Ernst & Young sees community investment as key to high returns

Citation

Talbot, M. (2009), "Ernst & Young sees community investment as key to high returns", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 8 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2009.37208bab.006

Ernst & Young sees community investment as key to high returns

Article Type: HR at work From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 8, Issue 2

Short case studies that demonstrate best practice in HR

Martin TalbotHas led Ernst & Young’s UK community investment program since its inception four years ago. Prior to this role he worked in the public and charitable sector, including what was the Department for Education and Skills and Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership. Talbot’s roles have always involved engaging business in community projects and he is a firm believer in partnership working. E-mail: mtalbot1@uk.ey.com

Ernst & Young’s community investment program is underpinned by both altruistic and business motivations. As a major employer and an important component of the UK’s corporate sector, it is important that we give something back to the local communities in which we operate – it is about doing the right thing. However, corporate responsibility also has a major role to play in enhancing levels of employee engagement.

A comprehensive and well organized community investment program has the ability to help a company to attract top talent, maintain high levels of employee retention, motivate a workforce, provide meaningful development opportunities and create a strong and differentiated brand. Corporate responsibility has for many years been seen as important by Ernst & Young, but up until five years ago it operated on a largely ad hoc basis. The firm recognized that community investment was becoming a key business priority and that there was a need to implement a program of activities and initiatives that would help to facilitate our employees’ engagement with not-for-profit organizations and the local community.

A business case for community investment

The objectives of Ernst & Young’s community investment program are driven by a desire to make a difference but are compounded by a robust business case that aims to enhance employee engagement and build client relationships. The business case is built around an understanding that a company will not be successful in an environment where there is social instability and where people aren’t achieving their potential. The more highly skilled and motivated people are in the local community, the greater the size of the talent pool for potential new employees.

Also, as community investment moves up the corporate agenda, businesses are expecting advisors to share their commitment to supporting local communities. When issuing work to tender, companies are increasingly asking for details of a firm’s corporate responsibility strategy. Community investment can be a differentiator in the market place and it can help to build a company’s brand. As such, advisors who do not show such a commitment may find themselves losing out on profitable work opportunities as a result.

In a highly competitive global market, attracting the best people is often the difference between success and failure. So when top candidates expect employers to invest in the local community, and rate them as employers on the quality of their programs, it becomes even more important to us. A recent survey by Ernst & Young revealed that a firm’s corporate responsibility program is one of the key attributes graduates look for in a potential employer. Furthermore, community investment can play an important role in enhancing the skills of both existing employees and young people in the local community. From gardening projects to mentoring and business coaching, volunteer projects have the ability to hone leadership and team building skills in addition to raising the aspirations of young people – the business men and women and employees of the future.

A key motivator behind the development of the program was also to provide an alternative platform from which to build relationships with our clients, through engaging them in community projects and stimulating conversations that promote our corporate values and brand.

A full program of initiatives

Ernst & Young’s community investment program has combined both the firm’s social and business objectives, to create a broad range of projects and initiatives that are designed to have a positive impact on the wider community and our employees. In order to secure a high level of participation, every employee is granted two days paid leave per year to participate in volunteer work. We also support their fundraising efforts by operating a policy of matched funding, up to the value of £500.

Profitunity! is a key project in our campaign and has had a huge impact on Ernst & Young’s positioning as a top graduate recruiter. It is also cited as the decisive factor that helped the firm to achieve the “Most improved company” award in the list of “Top 100 Graduate Recruiters” in 2007 in the newspaper The Sunday Times. Organized in conjunction with The Prince’s Trust, Profitunity! is an entrepreneurial competition that challenges university students to design and deliver a business initiative in just five months. Students are provided with £500 capital and a business mentor from Ernst & Young. As well as generating funds for The Trust, and developing the skills of participants, it provides Ernst & Young with a unique way of engaging with students and attracting talent, and positions the business as one with a proactive approach to making a difference. Significantly, to date, ten participants in the competition have gone on to join the firm’s graduate scheme.

In addition to Profitunity!, an education partnership scheme also forms a major component of Ernst & Young’s community investment program. The project is designed to link each of the 21 UK offices to a local school, as part of a long-term relationship, to pass on the skills of our people to the next generation. A number of our employees also work with the teachers and governors to help with the planning of major new initiatives or the acquisition of a special school status. In return, the firm benefits from the skills that our people gain from being involved in these projects. The “feel good” factor, sense of teaming and fulfillment that is fostered by the school partnership scheme has a positive impact on the engagement of our employees when they return to the office.

Making an impact

The impact of the community investment program, on both the business and organizations we have worked with, has been considerable. In 2008 our people raised thousands of pounds for good causes and, perhaps more significantly, donated the equivalent of over 30,000 hours of volunteer work.

The firm’s achievements in this area have also been recognized by the wider business community and have been benchmarked against other private sector companies. Ernst & Young was one of only 21 UK companies this year to receive the CommunityMark, a national standard awarded by Business in the Community (BITC) and endorsed by the government and voluntary sector leaders. The firm has also become a Platinum member of the BITC’s “Top 100 Companies for Corporate Responsibility” and received two “Big Tick” awards for improving the health and wellbeing of its people and for the education partnership program.

A business built on people

As a professional service firm, Ernst & Young’s principal assets are its people. It is therefore vitally important that we recruit and retain highly skilled and motivated employees. Community investment has a large part to play in this and we have seen first hand how volunteering projects and the firm’s work with not-for-profit organizations can boost our brand, position us a leading employer, create a sense of pride for the firm among our people, enhance employees’ skills and help with levels employee retention. A survey of employees who have taken part in volunteering activities during the 2008 financial year revealed the positive impact of the community investment program on employee engagement. When asked what was the personal impact of volunteering, 96 percent of respondents felt their volunteering had a positive or significant impact in their pride in Ernst & Young; 60 percent of respondents felt their volunteering had a positive or significant impact in how they represented Ernst & Young to clients; and 96 percent felt their volunteering had a positive or significant impact in how they represented the organization to family and friends. When asked if volunteering supported their development, the following responses were received:

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  71 percent of respondents felt their volunteering experience had a positive or significant impact on their leadership development.

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  92 percent felt their volunteering experience had a positive or significant impact on their relationship development skills.

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  83 percent felt their volunteering experience had a positive or significant impact on their coaching skills.

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  92 percent felt their volunteering experience had a positive or significant impact on their team working skills.

The foundation of Ernst & Young’s community investment program is built on a desire to make a difference to our local communities, but the business benefits are also an important consideration and similarly result in tangible rewards.