The Ethisphere Institute has released its 2017 “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list, and to no one’s surprise, Realogy has made the list again — for the sixth time in a row.
Realogy shares this honor with Realogy Franchise Group, NRT, Cartus and Title Resource Group. Realogy is the only residential real estate company to make the 2017 list.
“A company’s culture is shaped by its values,” said Ethisphere’s CEO Tim Erblich in a statement. “In each of the past six years, Realogy’s commitment to its core values and to raising the bar for ethical standards and practices has placed it in a special class as being among the World’s Most Ethical Companies. We congratulate everyone at Realogy for this extraordinary achievement.”
Each of the 124 honorees were graded on Ethisphere’s Ethics Quotient, which comprises five categories:
- Ethics and compliance program (35 percent)
- Corporate citizenship and responsibility (20 percent)
- Culture of ethics (20 percent)
- Governance (15 percent)
- Leadership, innovation and reputation (10 percent)
Richard Smith
“Once again, we are deeply honored to be recognized by Ethisphere for our commitment to ethical business practices,” said Richard A. Smith, Realogy’s chairman, chief executive officer and president, in a press release.
“Our focus on integrity, one of our company’s core values, reflects who we are as a company and what we value most — strong relationships with our employees, our customers and our shareholders. We work hard to build our relationships on a foundation of integrity as a trusted provider of real estate franchise and brokerage services as well as relocation, title and settlement services.”
Also, 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 (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) guidance and an overview of current business and legal trends.
“We believe our commitment to an ethical company culture gives us a competitive edge in the marketplace — for talented employees as well as customers and suppliers,” added Liz Gehringer, Realogy’s chief ethics and compliance officer, in a statement.
“We are delighted to accept this honor on behalf of our thousands of employees who help shape our company’s reputation every day by staying true to our core values.”