Ethisphere recently released its annual list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. This is the 19th year Ethisphere has honored organizations with the designation of World’s Most Ethical Companies. Numerous familiar suppliers, Ecolab and Trane Technologies for example, made the list this year. Only one hotel company, however, appeared. That company is Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, and it was recognized for the third consecutive year and fifth time overall.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts submitted an application to Ethisphere and paid a processing fee to, at least partially, cover the administrative costs of the thousands of hours experts spend gathering and analyzing the data.
Ethisphere evaluated Wyndham’s (i) Ethics and Compliance Program, (ii) Culture of Ethics, (iii) Corporate Citizenship and Responsibility, (iv) Governance, and (v) Third Party Management. Each category is evaluated through a combination of answers to the Ethics Quotient (EQ) questionnaire, submitted supplemental documentation, and where necessary, independent research and follow up with a candidate. Evaluation also includes a review of publicly available information with a bearing on an organization’s reputation for acting ethically (e.g., public filings, regulatory activity, media review). If the review team has a concern after this independent analysis, it will reach out to the applicant.
An organization’s final Ethics Quotient score is evaluated relative to those of its peers within the context of its structure, size, and operating environment. Those organizations demonstrating the strongest application across the methodology receive the designation of being one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. As applicant organizations come from a variety of industries with significant differences in regulatory and operating environments, the overall EQ score is used to understand an organization’s performance in context of similar organizations, not to set a floor. However, reputation and legal issues are carefully evaluated. Receiving a materially deficient score in the category of Leadership and Reputation will prevent an organization from being selected as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies.
Upon completing the application process, applicants receive a scorecard which outlines their evaluation scores as they compare to honorees and documentation scores. Companies have found this information to be valuable for establishing priorities, celebrating their strengths, building a business case for additional budget, and focusing their teams. The scorecard also includes exclusive data and insights only available to applicants, and links to valuable, curated resources to help improve their programs.
