Mildred Tan / Ernst & Young
On leadership sustainability
By Lisa Cheong
How have HR strategies and leadership development at Ernst & Young been affected by the economic crisis?
A The importance of talent retention and development does not diminish in a crisis. In fact, the ability to focus on our HR strategies will differentiate and keep us ahead of the competition when the eventual economic upturn arrives.
Honest and open two-way communication had played a critical role in ensuring that we, as a firm, stay focused on our goals during tough times.
At Ernst & Young, we have a formal leadership development framework, which ensures that there is consistency in the way we develop our leaders across the region. The framework is important as it provides consistent criteria to identify leaders, who attend the same development courses and enrich one another with their experiences as leaders in their respective countries and service lines. The role of leaders is made all the more important in tough times, so we cannot afford to stand still. In fact, there are opportunities to capitalise on the pool of readily available talent in the market as a result of the crisis, and we have been making strategic executive hires over the twelve months to bolster our team’s strength to deliver the quality service that our clients expect and be ready to pounce on any new business opportunities.
What does Ernst & Young look for in its top leaders?
A Leaders who are role models for our values, including integrity, courage to lead and doing the right thing. They must be able to win in the market and at the same time develop others to become leaders of the future.
What are the biggest challenges the company faces when it comes to building a succession pipeline of top leaders?
Retaining junior staff is a common problem for our profession because turnover at that level is high. We therefore have to constantly identify for potential leaders earlier in their career, engage and support them in their career aspirations by providing them with the training, development and mobility opportunities in a well-rounded manner, so as to prepare them well for the leadership pipeline.
Our people development systems are geared towards enabling us to identify and groom those with potential and ambition. At the same time, we recognise the need to attract external top talents while nurturing top leaders from within, so as to lend the breadth and depth of expertise and experience that are critical for us to meet the evolving needs of clients and grow our business.
When it comes to building the succession pipeline, has the economic recession offered any silver linings?
There are opportunities to capitalise on the pool of readily available talent in the market as a result of the crisis, where people may have lost employment for non-performance related reasons. As such, we have made several strategic executive hires over the twelve months in the region to bolster our team’s strength.
Also, attrition rate among staff has reduced, presenting us with an opportunity to assess and identify the potential in staff, and invest in helping them grow to their fullest potential.
What HR programmes does Ernst & Young have in place in order to build a sustainable leadership pipeline?
Our formal leadership development framework provides a consistent criteria to identify leaders, who attend the same development courses and enrich one another with their experiences as leaders in their respective countries and service lines.
We offer potential leaders opportunities and challenges that will enrich them and stretch their potential. We also employ a mentorship approach such that they are paired up with a mentor who will guide them and serve as a role model. They will also be sent for programmes to further develop their leadership potential as well as network with other regional and global leaders in Ernst & Young.
In addition to building leaders from within, what else is the company doing?
As the Singapore office operates as part of an integrated Far East Area business unit, this has enabled us to develop our global and area mobility programmes, which facilitate the easy secondment of staff to other offices. These staff, having attained valuable global and area experience, then stand in good stead for leadership position. We also have situations where top staff in one country practice had the opportunity to move to another office within Ernst & Young to take on leadership positions.
