, and Musée de la Marine to learn about service excellence, fine dining and global hospitality. They also heard from Annick de Vanssay, Sodexo’s Chief Human Resource Officer, who will be visiting the students later this year in Ohio.
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SEA for a Better Tomorrow Survey Available March 28
The updated 2024 SEA (Site Engagement Assessment) for a Better Tomorrow survey will be available March 28. The SEA survey is an interactive and action-oriented performance tool that empowers managers to track sustainability progress, share performance, benchmark against peers, and find best practices to enhance and expand existing programs. If any site managers have problems logging into SEA, please reach out to Molly Crouch. Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete SEA and provide valuable sustainability information about your site(s). For additional information, please visit this link.
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Sodexo Live! Wins 11 GOALympics Medals
The 2024 GOALympics have wrapped up and the results are in. Sodexo Live! won a record 11 medals this year – 6 Gold, 3 Silver, and 2 Bronze! Congratulations to all the winners! For more results information, please check out the GOALympics pages here.
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There Are No Limits: A Conversation with RVP Jennifer Rafuse
In 2008, our RVP Jennifer Rafuse, embarked on a new adventure in the live events industry joining Sodexo Live! as a coordinator at the Vancouver Convention Centre, just in time to contribute to the preparations for the 2010 Winter Olympics. In a recent blog post, she discusses the evolution of the food service industry for women over the past decade, her advice to young women starting in the industry, and her passion for mentoring and empowering women through Dress for Success. Read here.
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Meet Our Partner, Owl’s Brew Founder Maria Littlefield
Meet one of our small business beverage partners, Owl’s Brew! Founder Maria Littlefield and Jennie Ripps are pushing boundaries and crafting natural boozy beverages using nothing but the best ingredients. Check out our blog interview with Maria which covers gender equality and inspiring the next generation of female entrepreneurs.
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Safety Moment: Zero Harm Mindest Initiative
Join the Sodexo Live! Safety Team as we embark on our Zero Harm Mindset initiative. This program will emphasize hazard awareness and emergency preparedness, which is crucial for fostering a safer workplace. Let’s prioritize safety together. Please locate and share the Zero Harm Mindset materials on the Teams channel or Sodexo Net so we can all get involved! You can find the Zero Harm Mindset Leadership Workshops on our Zero Harm Mindset – Have A Safe Day page. A public toolkit is available under “Create Some Excitement” – ZHM Toolkit. Stay tuned for session schedules.
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New Menus Unveiled for T-Mobile Park 2024 Season
The best eats in baseball are back at T-Mobile Park! The new offerings include Frosé slushies from local restaurant Marination, a new partner in local Tamari Bar who will offer things like curry rice and donuts, a player-inspired sandwich called the Double MitchWich from players Mitch Haniger and Mitch Garver, and more.
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Sodexo Live! Parisian Venues Awarded Michelin Stars for 2024
Three iconic Parisian venues of Sodexo Live! were honored in the 2024 selection of the prestigious Michelin Guide! Led by Chef Frédéric Anton and his teams, Le Pré Catelan remains at the top with three stars since 2007, Le Jules Verne at the Eiffel Tower gained a second star for the first time in its history and the Don Juan II remains the only starred cruise on the Seine!
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Recapping Our Debut Year in Indian Wells
We had an amazing debut year at the BNP Paribas Open! 493,000+ fans were served, which is a new attendance record for the tournament, we catered to thousands of players and team staff in the revamped player dining space, and 1,100+ Experience Makers, including 130+ visiting managers offered their talent and support for the marquee event. Plus, read more here from Sports Business Journal about our YOY sales jump.
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Special Ritmo del Mar Menu at Shedd Aquarium
Ritmo del Mar (or “Rhythm of the Sea”) returns to Shedd Aquarium with an evening of vibrant Latin American and Caribbean culture, music and, of course, cuisine! This year the menu was inspired by the cultural backgrounds of some of our culinary team members like Chef Jose Cabrera’s chile relleno de molida con mole. Find out more here.
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See What Else is New at the 2024 Miami Open
Miami Open continues and Miami New Times featured some of the hot new spots fans can dine at on campus, including Nobu, Fuku, Dolce Vita Gelato, Oceana Coffee and more. Plus, see a full list of bar options here.
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Need to make a graphic design request? Submit here!
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For the appropriate venues, always use Spark for the latest documents and updates. All vital resources are also provided on Sodexo_Net.
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Contacted by a reporter? Reach out to Paul Pettas at 203-898-0632 or Paul.Pettas@sodexo.com.
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Have insights or feedback? Share via the Voice of the Field Insight form.
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Need help managing anxiety, health, finances or more? Contact LifeWorks 24/7, 866-675-6566.
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HR questions about benefits, time off, company policies, etc.? Visit Sodexo LINK 24/7, or call 855 Sodexo HR (855-763-3964) 8am to 6pm EST.
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Belinda Oakley
