As the company's No. 3 official behind chief executive officer of the Americas Peter Roberts and chief financial officer Lauralee Martin, Thummel will oversee the finance, legal, office services, technology, and engineering and operations functional groups, as well as the Canadian and Latin American businesses. Jones Lang LaSalle has 6,700 employees in the Americas region, where it generated $371.2 million in revenue last year.

However, Thummel's promotion is viewed as a customer-oriented move, as a member of the company's client relationship manager team is moving up to a prominent post at 200 E. Randolph St. "Through my great experiences working with clients and client relationship managers, I've developed an appreciation for how the firm's infrastructure enables our ability to support our clients," says Thummel, a 17-year veteran with Jones Lang LaSalle.

Indeed, Thummel's promotion drew praise from Procter & Gamble director of employee and workplace services William Reeves. "His appointment as COO for Jones Lang LaSalle is great news because he will now be in a broad leadership position where he can develop innovative solutions that are good for Procter & Gamble and clients like us," Reeves says.