Last Friday I went to see Disney's Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey in 3D. Jim Carrey in 3-D flying into the audience in a night gown? Yikes. To add to the "yikes-factor" I took my son who is turning 8 this week and 4 of his friends. Five 8 year old boys out together in public was somewhat of a challenge but, it was better than having five 8 year old boys on the verge of boredom in my house all night, right? It was fun. My husband drove the boys in his mini-van while my daughter and I drive in my sporty cross over. Yes, you read that right. In our house my husband drives the mini van (and loves it by the way) while I insisted on the sporty cross over vehicle.
So what does my son's birthday and my car have to do with the title of this post?
This week marks my 2 year anniversary with Sodexo. I joined Sodexo's Talent Acquisition Group as a Marketing Communications Manager and I have the privilege of working with a team of recruiting professionals who are committed to finding the best qualified candidates. My first day of work was not a typical first day mind you. I, like many of my colleagues work from my home office but that doesn't mean I didn't commute into work on my first day. In fact, my commute into work that day was via an airplane to San Antonio, Texas for our annual meeting. It was the perfect opportunity to meet the people I was going to be working with every day. I say the perfect opportunity because as I mentioned many of us work from our home office in locations across the United States and outside of visits to our headquarters in Gaithersburg, MD or career event it is the one time we are all present in one location at the same time. If I had started with Sodexo just two weeks later I might have had to wait a year to meet everyone.
Are you still asking yourself what my son's birthday and my car has to do with my 2 year anniversary with Sodexo?
I was in Texas on my son's 6th birthday and I was in Las Vegas for his 7th birthday - both times attending Sodexo's Talent Acquisition Annual Meetings. Sad, yes -- but he really didn't care much especially since it meant he was able to celebrate twice and he probably got a few extra presents as a result of the mom-guilt. Fortunately, in my day-to-day work life I don't experience much of this guilt. Working from home eliminates the long hours of work with an added commute time. Sodexo's Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) offers alternatives to employees to reduce stress and to improve work-life balance like working from home. Starting your day a little earlier or later are also options. In addition to our FWA we also have a benefit called Lifeworks. The Lifeworks program provides personal and professional resources for employees that can be used every day. So when I decided I wanted to get pet insurance for my dog, I had a resource. When I decided I wanted to increase investments for my kid's college, I had a resource. Just about anything you can imagine Lifeworks can help. Both of these Sodexo benefits improve balance of personal and professional balance and I feel lucky to be able to take advantage of the benefits.
This year our team opted to delay our annual meeting in order to prepare for a new Applicant Tracking System and the training that would be required. So, lucky me! I'm able to celebrate with my little guy on his birthday this year. And celebrate we did last Friday with pizza and a movie and his first ever real sleepover. Though the 5 eight year old boys full of energy had me thinking "Serenity now" by about 10:30, I was still happy to be home with him.
If you are celebrating an Anniversary with Sodexo - tell us about it. What do you do for Sodexo, how many years have you worked here? What's your favorite part? Email me here if you'd like to share your story with a guest blog post!
So what does my car have to do with the title of this post? Nothing. I just wanted to make it very clear that I do not drive the mini van in our house. No offense to anyone who drives a mini van -- like I said, my husband drives one and he loves it. I'm just more a of a sporty car kind of lady. I'm going to be 40 soon and I need every youthful advantage I can get at this point!
2 comments:
Happy Anniversary. You're a brave woman to take on 5 8 yr old boys!
Congratulations on your Sodexo-versary!! I recently celebrated my 1-year anniversary with Intel (and we have similar roles :) ). Always great to celebrate a milestone whether it's work, family or other.
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