The Chicago Tribune published its Top Workplaces 2019 list today, demonstrating that the real estate community has a lot of happy workers in the metro region. On the list of large employers (those with 1,000 or more employees), Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff Realty Group took the top spot, beating out big names in employee satisfaction such as Salesforce and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.
The ranking is based solely on employee feedback gathered by The Tribune’s research partner, Energage, LLC, which measured company culture, work-life balance and confidence in company leadership, among other factors.
Diane Glass, chief operating officer of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff Realty Group, noted the fact that the ranking is based on anonymous surveys of agents and employees was “immensely gratifying” for the company. “In hundreds of surveys, they detailed the support and collaboration that exists among our agents, managers and staff. And that represents a gold standard for real estate that is invaluable in serving our clients,” she said in a press release.
Coming in at No. 4 on the large companies list was @properties, which has been recognized there a total of seven times. Baird & Warner was next, at No. 5 and celebrating its eighth time on the list.
The mortgage industry was represented by First Midwest Bank, Wintrust and Fifth Third, which got the 15th, 17th and 19th spots on the large company list, respectively. JLL was the sole commercial real estate company on that list, though NAI Hiffman and Transwestern were both commercial real estate firms that made the small company list (249 or fewer employees).
In the midsize category, populated by companies with 250 to 999 employees, Compass snagged the No. 2 spot, having moved up from No. 6 in 2018.
“We have the most amazing people continuing to build an incredible culture and organization, and winning this accolade two years in a row is the perfect reflection of that,” said Rachael Rohn, president of Compass Chicago, in a press release.
Compass was followed by Keller Williams Realty Infinity and Real People Realty, which took the third and fifth spots on the midsize list. Draper and Kramer and Pangea Properties also appeared lower down on that list, at 31 and 54, respectively.
In terms of small companies, John Greene Realtor made No. 7 on that list, followed by d’Aprile Properties at 23 and Fulton Grace at 36.