Every year, JLL publishes its UK Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Report, communicating sensitive workforce data to around 6,000 colleagues while making the report publicly available as part of its wider commitment to transparency. For the 2025 report, Modern Copy was commissioned to work alongside CraftWW and JLL’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Communications teams to develop the narrative, editorial structure and copy for an 18-page report that balanced legal reporting with honest corporate storytelling.
Capabilities
• Corporate Reporting
• Executive Communications
• Editorial Strategy
• Narrative Architecture
• Messaging Framework
• Stakeholder Interviews
• Data Storytelling
• Internal & External Communications
• Long-form Copywriting
The communication challenge
Pay gap reporting presents a unique communications problem.
The figures themselves are objective, but the story behind them rarely is.
In JLL’s case, the challenge was particularly nuanced. Although the business had reduced its pay gaps significantly since reporting began in 2017, the latest data showed a year-on-year increase. That increase was not the result of declining equality practices, but of business growth, acquisitions, organisational change and recruitment patterns that had altered the demographic profile of the workforce. Explaining that distinction clearly, without appearing defensive or dismissive, was critical.
The report also needed to communicate an important principle that is often misunderstood: pay gaps are not the same as equal pay. Readers needed enough context to understand why representation across different levels of the organisation drives the figures, and why long-term structural change matters more than annual fluctuations.
Adding further complexity, the report served multiple audiences simultaneously. It needed to satisfy statutory reporting requirements, reassure employees, demonstrate accountability to clients and investors, and reinforce JLL’s position as one of the relatively small number of UK businesses voluntarily publishing ethnicity pay gap data.
The communication challenge was therefore not simply to explain numbers. It was to build trust through clarity, transparency and context.
Our approach
Rather than treating the report as a compliance document, we approached it as a strategic narrative.
Working closely with JLL’s internal teams, we reviewed previous reports, analysed the briefing materials, discussed the emerging data and identified the central communications challenge before a single line of copy was written. The project plan deliberately allowed for collaboration with subject matter experts, design teams and follow-up Q&A sessions so the narrative could evolve alongside the final analysis.
Our first task was to establish a clear editorial hierarchy.
The report needed to move readers from understanding the terminology, through interpreting the data, before demonstrating the practical actions being taken across the organisation. That meant carefully sequencing the information so that every chart, statistic and case study reinforced a coherent strategic story rather than appearing as isolated pieces of information. The agreed outline reflected this progression, from defining gender and ethnicity pay gaps, through analysis, into action plans, colleague initiatives and organisational policies.
Language also required careful calibration.
The narrative needed to acknowledge that some headline figures had worsened without undermining confidence in the broader direction of travel. Rather than explaining away uncomfortable data, we developed messaging that framed the results honestly, connected them to organisational context and continually returned to the underlying driver: representation at senior levels.
Throughout the report we balanced factual explanation with human stories, weaving together executive commentary, colleague perspectives and examples of inclusion initiatives to demonstrate that the organisation’s response extended beyond reporting into meaningful action. The objective was to create a document that informed readers while strengthening confidence in JLL’s long-term commitment.
Modern Copy’s contribution
The outcome
The completed report transformed a technically complex and potentially sensitive subject into a clear, accessible narrative that could be understood by employees, clients and external stakeholders alike.
Instead of presenting statistics in isolation, the report connected data with organisational context, explained why the figures had changed and demonstrated how JLL intended to improve representation over time through recruitment, development and workplace initiatives. It became both a statutory publication and a broader statement of organisational accountability, supporting JLL’s ambition to lead the industry through greater transparency. The finished report also maintained a consistent editorial voice across executive introductions, explanatory sections, data commentary and case studies, giving readers a coherent experience from beginning to end.
The project reinforced an important principle of corporate communications: Strong reporting is not about presenting favourable numbers. It is about giving people enough context to understand what the numbers really mean.
In collaboration with CraftWW
Modern Copy partnered with CraftWW to develop the editorial strategy, messaging and report copy in collaboration with JLL’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Communications teams.
Ready to turn complex data into an engaging read? Let's talk.
.svg)
