Going back to the office with a focus on authenticity

Lessons learned from the pandemic will instill a new way of working making EY a top employer.

At a time when the focus is on returning to the office, it is helpful to reflect on the eventful period that is behind us. We can be proud of how we got through it as a team. Everyone took responsibility, at all levels. Including the executives who played an exemplary role. They acted in accordance with the idiom: "take care of your sailors, because they take care of your ship." Everything happened with attention to safety, common sense and authenticity.

Attention to Resilience

Right from the beginning of the crisis, when offices were almost literally shut down, we decided not to make use of the measures for temporary unemployment. Everyone continued to work, albeit in changed circumstances. We could not have given a clearer signal. An effort was made to keep everything as normal as possible. That is also why we decided not to change the budget for the annual remuneration of our people in April 2020 - another clear message.

Safety was the order of the day and in that context, we set up our own contact tracing system as a company, as well as fully COVID-proofing our offices. Resilience was another great concern. We gave our people a lot of tips. After all, managing resilience has a lot to do with yourself and how you handle situations. We also measured the resilience of colleagues. We noticed that it was sometimes difficult for them, especially for those who live alone and/or had to combine homework with attending to children when the schools were closed. It seemed only logical to us that we permitted as many people as legally possible to come to the office. Consulting together, sharing experiences, encouraging each other – that is, after all, what makes EY such a great place to work.

Combining the Best of Both Worlds

Many lessons were learned from these events. They became the foundation of a new way of working that is expected to make us even more attractive as an employer. For example, mixing homeworking with working from the office will become the norm. COVID swung the pendulum the other way but now we have the opportunity to combine the best of both worlds. Our employees’ individual situations will determine how many days a week that they will work from home. The average will probably be two days a week. In essence, it is about trust and making clear agreements. We also provide a customized compensation strategy where we commit to maximizing as much as legally possible. It is extremely important to us that no one, regardless of the choices they make, should lose out financially. This is an important principle.

Daring to Change in a Sustainable Way

The return to the office raises questions about sustainability as well. Should the return to the office also be a return to old mobility habits? Or is this the perfect opportunity to reform them? At EY, we were changing our approach to mobility even before COVID took hold. We gave our people the support they needed to get around using greener alternatives such as smaller company cars, hybrid and electric vehicles or public transport. These options have a direct impact on the environment. But here, too, there has to be authenticity. It cannot just be window dressing. On the one hand, you have to dare to invest in new green options and on the other hand you have to dare to trust your employees to make responsible choices. For this reason, EY is rolling out an electrification of its fleet as part of its mobility plan.

Becoming a Big Four with a Big Heart

However, there are other measures in the pipeline. We pride ourselves on being a big four with a big heart. This translates into a unique disability plan for our people, never before seen in our sector. EY also wants to facilitate the combination of career and family life as much as possible. In this we want to be a partner, practically, but also financially. For example, we will now make a net adjustment to the loss of income suffered as a result of maternity leave. With these and other measures, we hope to create real added value for our people.