9-Sanjay Bhandari.qxp_A4 Temp 09/09/2016 19:52 Page 9
Attracting, empowering and developing effective leaders EY Partner, Sanjay Bhandari, explains the importance of developing professionals in a fast paced, global market.
EY is proud to support the Asian Achievers Awards 2016 and to celebrate the success of the economic contribution of this vibrant group to the global economy. A global professional services firm with over 230,000 people in 152 countries, EY delivers assurance, advisory, tax and transaction services worldwide. Our clients tell us that to be successful in the global market place, they need to be agile and able to respond to fast paced change. They also need diverse leaders and advisers, who are culturally fluent and forward looking. It is a commercial imperative for us to develop the next generation of professionals, who are able to respond to those demands and deliver exceptional client service. We start with a clear employee value proposition: we commit to our people that ‘whenever you join, however long you stay, the exceptional experience of EY will last a lifetime’. Here in the UK we do that by focusing on four ambitions.
Attracting great people
We work hard to access diverse talent at all levels, from school leavers and graduates to experienced professionals. In fact in 2015 we boldly removed academic entry criteria from our student recruitment process, welcoming more applications and opening up access to the profession. We employ initiatives, such as Smart Futures, which supports young people with known barriers to employment, and actively seek to attract diverse talent across the firm.
Empowering people to perform at their best
Our brand is underpinned by our values and these inform everything our people do. Values and trust are at the heart of professionalism and we trust our people to deliver great work for our clients, guided by these foundations. We empower our people at all levels of organisation to decide how, when and where they work, so they meet their personal and professional goals.
Creating an inclusive environment
Diverse teams are more effective than homogenous teams when managed by inclusive leaders. We invest in building the inclusive leadership skills of our people, which we believe is the ‘game changer’. Last year we rolled out ‘inclusive leadership training’ to over 2000 of the professionals in
Sanjay Bhandari Partner, EY
our business, helping to further develop a working environment at EY where difference is not only valued but embraced. We build inclusion into all our business processes and use robust data to ensure outcomes are equitable for employees. This means that not only do we retain our diverse talent, but we also develop professionals who bring different perspectives to our clients’ challenges, enhancing innovation and ensuring we deliver first class service.
Developing effective leaders
Our professionals are developed through great coaching and experiences alongside formal learning. We differentially invest in people with the highest potential and accelerate their career progression, through access to global clients and assignments across different cultures and sectors. Our award winning BME Leadership Programme and CareerWatch sponsorship programme (which pairs talented female or BME talent at mid-career level, with a senior sponsor to actively help them manage their careers to the next level) contribute to success. So there is much to be proud of; BME representation in our partnership has increased from 3% to 8% since 2012 and we are developing and retaining our diverse talent more successfully than ever. But, there is still much more to do. We believe the next decade will see us close the gaps. We need to understand more about the particular challenge of our Asian professionals. Although a recent report positioned us first out of the ten largest accountancy firms in the UK, in terms of BME representation among partners, we are committed to doing more. Our relationship with the Asian Achievers Awards is part of that commitment to seek understanding and engage inclusively. We are delighted to sponsor these awards again tonight and warmly congratulate every nominee and the winners tonight. ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2016 Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar
9