Sodexo looks beyond ‘basics’ for worker engagement

Employees are a company’s biggest brand ambassadors and corporates are waking up to the fact that the focussed attention to developing customer relations needs to be given to their workforce. But organisations are finding it tough feeding the needs of millennials and Gen Z, who are the most intuitive regarding digital capabilities.

In today’s digital society, Gen Z intuitively think first digitally, which makes it the best generation to anticipate consumer and constituent needs. Employee benefits firm Sodexo is reaching out to the younger, mobile-savvy generation in a markedly new manner.

Suvodeep Das, Vice-President, Sodexo Benefits and Rewards, points out that companies cannot get by these days with offering basic benefits, and that businesses need to go above and beyond to enhance the employee experience. Especially with millennials.

It is this group of people who will be able to anticipate highly valued digital capabilities, says Das.

Sodexo is working towards enhancing employee experience for its users and transforming the way benefits are provided to the multi-generational workforce.

“The millennials and Gen Z being the tech generation, want everything at their fingertips. With the help of tech and digital, we are able to reach this generation with hyper local offers and segmented communication,” he adds.

Just as hyperlocal marketing — a targeted form of marketing that focuses on reaching local, motivated buyers — is aimed at people in a certain area, hyper local offers engage with employees to intensify the whole experience.

As the official points out, understanding the current state of employee experience is challenging enough, but designing programmes that work together to address each employee is nearly impossible. Under these circumstances, organisations are adopting technology to encourage engagement and drive long-term results.

As Das notes a new set of solutions is needed to deal with this reality. Sodexo is utilising cutting-edge technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to improve its services.

Sodexo has worked with some start-ups in the AR and VR space of experiential marketing who have helped the company blend virtual propositions with in-person live experiences.

Keen to embrace new digital solutions, Sodexo is adopting innovative approaches to engage clients and consumers.

The first ever multitaction table, for instance, allowed users to explore their leadership styles in a unique and enjoyable fashion, through meals, which they customised at the table.

When merely designing a meal can provide insights into leadership styles, the opportunities offered by the use of AR and analytics helped expand the employee experience.