JLL plants the seeds of sustainability in employee engagement

Empowering teams through tree planting and a commitment to shaping a sustainable future.

JLL, a Fortune 200 global leader in commercial real estate services, is on a mission to "shape the future of real estate for a better world." With expertise spanning real estate leasing, facilities management, PropTech, and investment management, sustainability lies at the very heart of JLL’s purpose.

But how does such a large organization embed its sustainability commitment into every department, reaching every employee, while keeping engagement levels high?

For Ross Parsons, Director of Pursuits at JLL Hong Kong, the answer was clear: inspire sustainability action through meaningful employee engagement.

The solution: transforming training with trees

To elevate the impact of a recent broker training session for his Leasing Team, Parsons partnered with OneSeed to create an experience that combined sustainability with active participation.

Through the initiative, participants were invited to give feedback on the training via a simple yet powerful incentive: the planting of a tree in their name.

Here’s how it worked:

Post-Training Feedback: Employees received a follow-up email inviting them to share their feedback, with a planted tree as a thank-you gift.

Tree Engagement: Each participant was assigned a unique tree they could "visit" online, complete with geolocation details, a photo, and real-time updates on positive impact.

Collective Impact: JLL received shareable metrics showing the total trees planted and impact metrics, showcasing the tangible environmental and community benefits of the initiative.

Results that speak for themselves

The initiative achieved an impressive 62% survey response rate—double the typical 30–40% seen in employee feedback surveys.

Over 20 years, the planted trees are predicted to absorb 69 metric tons of CO2, directly contributing to global sequestration efforts.

A lasting impression

Ross Parsons

Director of Pursuits at Hong Kong JLL

The offering from OneSeed is practical, meaningful, and innovative. It was incredibly easy to collaborate with the OneSeed team, who tailored the program to help us achieve our goal of increased engagement and valuable feedback.

The JLL group was deeply impressed by the tree-planting initiative, made even more impactful by the ability to track the progress of thier trees. Whether for internal programs to boost employee engagement or client-facing projects, we see endless possibilities for working with OneSeed again—and we definitely will.

By blending training with purpose, JLL not only engaged their employees but also took a significant step toward their sustainability goals, proving that small actions can have a big impact.

Together, JLL and OneSeed are building a better, greener future—one tree at a time.

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Reference

Why Employee Engagement Matters

The concept of employee engagement, first introduced in 1990, was a business breakthrough. Different from employee satisfaction, which focuses on superficial perks and benefits, employee engagement occurs when a person expresses their “preferred self” in their work setting, and is a hallmark of employee performance, and therefore, the organization’s performance.

Trust in the organization’s leadership is the top driver, not the physical environment, and the top steps toward engendering trust in leadership are:

Regular opportunities to provide feedback
Management access to their team's feedback
Feedback taken seriously through action

Organizations with highly engaged employees who feel valued and supported tend to be in better financial health, have a more productive workforce, and have higher employee retention, among other benefits. It is not the free snacks in the breakroom; it is the opportunities for meaningful conversations that create outcomes.

Why Sustainability Matters for Employee Engagement

From their own research, JLL understands the significant role corporate sustainability plays in office environment, talent retention, and employee engagement.

Talent favors organizations with strong sustainability agenda