The CRI is a strategic management tool run by St James Ethics Centre to enhance the capacity of businesses to develop, measure and communicate best practice in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Colliers International Chief Executive John Kenny said the listing was a major milestone in the company's ongoing CSR programme addressing the impact the company's operations on their clients, people, community and environment.
"While we have been developing and implementing CSR-related initiatives for some time, the CRI was an ideal mechanism to bring our existing initiatives in these areas together," he said.
"More importantly it provides a framework for us to accelerate our future efforts and share knowledge with other leading companies," Mr Kenny said.
Mr Kenny said the company was very encouraged by their first-year results and that the feedback confirmed that the company is building a solid programme to prepare for a star performance in coming years.
"We found that our current business plan and strategic vision for growth were very closely aligned to the principles of the Index.
"The process showed we were already doing a lot of things well, the initial focus for us was to bring all of our initiatives together and participate in a framework that will allow us to learn and grow," says Mr Kenny.
"We are really keen to use what we learn to ratchet our efforts up a notch."
In reviewing the company's performance to date, Mr Kenny said the company's results in the Workplace section of the report were encouraging.
"Our 'Human Capital' has been a big focus for us over a number of years. While our client relationships are a critical asset, at the end of the day our success is totally dependent on the calibre of our people."
Mr Kenny said Colliers International has invested heavily in the workplace in recent years including the introduction of new open plan highly sustainable office fit outs, the enhancement of their rewards and loyalty programmes, the establishment of a dedicated recruitment team and the introduction of more flexible working arrangements for work/ life balance.
Mr Kenny says he is particularly proud of the company's virtual training learning and development institution: "Colliers University".
"Real Estate is traditionally very sales orientated, however we saw the opportunity to move to a service orientated approach with a knowledge-based culture," says Mr Kenny.
"Colliers University was set up to help foster that culture of knowledge and at the same time help develop individual career paths."
Moving forward, Mr Kenny says the focus for Colliers University will be on leveraging the online environment to increase customisation and flexibility of the programme and maximise the opportunities to share best practice ideas globally.
"We must keep moving and innovating to ensure we are offering our people the best opportunities in the best possible environment. As we keep telling our people, you can always learn more and build your knowledge so we are very keen to use our listing on the CRI to learn what other companies are doing in this space."
The CRI measures responsible business practice through evaluating four main areas:
- the corporate responsibility strategy of the business
- how this strategy is implemented across the business
- the management of corporate responsibility within the business
- the performance in a range of social and environmental impact areas
Some of the other companies listed on the Index include Westpac, Toyota, BHP Billiton, Minter Ellison, IAG and ANZ.
More information on the CRI is available at www.corporate-responsibility.com.au. Further information about Colliers International's CSR programme and policies is available on the Colliers International website at http://www.colliers.com/Markets/Australia/About/CorporateResponsibility/
