Read: A clear pathway for progression

Spotlight on Donna Catley and Compass Group UK and Ireland

Compass Group UK and Ireland, the country’s leading food and support services provider, has reframed how ‘low-skilled’ work is perceived, as we report here.

With 6,000 locations and a workforce of tens of thousands of people in the UK and Ireland, Compass is in a unique position to influence social mobility. The company believes there should be no such thing as a dead-end job and has established an approach which has the potential to develop its employees at every level so they can all aspire to careers that suit them.

Donna Catley, Chief People Officer at Compass Group

Compass works behind the scenes at sports and leisure events, within schools, colleges and universities, hospitals and care homes. It works extensively within the private sector, providing food to client offices and boardrooms, as well as workplaces as diverse as oil rigs and military bases. Compass also provides food services to a wide variety of public attractions and sports venues up and down the country, from the Imperial War Museum to Chelsea Football Club, Twickenham Stadium, Edgbaston and The All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Having amassed 75 years of food expertise, Compass has developed a business built around both business and culinary excellence, underpinned by a commitment to supporting social mobility. The company has a presence in a variety of business sectors and locations, giving people a wider career choice at entry level. A large proportion of these are essential worker roles and they are fundamental in supporting many of our important institutions. 

As a hospitality, foodservice and retail business, Covid has impacted Compass Group more than most. Thousands of outlets across the UK were closed overnight resulting in up to 18,000 Compass employees being furloughed during the peak of the pandemic. 

Despite these challenges, Compass pivoted and established itself as a key worker business diverting thousands of employees into healthcare roles such as cleaners, porters and patient caterers. Working closely with the Government they stepped into support the Nightingale Hospitals and testing centres across the country - feeding, cleaning and looking after others. Recognising the efforts of frontline workers, Compass was one of the first companies to offer a pay premium. It subsequently permanently uplifted the salaries of some employees at the frontline.

Compass Group, and the hospitality industry as a whole, is uniquely positioned to affect positive change for workers and communities. The industry does not have the educational barriers of others and as the UK’s largest food and support services company, Compass has the scale and geographic breadth to offer thousands of opportunities across the country. 

The food and support services provider has been able to reframe low-skilled jobs so that there is a defined pathway of progression, managed by more senior employees in the company who have often followed similar routes themselves. They offer the precious first rung on the ladder – the first job that enables workers to gain confidence and skills – as well as the chance to progress through the ranks. Through this approach, Compass has changed how low-skilled work is perceived, and has genuinely found the pathways and progression that eradicate dead-end jobs.

The benefits of this model of working to both Compass and its employees are immense. There is no such thing as a dead-end job because it is a business that understands how to prevent that outcome. Many people join Compass with limited aspirations, in part-time and casual roles as well as permanent jobs, but they are nurtured as individuals and encouraged to explore ways they might be able to progress.

Some of Compass’ essential workers come from overseas and want to integrate into the communities they have moved into. They can do this more easily when they also feel part of their workplace community, so communication is key for businesses to facilitate this. Their outreach work also extends to supporting those leaving military service and the care system, and they have done ground-breaking work with Mumsnet to support maternity leavers and their programmes dedicated to supporting young people in the most disadvantaged circumstances.  

The work that Compass is doing proves that there are no unskilled jobs, only companies that haven’t worked out how to deliver career paths for their employees. There should be no dead-end jobs for essential worker careers. In a post-Covid Britain, that must become the new norm.

Moving forward, Compass has ambitions to end dead-end jobs once and for all and to reframe what jobs look like and what they offer. It sees every job – big or small, permanent or temporary – as an opportunity for someone to learn, acquire new skills and place a foot on the first rung of a career ladder. In this way, what social mobility means has been redefined. Beyond the focus on gaining places at top universities and graduate jobs, Compass offers the chance for tens of thousands of people to take a few rungs on the ladder. To start as a porter but progress to a chef; to begin as a cleaner but become a manager. 

Will all of this work Compass is aiming to:    

• Create a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the customers and clients that it serves, as well as society as a whole;

• Enable everyone in the business to feel able to be themselves at work;

• Ensure everyone in the business has an equal opportunity to progress their career; and

• Widen access to career opportunities that encompass all in society.

The company is launching its ‘Essential Worker Career Paths’ later in 2021 to enable frontline workers to see more clearly how they can progress within the organisation and what support they need. In an important step for the industry, later in 2021 Compass Group will become one of the first companies to begin measuring social mobility in its workforce. This will allow them to see if they are making a real difference and benchmark their progress moving forward. 

Compass Group UK and Ireland is redefining the debate on social mobility, moving away from a  focus on gaining places at top universities and city jobs – important but unattainable for many – and offering the chance for tens of thousands of people to take a few rungs on the career ladder. The positive impact of this is vast – on employees, their families and our communities.