Ernst & Young's Wong on cultivating and retaining talents
- By Guo Xiaohong
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 10, 2012
" Ernst & Young (EY) aims to create a corporate culture of diversity, attracting a wide variety of talented individuals to the firm," said Michael Wong at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, as Ernst & Young completes spring hires and embarks on a new recruitment initiative for 2012.
Michael Wong at the press conference in Beijing on February 8, 2011
Wong, partner and Greater China People Leader with Ernst & Young, revealed that his company has selected 1,800 fresh grad hires, a large number which hints at both a demand by China’s fast growing economy and an increasing business needs from clients.
"Our staff turnover is low," said Wong. "Yet a reasonable turnover is healthy, and is positive for the development of the society. We have our strategy to lure and hold excellent staff not only by high salaries and bonuses, but primarily via a human-oriented management approach: offering a career path for each employee, encouraging creativity and diversity and a great working environment."
Wong asserts that ten years of hard work at the company will yield an employee promotion from the bottom rung all the way up to senior managerial level and EY partner. In other words, Wong has traced a young person's possible career trajectory from college graduate (or in some cases, pre-college graduate) to professional manager. In addition, EY provides its staff with overseas training and work experience to equip them with a global mindset, essential for those working in modern business environments.
In order to preempt the potential problems which may come about as a result of having people from different generations in the same office, EY holds regular internal forums where staff are encouraged to communicate and listen. The company also holds other forums with the aim of ensuring that individual employees become fully integrated with the firm and its culture.
Talking figures, Wong stated that every year, EY's new intake includes 60-70 percent of female employees and 40 percent of the company's leading management figures are women.
The firm ranks consistently among the Top 50 Places in the World Where Women Want to Work.
Ernst & Young (EY) is one of the largest professional service firms in the world and one of the "Big Four" accounting firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The company generated global revenue of US$22.9 billion by the end of 2011 June. It has 152,000 employees worldwide, including more than 10,000 in China.
