Attention: All Associates

Essex continues to experience exceptional growth, necessitating a variety of improvements and changes to the systems and organizational structure of the Company. A year ago, we published the Essex vision representing the key attributes of the Company's culture.  You saw these again at the recent Gala events. The Essex culture is integral to the Company's success and needs to be widely accepted and embraced by the entire team. We would like to take the opportunity to re-publish these tenets, and we encourage you and your teams to reflect and share how you incorporate them into your daily work at Essex.

Following are the key elements of the Essex culture:  
 
1)      We are mission driven. Recognize the importance and dignity inherent in our mission, as it relates to our residents’ and associates’ quality-of-life.  The Company creates communities and provides housing for approximately 100,000 people and careers for 2,000 E-Team members, satisfying basic human needs and representing a key part of each regional economy.

2)      We embrace honesty and integrity. Enthusiastically embrace honesty and integrity. Problems are frequently encountered in this business, and significant issues need to be escalated transparently, allowing a consistent response with the right resources.  Generally speaking, covering up problems to avoid criticism is almost always worse than the initial issue.

3)      We are dependable. There are thousands of families that depend on the E-team doing the right thing every day. In many circumstances, we need to put the interests of our residents, the Company, and our colleagues ahead of our own. We share a sense of responsibility and realize it is not an obligation or burden to do the right thing – it is a privilege and honor. Essex is a responsible company, taking care of its communities and the impact on the environment.

4)      We pursue operational excellence. We are creative, flexible, and adaptive as we manage our communities and respond to issues that arise.  We need to pursue operational excellence with unwavering urgency and accountability, the best solutions for complex problems. We must challenge ourselves to push outside of our comfort zones and use our collective abilities in a collaborative way to add value to our residents’ lives and for the good of the Company and its associates. We realize it is a strength to be “aspirational” and to be rewarded through promotions based on merit and accomplishment.

5)      We reward teamwork and ownership. We value and reward Essex Associates for teamwork and ownership of complicated problems. Serving the large spectrum of customer needs in this industry is challenging, requiring great teamwork, coordinated effort, and dissemination of good ideas and processes.  Every successful team has a point person, someone to “own” the responsibility and ensure that issues are properly resolved. 

6)      We support professional development. We appreciate our team members and support personnel, and strive to help, teach and mentor them, allowing them to qualify for higher-level positions and pursue new opportunities. We show them what needs to be done and hold them accountable, knowing that this approach prepares them for higher level positions.  We acknowledge and celebrate each time an associate is promoted.

7)      We create shareholder value. Essex’s success is beneficial to each of its constituency groups (employees, shareholders and residents).  As a publicly-traded company, investor funds are directed to the best and most successful companies, providing capital to fuel their growth.   Growing companies generate opportunities for advancement to its associates.  Shareholders worldwide benefit in a variety of ways from the company’s success. It is an honor and a virtue to be part of a successful company.
 
8)      We are competent and capable. We always try to recruit the most capable people for each open position.  We understand that the more experienced and capable team members are, or become, the better the team. We know that a diverse team with a variety of backgrounds, experiences and responsibilities will enable collaboration among people with different ideas, approaches, and perspectives, enabling better decision-making. 

9)      We support work-life balance. We understand the importance of work-life balance and recognize that unhappy or unhealthy associates will not maximize productivity or effectiveness over the long term. The demands, challenges and pressures are great in our industry and our leaders know they need to be a good example in this important area.

10)   We are respectful. There may be times when, for whatever reason, the fit is not right with someone in our Company.  The situation must be handled with respect, kindness and compassion, consistent with HR practices.  We acknowledge that treating everyone with courtesy and respect at all times is not just the right thing to do from a business perspective; it is how decent people live their lives.