JLL Takes a Lead on Gender Equality
CHICAGO, Apr. 15, 2016 /3BL Media/ - JLL has joined more than 1,100 business leaders around the world to take a leadership position on gender equality by signing the UN’s Women’s Empowerment Principles. These seven key principles emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality. They have been designed to set a roadmap for best practice by elaborating the gender dimension of corporate responsibility and business' role in sustainable development.
"I strongly support the Women’s Empowerment Principles developed by UN Women and the UN Global Compact, and commit JLL to implement them. It is a fundamental strategic and cultural priority for our firm to be a diverse and inclusive organization,” stated JLL CEO Colin Dyer. “For our business strategy to succeed, we must attract, retain and promote people with top skills and experience. Gender equality and women's empowerment are essential elements for this success.”
While signing the principles is an important testament to the company’s commitment to gender equality and diversity, JLL has been a longstanding advocate of the seven principles ~ both in terms of its leadership commitment and the programs and practices it follows.
JLL has established a wide range of programs and initiatives, which align with and support the WEPs, including:
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Executive Level Diversity & Inclusion Councils in EMEA, APAC, US.
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JLL UK is a founding member of Changing the Face of Property, an initiative to increase diversity and inclusion across the property industry. The initiative has developed partnerships with a broad range of schools and colleges, attended external careers events for students and careers advisers and developed a website -www.propertyneedsyou.com - introducing apprentice schemes for school and colleges leavers.
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Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) including the Women’s Business Network, Building Pride, African American Business Network, Latino Employee Resource Network and VetNet all providing the ability to learn new skills in a low risk environment with access to senior leadership.
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Male Champions of Change - Stephen Conry, CEO Australia is leading the Male Champions of Change program that connects senior male leaders from across the real estate industry in Australia with a focus to ensure the issue of women’s representation in leadership is elevated on the national business agenda. Inclusive Leadership and unconscious bias training at corporate training events.
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Flexible work options/programs across the globe to help working men and women maintain a healthy work-life balance.
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JLL Global Health & Safety Policy and Management Standards across business units.
“We are very proud to be a signatory of the WEPs principles and look forward to strengthening our partnership with the UN,” noted JLL Managing Director Kim Burke. Burke leads the Americas Women’s Business Network for JLL and has been a long-time advocate for inclusion and gender equality. Burke attended the recent UN WEPS meeting (March 15-16) and noted the importance of private sector support for the principles.
Diversity is a core component of JLL’s value system as well as a strategic imperative. The company’s leadership recognizes having a range of experiences, backgrounds and perspectives allows it to find new ways of doing things, leading ultimately to the creation and delivery of the best possible services to its clients.
“By signing the principles it shows that JLL recognizes the value of applying a gender lens to our corporate sustainability agenda, and I was struck by the number of other companies participating in this global effort to better balance the gender scales,” said Burke. “At JLL, we have made significant strides in empowering both our female and male professionals to walk this talk and we look forward to learning from the best practices of other WEP companies shared at the WEPS meeting.”
For more information, please contact:
William Polk Phone: 312-228-3943 Aleen Bayard Phone: 312-794-7880