HIW CRR 2023 v8 - Flipbook - Page 3
LETTER FROM THE CEO
On behalf of Highwoods, I am pleased to present our
2023 Corporate Resiliency Report. Over the last year, we
have remained steadfast in our commitment to owning
and operating a resilient, high-quality portfolio that
thrives in all economic cycles. Our confidence for the
future and the resiliency of our portfolio are supported
by the following core principles of our Strategic Plan:
• We will own and operate high quality assets in the
Best Business Districts (BBDs) in high-growth Sun
Belt markets.
• We will create thoughtful, intentional and
commute-worthy workplaces for our customers and
their teammates.
• We will attract and retain a team of industryleading professionals.
• We will maintain a strong balance sheet with
ample liquidity.
• We will be disciplined yet opportunistic in growing
our industry-leading platform.
• We will communicate transparently with
all stakeholders.
By executing this straightforward strategy and
adapting to the needs of our customers, we are
navigating our way through the challenging and
changing landscape for landlords, strengthening our
balance sheet and are thrilled to see our customers
thriving in our innovative, collaborative and best-inclass work environments.
To build an enduring business that prospers in all
economic cycles, we must continuously assess and
manage enterprise risks across our organization. In
2023, we formally assessed our enterprise risks, key
business objectives and management capabilities
to identify strategic business opportunities. And to
drive resiliency across our assets, we created our own
comprehensive asset resilience index to quantify and
embed enterprise risk, including climate change, into
our financial and investment decision making.
We continued to elevate the customer experience
in 2023 by establishing a customer experience
department and expanding our #BetterTogether
initiative, further embedding a hospitality mindset
into our mission of exceeding customer expectations.
We established a customer experience road map that
aligns with our strategic objective of going beyond
service to proactively anticipating our customers’
wants and needs. In support of this initiative, we
distributed a revamped customer engagement survey
and implemented targeted initiatives to further
improve the experiences that customers enjoy every
day in their workplace.
In 2023, we advanced our ESG and resiliency strategy,
achieving recognition from leading organizations:
• We earned the GRESB Green Star rating for the fourth
consecutive year and continued to improve yearover-year performance.
• We earned recognition from industry leading
ESG frameworks:
– Sustainalytics: Ranked as “Low ESG Risk Profile”
– MSCI: Awarded an A rating — one of the highest
ratings for real estate companies.
– ISS: Earned the highest ISS Governance Quality
Score of 1 and earned an ESG Prime badge.
• We achieved our 20% energy and greenhouse
gas (GHG) goals three years ahead of schedule and
continued to raise the bar by establishing new, more
aggressive goals.
• We invested over $7 million in portfolio-wide
energy efficiency projects to further decarbonize
our portfolio.
• We were recognized as a Green Lease Leader at
the Gold level, acknowledging our commitment
to collaborating with our customers to promote
sustainability in the workplace.
• We established new enterprise-wide ESG goals
aligned with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) framework.
• We achieved 100 ENERGY STAR certifications for the
first time in Highwoods history.
• We achieved LEED and Fitwel certifications for all
new, wholly owned developments.
We expanded our “Heart of Highwoods” program by
launching an employee mentorship program and
supporting more than 50 non-profit organizations in
the communities where we live, work and play.
We received the 2023 Cigna Gold Level Healthy Workforce
Designation for demonstrating a strong commitment to
improving the health and well-being of our employees
through our employee well-being program.
I am very proud of our team of talented professionals
that have worked to advance the resiliency of our
business. We continue to deliver on our commitment
to create thoughtful, intentional and commute-worthy
workplaces. Their creativity, passion and unwavering
commitment to our mission has
made Highwoods a stronger,
more resilient and
purposeful organization.
Ted Klinck
President and
Chief Executive Officer
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