The Challenge

The UK branch of the business was facing internal issues.  Whereas other international offices had merged with Arthur Andersen, propelling EY to the number 1 or 2 spot globally, the UK firm had not and remained in the number 4 spot.  The incoming UK Chairman had been elected on a platform of growth via change in the partner behaviours to better match the corporate values.  He also had to deal with a perception from other regions of the firm that the UK business was underperforming. 

The Solution

Bath Consultancy Group were brought in to run a Partner Leadership Development Programme for all 400+ partners in the UK practice.  This would be the first major, systematic piece of partner development that EY had ever embarked upon.  Although culture change was not a contractualised part of the programme, there was an expectation that the development programme would concentrate heavily on the values.  This in turn would lead to improvements in partner recruitment and retention, which would drive growth.

The design called for partners to attend a Foundation Event in cohorts of 24.  Each partner had a 1:1 interview with a BCG facilitator prior to the event, to ensure that their personal learning requirements were being met.  The event then involved a mixture of plenary learning and small Learning Group coaching, again allowing further individualised development.  Evenings involved further learning at dinner events, where senior leaders from within the firm and major clients were invited to give live opportunities for practicing the learning in a safe environment.  The Learning Groups continued to meet over the next few weeks, ensuring that the learning was taken back into the workplace and bedded in, and giving an opportunity for further coaching on significant issues. 

Over the next weeks, participants were then offered the opportunity to attend a selection of 1.5-day specialist workshops, again depending upon their personal development needs.  These included modules on: Personal Leadership Capacity; High Performing Teams and Client Relationships; and Transformational Coaching.  Finally, four cohorts (96 partners) were invited to a Leadership Summit where they were able to compare stories of their successes and build them into viral motivational techniques. 

The Outcomes

By the time the programme came to a conclusion, over 450 partners had taken part from the now integrated UK and Ireland practices.  Bath Consultancy Group was also asked to roll out similar programmes to South Africa and India, as part of the move towards greater integration within the EMEIA region. EY moved from 12th to 4th in the Best Big Companies Rating.

People Metrics: At the start of the programme in 2006, EY was ranked 12^th in the Sunday Times 20 Best Big Companies to Work For.  Improvement in this was seen as a key recruitment objective.  By 2007, EY had moved up to 4^th place.  Internal metrics also reflected the improvement in morale, with the Global People Survey showing increases in trust (up 10 percent), living the firm's values (up 4 percent) and retaining talented people (up 6 percent). 

Fiscal Performance: Another key performance objective was seen as being closing the gap between EY and the other Big 4.  Again, this was achieved in 2009 when EY found itself better placed to weather the recession than its rivals. 

Participant Satisfaction: Events were rated by participants on a variety of points, as part of an ongoing quality control regime, and consistently scored highly (with an average rating of over 8/10). 

At the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development conference held in September 2008, Andrew Wright, who is head of partner development in EY, spoke about the program's successes. He stated that the partners committing to the program was a success in itself as this had never been achieved before. Since the program has been running, feedback has been continuously positive. He spoke about the real and sustained change that he has witnessed at a personal level and change at a group (collective) level.