CASE STUDY
Learning is Essential at CBRE
116,000 Employees, 1 Mission
CBRE, a global leader in real estate services, faced the challenge of ensuring its diverse workforce of 116,000 employees across the Americas, Asia, and Europe remained aligned with evolving regulatory requirements and workplace practices. This workforce spanned multiple time zones, cultures, and business priorities, making it critical yet complex to maintain engagement and compliance.
The company mandated annual training to address essential topics such as sexual harassment prevention, anti-discrimination policies, and workplace ethics, emphasizing their commitment to fostering an ethical and inclusive workplace culture. However, delivering this training effectively to such a geographically and culturally diverse audience required overcoming significant barriers, including time zone differences, linguistic and cultural nuances, and employees' competing responsibilities. This highlighted the need for innovative strategies to create impactful, accessible, and culturally relevant learning experiences that resonated with a global audience while meeting compliance objectives.
Objectives:
Ensure Global Consistency: Develop a unified communications strategy adaptable to regional needs.
Maximize Engagement: Create messaging that resonated across diverse cultural and professional contexts.
Meet Deadlines: Drive 100% participation within the compliance timeline.
Streamline the Process: Minimize disruption to daily workflows through clear and accessible communication.
Implementation
A multi-channel global communications plan was designed and executed that effectively addressed the unique challenges of CBRE's diverse workforce. The messaging itself was carefully crafted to be clear and action-oriented, emphasizing the importance of the training. To enhance engagement, we designed learning plans to assist employees on their path to complete training.
The communications strategy utilized multiple channels, leveraging CBRE's internal platforms such as email campaigns, intranet announcements, newsletters, and collaboration tools like Viva Engage and CBRE's employee app called 'CBRE in a Pocket' to ensure non-wired employees also received important communications about the upcoming training.
Leadership advocacy played a critical role in the strategy. Managers were equipped with toolkits to champion the program during team meetings to reinforce the importance of the training. Throughout the rollout, metrics were monitored and the data was used to make adjustments and optimize the strategy based on performance. This comprehensive approach ensured the program's success while addressing the complexities of a global workforce.
The Results
The Annual Essential Learning Campaign achieved remarkable success, with 96% of employees completing their training within the designated timeframe. The campaign’s localized approach and strong executive sponsorship were key drivers of its effectiveness. By emphasizing the importance of compliance in fostering a safe and ethical workplace, CBRE reinforced its commitment to excellence and accountability on a global scale.
Annual Essential Learning Global Assets
Insights
By focusing on audience needs, leveraging technology, and fostering leadership buy-in, the "Annual Essential Learning" campaign not only met but exceeded its objectives. This experience reinforces the belief in the importance of thoughtful, data-driven communication strategies to achieve organizational goals while driving employee engagement and compliance.