This month, Realogy was honored as one of the Ethisphere Institute’s “World’s Most Ethical Companies” — the fifth consecutive time the company has made the list alongside other corporate giants such as Dun & Bradstreet and Prudential Financial.
“You need only look at the news headlines for an indication of the seriousness of issues facing companies that do not act in an ethical manner,” said Elisabeth Gehringer, Realogy’s chief ethics and compliance officer, in a statement.
The other two companies in the “Real Estate” category that made the list of 131 total honorees (across 21 countries and 45 industries) were CBRE, a commercial real estate services firm, and Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated, a professional services and investment management company specializing in real estate.
Realogy’s award-winning code of ethics, which is available online, covers seven areas:
- Our responsibilities to each other: Maintaining a diverse, respectful, fair and productive work environment.
- Protecting information: Protecting and securing information that belongs to employees, clients and Realogy.
- Integrity in our marketplace: Defining our commitment to competing fairly, honestly and lawfully in the marketplace.
- Conflicts of interest, gifts and entertainment: Identifying types of conflicts of interest and appropriate gifts and entertainment.
- Realogy’s interests, property and resources: Protecting Realogy’s interests, both physical and intangible assets.
- Investments and external activities: Proper handling of insider information, political activities and external requests for company information.
- Good corporate citizenship: Respecting the environment in which we live and work, truthfulness in our company records, reporting any concerns.
Every year, Realogy’s Ethics and Compliance Team trains 11,000 employees on the company’s code of ethics, which includes RESPA guidance and an overview of current business and legal trends.
“It is important to go beyond simply having a company code of ethics. At Realogy, we strive to engage employees in our ethics program so that they have a clear understanding of how to conduct business with ethics and integrity each day,” added Gehringer.
In addition to a profile in Ethisphere Magazine, Gehringer participated in two business ethics panels at Seton Hall University and at Public Relations Society of America’s international conference.
Realogy was also featured in “Guide to Increasing Collaboration Between the Communications and Ethics Offices,” a white paper published by Ethisphere and PRSA.