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Building a better working world
For our people
Building a better working world for our people starts by providing the opportunity and environment to build successful and challenging careers. But it goes much further than that. Building a better working world for our people is about making sure that the whole experience of working for Ernst & Young is better than working anywhere else.
People are attracted to organizations because they want to be part of something special. They want to do good, grow and succeed quickly. And they want to move around freely in a world where information and communications are 24/7 and just a few key strokes away.
Our goal is to attract great people from diverse backgrounds and enable them to perform at their best. To do that, we are continually looking into new ways to strengthen our award-winning, values-based culture because we know that the success of our business relies on the skills, attitude and knowledge of our people working together in high-performing teams.
The Ernst & Young experience
Awards
While our work is rewarding, we’re always delighted and honored when respected organizations recognize our achievements.
We attract talented, bright people to our organization every day. We want their experience at Ernst & Young to nurture their natural talent and help develop them into future leaders.
EYU
Empowering people is also about giving them the knowledge and skills they need for a rewarding and stimulating career. How we do this centers around our career development framework, EYU. We continually invest in EYU, and this year, we launched a new web portal to bring consistency to the delivery and accessibility of the program globally. We’ve also built a series of interactive career path maps that help our people visualize all the options for building their career.
EYU provides a holistic framework for looking at our people’s development, based on learning, experiences and coaching: Learning – A global curriculum has been developed and implemented to deliver consistent learning across our organization. Experiences – We know that the most enriching and career-enhancing experiences are gained on the job, and we recognize this as a formal part of our career development framework. Coaching – The authentic conversations that take place between people at all levels throughout our organization, stretching from daily informal on-the-job coaching to project feedback to periodic formal performance reviews.
While the framework is consistent globally, it is designed to be flexible because everyone is unique. Everyone is assigned a counselor who helps determine the appropriate formal learning and experiences needed to achieve their unique career goals. And embedded within EYU is a platform, My Development Site, for managing continuous feedback as well as midyear and annual reviews. We encourage all of our people to seek real-time feedback from their colleagues to document what they have been doing well and to determine areas in which they can improve.
Our milestone events provide outstanding opportunities for newly promoted people to network with their peers and include a mixture of learning, inspiration and celebration. Lifelong relationships are formed between colleagues from diverse backgrounds and cultures. This helps our people develop a global mindset, which in turn strengthens our organizational culture and helps us capitalize on our global integration efforts. This year, we held our Global New Partner Program in Beijing, bringing together more than 520 new partners to a single event. And each of our Areas hosted events for newly promoted seniors, managers and senior managers. Our 2012 locations included Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Kuala Lumpur and Orlando, Florida, USA.
Mobility
Our focus on exceptional client service provides our people with opportunities to build careers that complement their respective strengths and interests, and that will challenge and excite them. To facilitate this, we are increasing investment in our mobility programs and creating a stronger link between career mobility and accelerated career development. We provide challenging assignments for our people that build on their skills and enable our clients to benefit from their global experience.
Mobility helps us provide our clients with the right people, in the right place, with the right skills, at the right time. Our mobility programs include cross-border and cross-service-line opportunities, as well as opportunities to work within different industry segments. During FY12, 757 of our people transferred internationally and a further 1,915 of our people were on an international assignment through one of our mobility programs. Launched over 30 years ago, the Global Exchange Program (GEP) is our longest-running mobility program. The GEP is targeted at high-performing managers and seniors with assignments typically lasting for 18 months. For those interested in a shorter assignment, our New Horizons program offers high-performing staff and seniors in our Asia-Pacific, EMEIA or Americas Areas the opportunity to participate in a three-month assignment in another country.
Workplace of the future
We are taking a holistic view of the workplace, looking at the combination of the physical space, the technology provided and the culture around when and where our people work. Around the world, we are redesigning our offices to create dynamic, flexible environments that support collaboration and improve engagement. Our people will have the freedom to select the appropriate workspace to suit work activities being performed, with varying levels of concentration and collaboration throughout the day.
Our investment in a new online communication tool will allow our people to connect from one access point across multiple channels – allowing them to talk, share desktops and programs, and work together instantly.
This is supported by our desire to empower our people to think flexibly about how, where and when they work. Reduced-hours working and flexibility in scheduling can make a big difference in allowing our people to live rich, complete lives.
Justine Campbell
Leader, Global People Team, Ernst & Young
A culture to be proud of
“Fostering a winning culture in any global organization is a balancing act,” says Justine Campbell, leader of Ernst & Young’s Global People team.
“To help people work together in high-performing, cross-border teams, you have to nurture a global mindset. But you must also encourage individuality and diverse points of view. When you get the balance right you empower everyone in your organization and harness the full potential of your global workforce.”
Ernst & Young was recently named as one of just 25 companies on the list of the World’s Best Multinational Workplaces, as determined by the Great Place to Work Institute. About 5,700 companies across 45 countries took part in the study. Together, these businesses employ more than 11 million people, making the annual Great Place to Work study the largest of its kind in the world.
As part of the selection process to identify and rank the top 25 multinational employers, the Great Place to Work Institute surveyed more than 7,000 Ernst & Young employees around the world. The survey measured five aspects of workplace culture and values: credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie.
“From New York to New Delhi, I hear our people say they like working at Ernst & Young because they have great teammates and mentors, they have challenging work and are empowered to build great careers,” continues Justine. “And when I hear these things it fills me with pride that, together, the 167,000 people of Ernst & Young are building a culture that makes working here unique.”
High-performance teaming
When we bring together talented and engaged people into high-performing teams, we are able to deliver on our promise of exceptional client service. At Ernst & Young, our high-performing teams use cross-cultural strength to tackle complex problems, and they instinctively value diverse perspectives.
Whenever you join, however long you stay, the exceptional Ernst & Young experience will last a lifetime.
To deliver on this promise we have to attract great people, empower them while they are with us and stay connected to them long after they leave.
We want to make sure that differences are celebrated so that talented people from any background can rise to the top and that opportunities to develop and advance are available for all from day one. To do this requires all our people to lead inclusively with a global mindset. Making sure that all our people’s voices are heard and valued not only helps attract and retain the best people, but it also helps get better answers for our clients and our organization.
And we have made a strong commitment to diversify our leadership. In particular, we have focused on increasing the number of women partners, and we have seen steady growth in the percentage of new partners who are women, reaching 25% this year.
Erica Su
Transaction Advisory Services Partner, Ernst & Young China
Finding the right balance
“When I won the Working Mother of the Year Award earlier this year, I was thrilled. Ernst & Young nominated me and that made me very proud. But I also think winning the award said as much about Ernst & Young as it did about me,” explains Erica Su, referring to the award she took home at China’s Fourth Annual Women in Business Leadership Awards. The event celebrates the accomplishments of women in the business community.
Erica has a demanding role as a Shanghai-based TAS partner and is also the mother of two children, nine-year-old Kelly and 18-month-old Brian.
“I’m a passionate advocate for more senior women in the workplace. It builds our reputation as a progressive employer and retains talent. It is also why I am an active member of the Ernst & Young Professional Women’s Network, which supports and encourages junior women in the business,” continues Erica.
At Ernst & Young, there is a strong focus on providing a culture that allows people to find their own work-life balance in support of our diverse workforce. For example, in the Shanghai office a Working Parents Network meets quarterly to allow participants the opportunity to share experiences in balancing bringing up kids and fulfilling the requirements of demanding jobs.
“I’ve always worked in a team at Ernst & Young and we share our work, so if I am ever away because of the kids, I know my clients will continue to receive excellent service – that’s very reassuring. We’re collaborative, not competitive – I like that.”
“I know a lot of women face the dual challenge of holding down a senior position and raising a family. I think it’s a major reason why so many women avoid leadership roles in business. So to be in an organization that actively encourages that dual role is refreshing,” says Erica.
Awards
While our work is rewarding, we’re always delighted and honored when respected organizations recognize our achievements. Some recent examples include:
- Recognized as the UK's strongest accounting and business brand. Superbrands, 2013
- Named as the leading global brand for sustainability services. Verdantix, 2013
- One of Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For® for the 15th year. Fortune magazine, 2013
- Top 50 companies for diversity. Diversity Inc, 2012
- Winner of Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise Award for 14th year by Global Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE). Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise, 2012
- Top 100 Employers. Stonewall, 2012
- Ranked Europe's top professional services organization and third most attractive employer overall. Universum, 2012
- Ranked 12 on the list of World's Best Multinational Workplace. Great Place To Work Institute, 2012
- Best accounting firm to work for in the US in the “2013 Accounting 50.” Vault.com, 2012
Our values
Our shared values inspire our people worldwide and guide them to do the right thing. They are the fundamental beliefs of our organization and guide the actions and behaviors of each one of our people. By living our values, our people directly impact all areas of our business, including our relationships with each other, with our clients and with our wider communities.
Who we are:
- People who demonstrate integrity, respect and teaming.
- People with energy, enthusiasm and the courage to lead.
- People who build relationships based on doing the right thing.
Whenever you join, however long you stay, the exceptional Ernst & Young experience will last a lifetime.
To deliver on this promise, we have to attract great people, empower them while they are with us and stay connected to them long after they leave.
Our recruitment activities are focused on attracting future business leaders – people who have a global mindset and thrive in international teams, and who will drive the future success of our business.
Our people have the opportunity to work with outstanding colleagues on complex issues that have a real economic impact for our clients and communities. We want the experience that our people gain at Ernst & Young to build career value that will last a lifetime.
We want all our people to feel enthused by their work and their colleagues and to be comfortable in an organization that gives them the flexibility to achieve their professional and personal aspirations.
And the connection doesn’t end when they leave Ernst & Young. We take pride that many of our alumni will become leaders in academia, government or in the business community, while others will play a role in growing and sustaining new organizations. We’re investing in strengthening our global alumni network by creating a consistent platform and approach for connecting with them. We also regularly welcome back alumni members who rejoin Ernst & Young.