HIW Corporate Resiliency Report 2021 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 3
LETTER FROM THE CEO
In 2021, the health and well-being of our coworkers,
their families and customers remained our top
priority. Despite the continued challenges of the
pandemic, we have worked tirelessly to keep our
doors open and provide safe and productive work
environments for everyone in our buildings. We know
that a resilient portfolio starts with resilient people,
and our success in navigating these unchartered
waters is a testament to our exceptional customers
and the resilience and fortitude of our organization
and talented professionals.
We are thrilled to see more and more of our
customers returning to the workplace. We created the
#BetterTogether campaign to deepen relationships
with our customers and reaffirm our commitment
to creating the best possible environments and
experiences where the best and brightest can achieve
together what they cannot apart. Through this
partnership, we continue to listen and accommodate
the changing needs of our customers and create
workplaces that are transformative, innovative,
distinctive and collaborative.
Highwoods is a purpose-led organization committed
to our intrinsic responsibilities of making positive
contributions to society. We have remained firmly
committed to advancing our environmental, social and
governance (ESG) initiatives. In 2021, we formalized
our enterprise-wide ESG and Resiliency strategy
that was integrated into our Strategic Plan and all
aspects of our business operations. To fortify our
response to changing market, environmental and
financial conditions, we enhanced our enterprise risk
management framework to drive enterprise value and
ensure long-term business resiliency.
Prioritizing the health, safety and well-being of our
coworkers and customers, we continued to execute
our robust COVID-19 Response Plan and enhance
our Highwoods Employee Well-Being Program. We
expanded our Hearts of Highwoods program by
establishing a Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Group, which
consists of dedicated professionals throughout our
organization to advance diversity & inclusion initiatives
in our workforce, industry and our communities.
Guided by our D&I Group, we facilitated listening
sessions and training, promoted supplier diversity,
expanded our Highwoods Helps philanthropic program
to support the most vulnerable communities and
provided more paid time off for our coworkers to
improve the lives of others through community service.
In 2021, we continued to demonstrate progress
towards our long-term energy, emissions and
water reduction goals. We reduced our greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions across our portfolio by
7.6%. Illustrating our long-term commitment to
sustainability and operational excellence, we
achieved ENERGY STAR certification for 70
properties representing 55% of eligible floor area,
significantly improved our GRESB score and once
again achieved the prestigious GRESB Green Star
rating. We are also in the process of earning LEED
and Fitwel certification for all new developments.
These 2021 accomplishments led Newsweek to
recognize Highwoods as one of “America’s Most
Responsible Companies”.
As we look ahead, we will continue to advance our ESG
and Resiliency strategy and stay true to our mission of
creating lasting long-term value for our stakeholders
through meaningful relationships. We are proud of the
progress we have made and look forward to building on
our achievements in 2022 and the years ahead.
Ted Klinck | President and Chief Executive Officer
3