ERNST & YOUNG

Black Collegian, Oct 2003 by Fagerberg, Paula

An emphasis on support programs and inclusiveness makes this a welcoming place for new graduates By Paula Fagerberg

What does diversity mean to Ernst & Young?

People are one of the key drivers of Ernst & Young's business strategy. Through this strategy, we are telling our people and the world that our people come first and our commitmcnt to quality is central to all that we do. Outside of Ernst & Young, when people hear "diversity," they primarily think of people of color and women. And when you look at any typical organization, that excludes a large number of people. When you look at inclusiveness, however, you recognize that everyone around the table has a large element of diversity, and so providing an environment where all of your people are valued and respected takes on the context of inclusiveness more than just diversity. That's our vision. We strive to build our people's skills and hopefully create a lifelong relationship with them.

What's the first day going to be like at Ernst & Young for new hires?

I was recruited off campus myself, so I can speak from a personal perspective. You feel like you are entering a family. You have a start class full of people who have also just graduated from college, who are experiencing the same joys and fears at the same time, and you are assigned mentors and buddies and given the support structure to help you succeed. The first two days of your employment here include orientation with a group of people also starting on the same day, where you learn about the corporate culture, what the firm's values arc. Later you go through the specific training that would be necessary for you to complete your tasks.

What about programs for new hires after they're recruited?

Once you get here, much of the focus is on career development and the building of lifelong relationships. Mentoring is one facet of what we provide our people to help them have the proper career development. Ernst & Young really fosters a mentoring culture; it's something that we feel is very important for all of our people. Some of the specific programs that we've developed are the Learning Partnerships, which are aimed at minorities within the firm, and the ACCESS program, which is targeted toward female professionals in the firm. You're introduced to several of these programs when you first walk in the door; others may happen later, like when you and your counselor determine that this is the time for you to have a formal mentor (you have informal mentors from day one). Mentors take on so many different roles, such as answering any questions that you may have about adjustment, how to properly network, how to have flexibility between your work and your family or extracurricular lives. Your counselor, on the other hand, concentrates more on your actual career development. We'd like to have the mentor and counselor roles a little separate so we can make sure that you're getting taken care of in all aspects.

But mentoring is just one aspect of how we address career development. Networking is another -we have great relationships with a lot of professional organizations such as the National Association for Black Accountants, the National Association of Asian-American Professionals, and the Association for Latino Professionals in Finance & Accounting. Wc encourage our people at a local level to get involved with the chapters. They get to build networks, work on technical skills, and hopefully at some point take on some type of leadership role. We believe these skills are greatly transferable into their day-to-day work.

I'm really proud of our inclusiveness commitment-it's something that I am extremely passionate about, and I am so excited about the progress that we at Ernst & Young continue to make each day. Being an Ideal Employer is wonderful for us, and we want to continue to grow and move up on the list.