Google has surprised everyone by snatching the top spot in the Reputation Institute’s global corporate responsibility rankings. Walt Disney secured the second spot while Lego came third.

Despite the controversies and scandals, Google won the rankings due to its ‘exceptional’ workplace culture which encourages employees’ sense of purpose and commitment to be an equal opportunity employer. Google managed a score of 71.9.

The online survey was conducted by the Reputation Institute in partnership with research firm Toluna Group in Q1 of 2018, surveying 230,000 individuals in 15 countries.

“This year’s results demonstrate an important inflection point. We are now in an era when companies need to go beyond just social responsibility – they must have fiscal, social, environmental and employer responsibility. There is a unique opportunity for a company to raise the bar and deliver on higher expectations for a holistic commitment to corporate responsibility” commented Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, chief reputation officer.

Griffiths observed that the name behind the acclaim is of Google CEO Sundar Pichai. “Sundar Pichai is a strong CEO who is also viewed as responsible,” says Hahn-Griffiths. “There’s a humility and a modesty in how he talks publicly.”

Pichai demonstrated his commitment to ensuring Google’s status as an equal opportunity employer, not to mention his genuine concern for the well-being of his employees, a sentiment that’s core to the culture and perks for which the organization is renowned.

“Google is celebrated based on its values, culture, and commitment to creating a thriving workplace,” says Hahn-Griffiths. “If you can’t treat people who work for your company well, you can’t accomplish the goal of being good at corporate responsibility.”

The rankings showed the emergence of new players in building a corporate responsible workplace. Natura, Novo Nordisk, Canon, Michelin, and IKEA took the higher spots replacing BMW, Intel, Cisco, Rolls-Royce Aerospace and Colgate-Palmolive.

“Creating a company that is viewed as having high corporate responsibility begins from the inside out,” says Hahn-Griffiths. “When you have internal alignment, the external story becomes much more powerful.”