JLL Named a 2016 World’s Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute for the Ninth Consecutive Year

CHICAGO, April 15, 2016 /3BL Media/ - Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL) has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as a 2016 World’s Most Ethical Company®. This is the ninth year in a row that JLL has been included on Ethisphere’s list.

“We are very proud of being part of a small and elite group of global companies that have remained on Ethisphere’s list for so many years,” said Colin Dyer, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Integrity has been a fundamental value and essential part of our culture throughout our long history, and it continues to serve the best interests of our clients, shareholders, employees and other stakeholders,” Dyer added.

JLL has established a broad array of programs and policies to ensure employees at all levels throughout the company’s vast global operations have a clear understanding of the expectations to behave in accordance with the company’s ethical principles and how to report concerns when they do arise.  A fundamental component of JLL’s approach has been to have its country lawyers serve as ethics officers for their region. In addition to managing contract negotiations, litigation, M&A, and traditional legal matters, these JLL's lawyers communicate ethical standards to the business through trainings and written communications as well as investigate concerns.  To help them with getting the message out, the lawyers rely on 200 ethics liaisons who function at the business level. These professionals work within local markets and client accounts to ensure JLL’s Code of Conduct is followed, which can be challenging when doing business in regions with different practices.

“It is easy to enforce the basic message of ‘don’t lie, cheat or steal.’ But it's the nuances of doing business globally that adds a challenge,” explained Rachel Barner, General Counsel for JLL’s Corporate Solutions service.  “For example, our employees know that they cannot offer a bribe.  But what is a bribe? In some countries, they do not look at it as a negative, but rather an acceptable way of doing business.”

The idea of integrating ethics directly into the business was first championed by JLL’s Global General Counsel, Mark Ohringer, who pioneered the company’s innovative Ethics Everywhere initiative. “Our Ethics Everywhere program is very rich with solutions for our employees to better understand and apply standards into every day practice,” said Barner, who works closely with her colleagues in the legal department to bring the ethics message into the rest of the organization.

“While the fundamentals of our program are the same, how we communicate our Code and expectations depends on the ‘tastes’ of the culture,” she noted. “We use the analogy of McDonald’s french fries.  They all taste the same no matter where you are in the world. The difference? Condiments. Customers prefer ketchup in the U.S., chutney in India, and mayo in U.K."

One of the primary ways JLL cascades its Code of Conduct through its 200 offices and thousands of client sites is through a robust training curriculum including live workshops, self-study programs and webcasts. Barner’s team also uses Yammer and regular newsletters to provide real-life examples of how to deal with conflicts of interest, local customs and new laws and regulations.

Background about Ethisphere Methodology & Scoring
The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient™ (EQ) framework developed over years of research and vetted and refined by expert advice from Ethisphere World’s Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel. The EQ offers a quantitative means to assess a company’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies for corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%) and provided to all companies who participate in the process.

About JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. A Fortune 500 company with annual fee revenue of $5.2 billion and gross revenue of $6.0 billion, JLL has more than 230 corporate offices, operates in more than 80 countries and has a global workforce of more than 60,000. On behalf of its clients, the firm provides management and real estate outsourcing services for a property portfolio of 4.0 billion square feet, or 372 million square meters, and completed $138 billion in sales, acquisitions and finance transactions in 2015. Its investment management business, LaSalle Investment Management, has $56.4 billion of real estate assets under management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com.

About the Ethisphere Institute
The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with the publication of Ethisphere magazine. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://ethisphere.com.

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