JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) is a global leader in commercial real estate services and investment management, with over 250 years of heritage since its founding in 1783. Operating across more than 80 countries, JLL delivers comprehensive services spanning the entire property lifecycle, from Market and Transaction services to Property, Asset, and Workplace Management, as well as specialised Project and Development Services, including Workplace Change Management. The company’s purpose is to shape the future of real estate for a better world through climate action, inclusive communities, and healthy spaces for all people.

JLL’s success in Melbourne created an unexpected organisational challenge in 2019 when the company outgrew its existing workspace. This growth necessitated a temporary sublease arrangement and the relocation of 150 staff from the Project and Development Services division to an alternate location. What was intended as a short-term solution evolved into a four-year separation that fragmented teams across three distinct floors, creating invisible barriers that siloed JLL’s collaborative culture.

By 2023, JLL recognised this fragmentation as a cultural challenge demanding bold action. The fundamental question was how JLL could reunite teams that had been isolated for four years into a cohesive, collaborative community.

To address this, JLL designed a hybrid-enabling work environment that naturally fosters connection through carefully planned spaces, seamless technology integration, and physical environments that embody JLL’s values. The project aimed to demonstrate how active employee engagement and change management could transform challenges into opportunities, leveraging a new workplace to inspire all 400 employees based at the JLL Melbourne office.

JLL assembled a multidisciplinary team consolidating skills from Change Management, Workplace Strategy, Interior Design, Workplace Experience, Sustainability, Project Management, and Technology. At the heart of this team were Change Management and Communications specialists Shaun Rogers and Hayley Sloan, who served as the vital bridge between architectural blueprints and human behaviour, translating physical plans into human-centred engagements and processes.

The ‘Together@101’ Change Management program commenced with comprehensive stakeholder engagement in April 2023, establishing the change vision: “We’re creating a thriving community where we come together to connect, collaborate and grow.” The program was built around JLL’s five-step change management process: Excite, Engage, Enable, Embed, and Evaluate, creating a roadmap that guided colleagues through the change in a gradual and sustainable manner.

The 14-month change management action plan, delivered between August 2023 and October 2024, culminated in the move to the new workplace on 1 July 2024. The methodology emphasised education on new ways of working while ensuring all communications remained clear, concise, and aligned with JLL’s brand values.

The JLL Change Managers executed each initiative with high levels of collaboration across the Melbourne business. The program coincided with the appointment of new Managing Director Kate Pilgrim, whose sponsorship proved essential to successful implementation. Key execution highlights included a comprehensive townhall launch event, a multi-sensory expo experience featuring tactile interactions and video flythroughs, strategic neighbourhood planning through relationship mapping, comprehensive technology and behavioural training, and a curated welcome experience with dedicated first-week support.

The program included innovative engagement activities such as coffee voting, meeting room naming contests, ergonomic chair selection, and regular site photo updates, ensuring sustained engagement and preventing change fatigue while creating positive associations with the transformation.

The post-move evaluation conducted three months after the transition revealed extraordinary results. The program achieved a remarkable 96% agreement among JLL Melbourne employees that the workplace enables teams to connect, collaborate, and grow, while 97% confirmed that the space enables productive work. An outstanding 98% of the team indicated pride in bringing clients to the new workplace, demonstrating successful brand alignment.

The change management program drove measurable behavioural transformation, with average office attendance increasing from 2.9 to 3.4 days per week – a 17% increase in workplace engagement. Additionally, 80% of employees reported coming to the office to socialise with colleagues, while a notable 10 percentage point increase in employees connecting with JLL’s culture and brand demonstrated successful organisational identity reinforcement.

The program achieved inclusive excellence through successful integration of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, including communications and usage education around gender-inclusive facilities and specialised spaces for neurodivergent employees. These initiatives were strategically woven into the change narrative, achieving 95% agreement that the workplace contributes to wellbeing.

Technology adoption was equally successful, with 91% of employees confirming that new workplace technology enables effective work, while 93% agree that their work setup supports focused and productive work.

When specifically asked to reflect on the change management aspects, 97% of JLL Melbourne employees indicated that the communications and change program effectively prepared them for the transition. Hence, JLL’s organisational transformation achieved industry-leading satisfaction rates while driving meaningful behavioural change and fostering an inclusive and productive workplace culture. The ‘Together@101’ program demonstrates that exceptional change management can transform not just spaces, but organisational culture and employee experience at the highest level.

 For more information about JLL, visit https://www.jll.com/en-au/.