EM1: Employee Engagement
Maximum Score
Determined by materiality
Prefill
Eligible
Validation
Other answer is manually validated
2026 Updates
None
Does the entity engage with its employees through training or satisfaction monitoring?
Assessment Instructions
Intent: What is the purpose of this indicator?
This indicator assesses the coverage and scope of the entity’s engagement with employees through training and satisfaction surveys. Training on sustainability-related topics supports the development of employee capability, strengthens human capital, and can contribute to higher satisfaction and improved business performance.
Employee satisfaction surveys help organizations identify key issues, engage with staff, and support retention and productivity. Using widely applied survey approaches and translating results into clear, comparable metrics enables more effective analysis across different entities.
Input: How do I complete this indicator?
Select Yes or No: If selecting 'Yes', select all applicable checkbox(es).
Employee training: Provide the percentages for the number of employees that received training out of the total number of employees during the reporting year. The percentage of employees covered should be based on Full Time Equivalents (FTE) or headcount. Answers should be applicable at the entity, operator and/or manager level.
Employees receiving professional training: Number of employees receiving training / Total number of employees x 100
Employees receiving sustainability-related training: Number of employees receiving sustainability-related training / Total number of employees x 100
Employee satisfaction surveys: Indicate the percentage of employees that were surveyed during the last three years. The percentage of employees covered should be based on Full Time Equivalents (FTE) or headcount. If the number of employees changed during the reporting year, the percentage should be calculated based on the average number.
The response rate is the percentage of employees that received and completed the survey, compared to the total number of employees that received the survey. For example, if the survey was sent to 100 employees and 40 responded, the response rate would be 40%.
Quantitative Metrics:The entity can indicate what quantitative metrics were used for the survey. It is possible to report using the ‘other’ answer option.
Exceptions
Select Yes or No: GRESB is seeking to standardize the scope and boundaries of reporting to allow for more accurate benchmarking and to progressively move towards scoring of performance. If the scope of the data reported for this indicator does not exactly match the reporting scope (facilities, ancillary activities and time period) as reported in “Entity and Reporting Characteristics” (EC4, RC3, RC4), then answer ‘No’ to this question and describe these exceptions in the “Exceptions” text box.
Terminology
Employee(s)
Someone who works directly for the asset and receives compensation in the form of an hourly wage or annual salary for their work. This can be both onsite or offsite (such as in an administration office). Employers typically have to pay specific benefits such as contributions to pensions or taxes for employees. Employees may be either full time or part time and may operate on a short term contract.
Employee Satisfaction Survey
Survey measuring overall and work-specific employee satisfaction at the individual and organizational levels. The survey should directly address employee concerns and include the opportunity to provide recommendations for improvement.
Environmental issues
The impact on living and non-living natural systems, including land, air, water and ecosystems. This includes, but is not limited to, biodiversity, transport and product and service-related impacts, as well as environmental compliance and expenditures.
Sustainability-related training
Training related to environmental, social and governance issues. Examples of sustainability-specific training topics include, but are not limited to: sexual harassment prevention, workplace discrimination and inclusivity, cybersecurity, health and safety, resources and waste management.
Training can be delivered in person, online or in other formats.
Governance issues
Governance structure and composition of the entity. This includes how the highest governance body is established and structured in support of the entity’s purpose, and how this purpose relates to economic, environmental and social dimensions.
Independent third party
In the context of survey administration, an independent third party is an external organization that is financially and structurally independent from the reporting entity and is responsible for administering the survey in a matter that safeguards the impartiality, integrity, and quality of survey results. For a survey to be considered third-party administered:
The organization administering the survey must be a separate legal entity from the fund manager or reporting entity.
The administrator must ensure that the reporting entity cannot access, edit, or influence individual responses or aggregated survey results once the survey is launched.
Participant anonymity must be preserved, and the survey process must protect the integrity of the data and the resulting quantitative metrics.
The use of survey development tools, such as SurveyMonkey and SurveyGizmo, may not qualify as an independent third party unless the tool’s service explicitly includes independent creation and administration. This must be clearly specified in the evidence provided.
Net Promoter Score
The Net Promoter Score ® (NPS) is a customer loyalty metric developed by Bain & Company, Fred Reichheld, and Satmetrix. It divides customers, tenants or employees into three segments: passives, detractors and promoters, using the following question “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely would you be to recommend this company (or this product) to friends and colleagues?” The Net Promoter Score ® (NPS) ratings of 9 or 10 indicate promoters; 7 and 8, passives; and 0 through 6, detractors. The NPS is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage detractors.
Overall satisfaction score
An overarching metric in a satisfaction survey, with no prescribed scale, that measures how happy an employee or tenant is with the organization, lease, and/or services provided. The industry best practice is a 1-5 scale - very poor, poor, average, good, and excellent, respectively.
Professional training
Training that supports employees in advancing their careers and/or handling day-to-day work responsibilities. Examples of professional training topics include, but are not limited to: information security, annual compliance, leadership and project management, effective communication, technical tools and software, remote work best practice, customer service.
Training can be delivered in person, online or in other formats.
Quantitative metric
Any measure or parameter of satisfaction that can be represented numerically.
Social issues
Concerns the impacts the entity has on the social systems within which it operates. This includes, but is not limited to community social and economic impacts, safety, health & well-being.
Survey response rate
The proportion of submitted surveys as a percentage of the total number of people or organizations that received a request to complete a survey.
Training
Refers to: (1) All types of vocational training and instruction; (2) Paid educational leave provided by the organization for its employees; (3) Training or education pursued externally and paid for in whole or in part by the organization; (4) Training on specific topics such as health and safety. Training does not include on-site coaching by supervisors.
Validation: What evidence is required?
No evidence required. Only the 'Other' answer is manually validated.
Other Answer
Add a response that applies to the entity but is not already listed. Ensure that the ‘Other’ answer provided is not a duplicate or subset of another option (e.g. “recycling” when “‘Waste” is selected). It is possible to report multiple ‘Other’ answers. It is possible to report multiple ‘Other’ answers. If multiple ‘Other’ answers are accepted, only one will be counted towards scoring.
Scoring
Does the entity engage with its employees through training or satisfaction monitoring?
Scoring: How does GRESB score this indicator?
The scoring of this indicator is equal to the fraction assigned to the selected option, multiplied by the total score of the indicator.
Other Answer
The 'Other' answer is manually validated and assigned a score which is used as a multiplying factor, as per the table below:
Accepted
1/1
Not Accepted
0
Duplicate
0
Materiality-based scoring
The scoring of this indicator is equal to the sum of the fractions assigned to the selected options and respective sub-options, multiplied by the total score of the indicator. The fractional points assigned to each option depend on their material relevance (as determined by the GRESB Materiality Assessment).
The entity must select all issues of ‘Medium relevance’ and ‘High relevance’ to obtain the maximum score.
Specific materiality weightings are assigned to the entity for each sustainability issue. The weightings are set at one of four levels for each of the issues:
No relevance (scoring weight: 0)
Low relevance (scoring weight: 0)
Medium relevance (scoring weight: 1)
High relevance (scoring weight: 2)
References
Bain & Company, Introducing: The Net Promoter System®
Alignment with External Frameworks
DJSI CSA 2019 - 5.3.1 Training & Development Inputs
DJSI CSA 2019 -5.4.4 Trend of Employee Engagement
GRI Standards 2016 - 102-43: Approach to stakeholder engagement
GRI Standards 2016 - 404-1: Average hours of training per year per employee
Relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
8.6 By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
12.8 By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature
13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
Get Support: Solution Providers
GRESB Solution Providers are independent, third-party organizations within the GRESB Partner network that offer specialized products, tools, and services to support sustainability performance outside the GRESB Assessment process.
The organizations below deliver commercially available solutions designed to help drive improvement for this indicator. Engagement is managed directly between the reporting entity and the Solution Provider.
GRESB will continue to update this section as the GRESB Solution Provider network grows. Please check back regularly to find GRESB Solution Providers who can support your sustainability performance.
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