Ebby Halliday Companies: One of the Best Places to Work in DFW

The late Ebby Halliday would be so proud.

Last week, we told you about the Dallas real estate companies voted Best Place to Work to work in DFW, according to research completed by the Dallas Morning News. The Ebby Halliday Companies, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, was named the No. 11 best place to work (in North Texas) in the Large Companies category of the Top 100 Places to Work.

The annual contest is produced by The Dallas Morning News’ research partner, Workplace Dynamics, who polls employees to measure the health of U.S. companies. This year, The Dallas Morning News surveyed 330 DFW companies employing a total of 154,197 people, to determine the 100 best. Results were determined by 78,960 responses, graded in performance metrics such as leadership, sense of mission, career opportunities, culture, and pay and benefits.

Ebby would be so proud of the company she founded as a one-woman office in 1945. Even as she neared the end of her life at 104, Ebby Halliday went to work. She would say, “Oh, work isn’t work unless there’s something you’d rather do!” When a client or acquaintance would inquire, “Does so-and-so work for you?” Halliday would nod her head affirmatively while gently correcting to say, “Yes, she works with me.”

The Ebby Halliday Companies spread far across North Texas with three real estate brands: Dallas-based Ebby Halliday, REALTORS, the company founded by Ebby Halliday herself, Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate, purchased by Ebby in 2011, and Fort Worth-based Williams Trew, purchased by Ebby in 2014. The company also owns core-services companies Prosperity Mortgage, Home Team Insurance and Texas Premier Title.

What is it that makes working at the Ebby Halliday Companies, today thriving with more than 1,800 agents, so unique?

“Our people are humble, hungry and smart,” says President and CEO Chris Kelly. “We treat the Ebby Halliday family of companies as one team and share a common goal of service to our clients, service to our industry and service to our community.”

It’s really like working in a family, agents say, because the company focuses today on the same simple, honorable principles Ebby Halliday herself installed 75 years ago.

“Working for the Ebby Halliday Companies is a true honor,” says Shaun Hayes, agent at Ebby Preston Center. “Knowing that Ebby has my back 100 percent of the time, pushes me to be my best and ensures I’m prepared for any type of market definitely makes day-to-day easier.”

Ebby offers exemplary leadership, world-class training, and, in Shaun’s words, “Our offices are like a second family. I know that no matter the situation, Ebby will always stand behind me, almost like a parent.”

“There’s nowhere else I would rather be. Ms. Ebby would be thrilled to see what we’ve accomplished since she left us,” adds Shaun, “and all the places we are going!”

The company is also known for the exquisite, thorough training all agents receive. Ebby School, which will be renamed The Edge (short for Education, Discipline, Growth and Excellence) in 2020, ensures agents from each Ebby Halliday Companies brand possess a distinction, a polish, that guarantees the best real estate professionals are working for clients.

“As an Ebby Halliday Companies client, consumers benefit from knowledgeable, respected real estate agents plus a team of trusted professionals dedicated to making buying or selling your home one convenient experience,” says Chris Kelly. “While our skilled agents help you navigate the market, our family of affiliated core-services companies will handle your mortgage, insurance and title needs.”

The core-services companies also help Ebby agents guide clients through smooth, seamless transactions, along with the collaborative culture.

“As an agent with the Dave Perry-Miller brand of the Ebby Halliday Companies, I enjoy an exceptional ‘back house’ support, particularly in marketing, technology and relocation services,” says veteran Dave Perry-Miller Park Cities agent Paige Elliott. “Tremendous in-house support, including our talented staff and management, as well as a collaborative agent culture steers us to helping our clients reach their housing goals.”

Ebby Halliday Companies also fosters relationship-building, a fundamental of sales success in any field.

“Our success grows from the relationships we establish, our client service and our work in the community,” says Kelly McLean with Williams Trew. “That culture is at the core of who we are. With the resources, the technology and the education that Ebby Halliday Companies provides us, I cannot think of a better company to associate with.”

Strong leadership, say agents, is another key to an optimum work environment.

“The concierge level of office support, company wide commitment to serving others, endless training opportunities, international brand recognition and our new CEO, Chris Kelly, makes it so wonderful to be with Ebby Halliday Realtors,” says Elisha Scott, agent at Ebby’s Little White House, once the town hall for the Village of Preston Hollow.

The company has grown exponentially from those first few years at The Little White House. With great leadership and principles mentored by the founder herself, the Ebby Halliday Companies has emerged as a modern-day brokerage selling homes and improving people’s lives.

“It’s so meaningful for the Ebby Halliday Companies to be named one of the Top 100 Places to Work by The Dallas Morning News as we approach our 75^th anniversary of serving the residential real estate needs of North Texans and those choosing to move here,” said Ebby Halliday Companies President & CEO Chris Kelly. “This is a great honor for us as a company. I’m most proud that our people are so passionate about the workplace they’ve helped build together.”

Ebby Halliday today is the largest residential real estate company in Texas by sales volume. It was acquired by HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate and the country’s largest residential real estate company based on transactions, in 2018.

For more information about Ebby Halliday Companies brokerage, mortgage, insurance and title services, visit ebby.com, daveperrymiller.com and williamstrew.com.