Excellence! What does it mean? According to Oxford dictionary it is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. It’s the kind of statement any REALTOR® would happily hear when being described by a past client!
So why does CREA care about excellence? Like you, we are in the excellence business too. How does one measure excellence? While customer surveys help, they are only part of the picture. How do you ensure you have consistent corporate practices that enable delivery of great services and support? How do you attract and retain outstanding staff? How do you embed in an organization a member focus that celebrates partnerships and working effectively with others? As any successful REALTOR® knows, you need to have underlying principles and practices to ensure you deliver outstanding and consistent value.
To do all that you need some sort of measure – an objective third party measure. That’s how we came to join Excellence Canada. It is an organization that certifies and recognizes organizations – for profit and not for profit – that embody best-in-class for implementing standards of excellence.
Through a rigorous evaluation process Excellence Canada awards various levels of certification, from bronze and up. It is a process that examines how, why and what you do. With outside evaluators they “audit” your organization according to the best practices associated with delivering excellence.
CREA achieved the distinction of receiving its gold certification earlier this month. As the Chair of Excellence Canada stated: “We are so very proud to bestow Canada Awards for Excellence upon this year’s remarkable recipients. Our award recipients are role models of excellence in the areas of leadership, governance, strategy, customer experience, employee engagement, innovation and wellness.” (Congrats also to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver who also received gold certification).
It’s a proud accomplishment and one that is shared by all of our staff and your volunteer leadership who supported the start and continuation of this journey. It is a journey that is not over. While thrilled to have this external validation. It is our commitment to you to sustain and continue our journey of excellence.
