CBRE 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report: Social

People are the heart of CBRE. And our approach to corporate responsibility relies on our people.

Our initiatives are designed to reflect the communities where we live and work while investing in and engaging with our employees, partners and communities to help businesses and people thrive. 

From key programs to attract, engage and develop world-class talent who drive results for our clients to initiatives that contribute to a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture where our people feel heard, valued and engaged. We have been leading the industry to foster a workplace where employees are safe and well at the start and end of their day. And, we collaborate with business partners, suppliers and the community to realize improved outcomes and a sustainable future. 

We are focused on our workforce representation and building our talent to reflect the communities where we live and work. While we are not yet where we want to be, we are making some progress in key areas

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

In 2021, we continued to lay the foundation for accelerating progress with investments to grow our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) team, which expanded fivefold. Our team includes DE&I subject matter experts in learning and development, communications, program management, data analytics and procurement DE&I is a company-wide effort and we look at it the same way we approach every business imperative for CBRE and our clients: with an intentional focus on data, innovation, and outcomes.

Supplier Diversity

In 2020, CBRE announced a pledge to spend at least $1 billion with diverse suppliers in 2021 and to continue to grow this spend over the next four years. CBRE exceed this goal and in 2021, CBRE awarded $3.2 billion to small and diverse suppliers.

Workplace Wellbeing & Safety

In 2021, we saw high scores for safety and wellbeing in our employee engagement survey. Safety scored 88%, increasing two points from 2019, and our wellbeing score increased seven points to 75%. These improvements reflect our ongoing commitment to achieving the highest standards of safety and wellbeing performance

In recognition of the ongoing challenges people experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including physical wellbeing concerns and reduced feelings of connectedness, CBRE expanded our focus on promoting a caring workplace culture to foster employee wellbeing. In 2021 we offered 24 workshops on wellbeing tools and programs, 12 task force meetings to build and monitor these program and acted on 23,000 comments from our employee engagement survey.

Community and Giving

Investing in and supporting the communities where we live and work around the world is a priority for CBRE and our employees. Through direct contributions from the company, the CBRE Foundation and our employees—including volunteer time—we are able to make a difference for both people and the planet. In 2021, our corporate philanthropic strategy evolved to focus on two main areas that align with our company’s overarching ESG priorities: tackling climate change as part of our environmental sustainability initiatives and increasing educational and career opportunities for underrepresented populations as part of our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

We have some big goals, and while the shift won’t happen overnight, you will definitely see the progress we’re making. When I step back and consider how my work directly impacts communities where we do business, it is incredibly rewarding. - Veronica H.Corporate Responsibility Manager