CBRE Case Study
91% Satisfaction Rate from Group Mentees at CBRE
A culture of mentoring has always existed at worldwide commercial real estate services & investment company CBRE, according to Paul Plamondon, Director of Learning & Development at CBRE. As one of CBRE’s core values states: We act with consideration for others’ ideas and share information openly to inspire trust and encourage collaboration.
A 2023 MentorcliQ Mentoring Luminary Award winner, Paul helped expand the mentoring strategy at CBRE, where he is the global lead for mentorship, and supports and advises CBRE leaders who wish to offer formal and informal mentorship to their group. For him, mentoring gave him his career.
“The culture of mentorship is really a mindset. It is leveraging each other’s skills and talents and abilities. It’s leveraging the experience that exists at the company. It’s leveraging thought leadership, and it’s really taking advantage of all that’s offered from our experienced employees as well as those that are newer to us,” said Paul.
Mentoring spans across the company and focuses on areas such as DEI, finance, sales, frontline employees, career development, and more.
Director of Learning & Development
at CBRE
Building a Mentoring Culture at CBRE
Paul has amplified that culture of mentoring and desire for mentorship by building multiple mentoring programs via MentorcliQ. With 12 programs currently running, mentoring spans across the company and focuses on areas such as DEI, finance, sales, frontline employees, career development, and more.
Two incredibly popular programs are:
- EMPOWER , which focuses on leadership essentials and mentorship for new and aspiring leaders, and
- BRIDGE, which is a group mentoring program focused on building community in support of frontline employees who are dispersed at job sites.
Paul blends mentoring with a thoughtful learning curriculum, creating a comprehensive learning and development experience for CBRE employees around the world.
Bridging the Isolation Gap
The success of the BRIDGE program reflects the growing need to support frontline workers who are dispersed at job sites, often feeling isolated as the only CBRE employee embedded at a client site. It started as a 1:1 mentoring program and ran successfully for a few years, but with one glaring issue—not enough mentors to support all of the employees who wanted to enroll as mentees. So Paul proposed adjusting the program format to group mentoring.
“Group mentorship is something I’ve been very interested in running at CBRE for many years,” said Paul. He seized the opportunity with the BRIDGE program when they encountered a mentor capacity challenge. By switching to group mentoring, they were able to leverage 80 mentors and support 300 mentees, vastly expanding the reach of the program.
“We can bridge our employees who feel isolated, who might feel disconnected for whatever reason, and it brings them together in this very small community. Then they get to know each other through their discussions, through their conversations,” said Paul.
BRIDGE Design Details
Group mentoring
1 mentor and 3 mentees per group
6-month relationships
Focused on monthly themes
Each person sets a goal
He provides every participant with a set of resources based on monthly themes, which he asks mentees and mentors to review before each meeting. He also provides the mentors and mentees with a suggested agenda for each month to help ensure that the experience for participants is similar no matxter which group people are in. This is important since matches are made across 5 regions (EMEA, North America, LATAM, India, and APAC), and span 29 countries.
“I find that when a curriculum or even a single resource is provided, and you invite them to use that as part of what they focus on, it just keeps it fresh, brings in a new perspective, gives them something to talk about, and it keeps that relationship going,” said Paul.
We can bridge our employees who feel isolated, who might feel disconnected for whatever reason, and it brings them together in this very small community.
Results
2020
Started In
2,760
Mentoring Hours
91%
of mentees were mostly or very satisfied with their group mentor.
90%
of mentees were mostly or very satisfied with the other group members.
Top Ranked Outcomes Participants Found Satisfying:
- Learning from other group members (72% mentees and 77% mentors)
- Having access to a larger community of CBRE employees (70% mentees and 67% mentors)
- Participating in group discussions (69% mentees and 74% mentors)
Creating connections, building community, and nurturing a mentoring culture all intersect through the BRIDGE program. Each group is diverse in terms of the kind of work each participant does, their daily focus, the clients that they work with and for, and their location. “The importance of connecting them is all about employee engagement, employee retention. This is really what we’re getting at,” said Paul. The success of the program speaks for itself in the results they have achieved.
The importance of connecting them is all about employee engagement, employee retention. This is really what we’re getting at.
