At Regency, we believe that a talented team of professionals from differing backgrounds and experiences makes us better, and we are committed to cultivating an inclusive culture and advancing DEI in our organization, operations, and communities.

We also believe that an inclusive environment where differences are valued and embraced strengthens decision-making and enables us to live our Core Values more effectively.

Over the past several years, we have become more intentional in advancing and sustaining meaningful DEI change. In 2021, we implemented a three-year DEI strategic roadmap focused on increasing diversity across our organization, enabling our employees to grow and succeed, and promoting and advancing diversity and social justice initiatives in our operations and broader communities. In alignment with our DEI strategy and 2021 goals, we launched our first two Employee Resource Groups (EDGE – Employee Diversity Group for Everyone and WIN – Women’s Initiative Network): which are voluntary, employee-run, and formed by members of our team who share a common commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Furthermore, we enhanced existing training, provided new education on unconscious bias, and combined our DEI strategy with our philanthropic efforts. Regency also began measuring and reporting to our Board and employees our DEI progress in order to ensure accountability, and drive progress toward improved representation at every level of our Company. In addition to tracking our progress against these goals, we track several other critical metrics that measure the effectiveness of our DEI strategy.

Ethnic Diversity
 

Gender Representation

Over the years, we have worked diligently to improve gender equality. Today, we are proud to report that 58% of our employees in 2021 were women. In addition, our company-wide average gender pay gap was only 1.48%—down from 1.58% in 2020. This means that employees in effectively the same role earned about the same wage regardless of gender. While we are incredibly proud of this progress, we know we can do more to increase female representation at the leadership level and intend to continue measuring and reporting on our gender equality progress annually.

Our Core Values place a strong importance on our people, which makes us an employer of choice. We understand the importance of attracting and retaining the best talent in order to build long-term value. We strive to offer some of the most competitive pay and benefits in the industry in which we operate, and are continually looking at new opportunities to ensure that we attract and retain our greatest assets: our people.

Our annual employee engagement survey provides an avenue for feedback to understand what we are doing right and, importantly, what we could do better. Survey results are reviewed company-wide and within every department to help set goals for improvement. In 2021, 91% of employees participated in our company-wide survey, providing valuable insight into employee sentiment, and our average employee engagement score was 85%. Key strengths identified across the Company included confidence in leadership and career outlook, whereas identified opportunities for improvement included extended flexibility and health & wellbeing.

We have implemented various changes in response to the feedback we received, most notably to our WorkFlex and Core Hours programs. After almost two years of seeing our employees successfully adapt and continue to deliver value through dynamic personal and work environments, we saw a new opportunity to increase our flexible work policy.

In 2021, we introduced WorkFlex: a schedule consisting of three days in the office and two remote working days per week. Core Hours, which give employees additional flexibility as to their working hours each day, were also implemented. We implemented these changes while still maintaining a healthy environment for engagement, innovation and collaboration. WorkFlex has evolved into a commitment to our people and the importance of supporting workplace strategies for achieving personal and professional goals.

For 2022, we aim to maintain an employee engagement score of 85% or higher and have set a 15% or lower voluntary employee turnover goal.

Our people's safety, health, and well-being are a top priority for Regency. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we declared a strict "stay at home if sick" order, followed immediately by social distancing requirements, and ultimately transitioning all employees to remote work. However, during this time we noticed that some of our employees missed the social benefits of interacting in person with their Regency colleagues.

Therefore, in June 2020, we introduced a plan to reopen our offices in three distinct stages. We started with stage one — a “soft reopening” — which allowed employees to voluntarily work from their office. Throughout 2021, we continued to pivot between each of our three stages and made necessary adjustments in response to elevated nationwide COVID-19 infection rates and trends. Safety, health, and flexibility remain a priority for Regency, and we continue to enforce a “stay at home if sick” protocol, contact tracing when necessary, and enhanced sanitization.

Our Benefits Committee strives to provide a benefits package that is comprehensive, competitive, and thoughtfully designed to attract and retain the best in the business, with allowances for parental leave and volunteer time off. We host an annual Health Fair, and have a partnership that offers biometric screening and incentives for employees to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Virgin Pulse®, a complimentary online platform, has provided our employees with access to tools that focus on health and wellness education and awareness.

In 2021, Regency received its 13th annual 'First Coast Healthiest Companies' Award by Jacksonville, Florida's First Coast Worksite Wellness Council. This marks Regency's seventh consecutive year of winning Platinum – the award's highest honor.

At Regency, we strive to ensure that our people are safe at all sites, centers, and corporate and regional offices. We articulate these expectations through our Health and Safety Policy. Our commitment to safety also extends outside of the Company, as we strive to ensure our development and redevelopment contractors engage in safe working practices and implement policies to support these practices.