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Ernst & Young provides learning and development windows to retain talent
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SLOWER growth and economic restructuring in China are forcing companies to adjust their businesses and affecting how workers view their jobs. Bin Wolfe, Asia-Pacific managing partner for talent at Ernst & Young, told Shanghai Daily how her company is revising its strategies for China and adapting to the needs of a changing workforce. Wolfe joined the human resource department at Ernst & Young while she was in the US in 1990. She returned to her native Shanghai in 2008, where she now oversees human resources-related functions across 22 markets in the Asia-Pacific. Ernst & Young has been operating in China for 33 years. It is now the fifth-largest auditor in China in terms of revenue, according to the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Q: Economic growth in China is slowing. How does that affect your talent recruitment?
A: We are still steadily expanding our headcount from two channels: campus recruitment and the experienced workforce. Increases from campus recruitment will be marginal, but we do plan to hire many more people from the experienced job market. Our businesses have new sectors to cover and new services to offer, so we need experienced professionals.
Q: What kind of new businesses?
A: We are looking to expand advisory services, though audit and tax practices will continue to be our base.
Q: How does that affect your requirements for talent?
A: We are looking for people who can really work with our clients, whether it’s IT advisory, whether it’s supply chain. We continue to make sure that our people have strong economic and financial backgrounds, but we are also looking at broader consulting skills, such as industrial expertise. If you work with Walmart, you need to understand the retail business, and if you work with Lenovo, then you have to understand technology. Also, soft skills are of greater importance now. People need to know how to delegate, to coach and to give feedback.
Q: What do you think of the quality of local talent?
A: Many years ago, we imported talent. Now all our staff are basically local. We want to localize our workforce. The talent pool here is very good. At the partner level, we have some expatriates mainly for technical reasons. For example, some services require US Securities and Exchange Commission experience. Years ago, accounting was still a new profession and universities didn’t have enough programs. Now it’s no longer a problem.
Q: I’ve heard that salary growth in auditing and tax has been slowing. How do you retain talent?
A: Many of our staff are attracted by the fact that they get to work with very prestigious clients. Many young people will find quite nice to have big names on their CVs. They learn a lot during the process. Salary is not a differentiator. We think it’s very important to give people learning and development opportunities. We are also very focused on engagement, and we communicate with our staff about what’s going on in the company. We also try to give people broad international experience. We focus on the overall experience, and not just pay.
Q: How does Ernst & Young adapt to the needs of the young workers?
A: Young people work really hard when they care about something. But they don’t blindly follow. They need to understand what they do and how that fits into the bigger picture. From a work perspective, partners and leaders have to do better. They need to explain a lot more. From last year, we have a new initiative called Vision 2020. It tries to define how the work at EY can contribute to the economy and to the market. We now go through a lot of discussions in small and large groups, and that helps.
Q: What about the special needs of women workers with families?
A: We always encourage our employees to inform EY of their personal needs. It’s helpful in building a team if leaders ask about employees’ personal needs more often. From a personal point of view, I think it’s important to develop a supportive network both at home and at the workplace. I have had many people helping me through different phases. Women have different needs at different times, and it takes a lot of planning. You need to prioritize, and the company is happy to accommodate.
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