On this second day of Ethics Week, we’re spending time with Chief Human Resources Officer Courtney Rodriguez. We are excited to welcome Courtney to Republic Services and sit down with her to ask her some questions about the everyday ethical decisions she makes in her role.
Q: Courtney, welcome to the team! I’m sure you’ve heard us talk about “living our values for our people” – what does this phrase mean to you in your role?
A: Thank you! I’m thrilled to be joining the company during such an exciting time. To me, “living our values for our people” means that each of us has to keep our values at the center of every interaction that we have with our team members. It highlights the importance of respecting and valuing one another, and means we are each responsible for creating and maintaining a workplace where everyone feels included and valued.
Q: What are some things you do in your everyday role that support living our values for our people?
A: I have the privilege of working with the HR team to ensure we have the right programs in place that support living our values for our people. One recent example is our Employee Experience Survey. This survey is employees’ chance to give us feedback on how we’re doing as a company. We take this feedback very seriously and review the results to identify where we have strengths and where we have opportunities to improve.
Another big item on my agenda right now is our annual talent review process. This is a time where the leadership team discusses ways we can develop our people to reach their full potential. I get to help shape those conversations and ensure that we’re challenging our assumptions, asking the right questions, and focusing on how our people lead the success of our business.
My goal and commitment is to continually improve how we support our people, whether it’s through our inclusion and diversity efforts; our hiring, coaching, and development practices; or how we assess trends impacting our employees and take action based on those trends, among many other avenues.
Q: How can employees ask questions, raise concerns or provide feedback to the Company?
A: We want employees to feel comfortable discussing any questions or concerns with their leadership team or HR Partner. The Employee Experience Survey is another great way for everyone to share feedback. And, we’ve launched an Ethical Culture Survey during Ethics Week and encourage all employees to participate in this survey and provide their feedback. Finally, you can always reach out to a member of our Ethics & Compliance team, the Legal team, or the confidential AWARE Line by calling 1-866-3-AWARE-4 or at AWARELINE.RepublicServices.com.
No matter who you report your concerns to, please know that we take all concerns seriously and thoroughly investigate them. We have zero tolerance for retaliation, which means you will not suffer a negative consequence for raising a concern or asking a question.
Conclusion
While there is a lot that goes into making Republic Services an ethical place to work, what I hope you take away from this is that we all have a responsibility to understand our roles in creating an ethical and compliant culture, where all people feel valued and respected, and their unique potential is leveraged to make this the place where the best people come to work. Living our values for our people is critical to achieving this result. Thank you for all you do to help make our ethical culture at Republic Services one of respect, inclusion, and integrity.
