Business Practices in the Area of Employment - Ernst & Young - Case Study Example

Business Practices in the Area of Employment Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 Company Overview 4 HR Planning & Recruiting 5 Selection Devices 8 Interviewing 11 13 Job analysis 16 Conclusion 17 References 18 Executive Summary Human Resource (HR) planning and recruitment is regarded as one of the decisive functions of different organizations or firms that facilitates them to attain their expected business targets. With this regard, the paper would concentrate upon describing the current HR policies, recruitment along with selection procedure as well as the interviewing pattern of Ernst & Young. It can be observed that the company uses both external as well as internal method of recruitment in order to track its potential candidates. Moreover the company also conducts an effective selection process that ensures them to selection best as well as appropriate set of workforce within the company. Finally, it would be further examined the effectiveness of job analysis that conduct by the company with the intention of evaluating the present working culture of the company on a long-term basis. Company Overview Ernst & Young is regarded as the biggest professional service companies throughout the globe. The company has been involved in delivering various professional services that include assurance, tax advisory and transaction related services. In the year 2010, Forbes magazine ranked the company as the 9th biggest privately held company especially in the United States. Relating to the history of the company, it has been apparently observed that the company is the result of a sequence of mergers that ultimately assisted to deliver quality services to its valuable customers. The different approaches that made by the company made it possible to increase its business reputation, market share and productivity by a greater degree. In this regard, the approaches comprise introducing as well as implementing pioneering technological advancements and making substantial investments among others (Open Secrets, n.d.).The company possesses nearly 1, 67,000 people working in its different business locations across the globe who delivers quality services to the customers (Ernst & Young, n.d.). This paper intends to describe and critically analyze various aspects such as HR planning as well as recruiting, interviewing and testing practices of Ernst and Young. HR Planning & Recruiting The operational performances of a particular organization extensively depend upon the employees working surrounding the organization. Recruiting and retaining appropriate working staffs are regarded as the crucial factors in raising business growth of an organization. It has been viewed in this context that Ernst & Young generally focuses upon the perception of “talent succession” that makes them to design effectual human resource (HR) planning as well as recruiting method. The company strongly believed that successful execution of “talent succession” conception would not only enhance the HR recruitment as well as planning process of the company but would also assist the company to raise its business performance by a significant level (Ernst & Young, 2010, pp.1-24). A few practices of Ernst & Young with regard to HR planning and recruitment process have been described hereunder. Recruit talent Using market Segmentation Through this practice, Ernst & Young recruits potential candidates through segregating their targets into different demographic clusters and establishing effectual communication to every specific group. The management of the company is quite aware of what skills are needed for the employees that makes them different from the personnel of other companies in any business market (Ernst & Young, 2010, pp.1-24). Use Workflow analytics and role and competency design Companies hold an explicit idea about the type of people they want to hire. In this similar concern, Ernst & Young provides a value proposal that might attract the targeted recruits at the utmost level. On completion of this practice, the management of the company develops well-structured responsibilities along with well-defined authority levels for its required workforce in order to enhance operational performance by a considerable level. .This particular practice mainly aims at identifying the competent level of the employees at large (Ernst & Young, 2010, pp.1-24). Create Effective compensation strategies by knowing the type of Benefits the employees valuing most With regard to HR planning and recruitment process, Ernst & Young intends to identify and focus on the factors that broadly affect the employees and the probable hires. In this similar context, the different factors include competitive pay, career development opportunities and balance of work life among others. The company often intends to understand the feelings and value the ideas of the employees in order to retain them within the company for a loner time period. It has been viewed that the company emphasizes upon both external as well as internal recruiting (Ernst & Young, 2010, pp.1-24). In relation to the process of internal as well as external recruitment, Ernst & Young has been viewed to conduct various active programs relating to talent management in order to recruit or select people from diverse ethnic backgrounds and communities. With regard to determine the internal procedure of recruitment, it has been apparently observed that the company tracks its potential candidates by delivering them with proper knowledge concerning legislative issues, labor laws and demographic trends among others. The different recruiting sources that utilizes by the company comprise internal job sites and visiting various college campuses for recruitment. Furthermore, the company also executes different kind of media like newspapers and social networking sites as a source for hiring people. These sources eventually enable the company to get maximum number of potential candidates by a greater extent (ILO, 2010, pp.1-91) The HR management of Ernst & Young continuously reviews the present operational performances of the company. The HR section of the company always seeks to identify the opportunities and intends to employ effective business strategies that are different from its competitors with the intention of raising its operational standards. In this regard, the strategies include creating new products, expanding business into new business markets and developing the performances of the workforce by introducing effective programs relating to talent management (Ernst & Young, n.d.). Selection Devices Ernst and Young have been recognized to set certain criteria in the selection process of potential candidates. The company considers certain fundamental qualities of the candidates like the personal as well as professional accountability before selecting any for interview. It has been viewed that the company mostly recruit the candidates who possess standard qualification from a premier learning institute (Ernst & Young, 2013). The different stages of the selection process of the company have been described hereunder. Stage 1 In this stage, the candidates who have applied for a particular post in Ernst & Young would be communicated on behalf of the company by providing them with a mail depicting about the selection process. After completion of this activity, the candidates may apply online for the supplementary selection procedure (Ernst & Young, 2013). Stage 2 In this stage, an application is provided to a candidate that is required to be filled up in order to continue the selection process. If the application form is accepted by the company, then the candidate would be allowed to appear for the online test. Again, if the candidate manages to pass the online test, then the process would proceed to the next stage (Ernst & Young, 2013). Stage 3 In this stage of the selection process, the candidate would have to attend a selection workshop where the company intends to evaluate certain characteristics of the chosen candidates like interpersonal skills, creativity, time management skill and teamwork among others (Ernst & Young, 2013). The application forms of Ernst & Young has been viewed to contain mainly competency questions. The prime focus of designing these questions is to understand the skills, abilities and qualities of the candidates. One of the key questions contained in the application form is identifying the work experiences, job roles and the work outcomes that performed by the candidates in the past. The answers of these questions would provide a clearer image of the candidates to the company (LSE, n.d. pp. 1-32). Ernst & Young executes a test relating to verbal reasoning as a part of the recruitment and selection procedure. This test aims to understand the ability of the candidate in assessing the writing and reasoning skills of the employees. Apart from the execution of verbal reasoning test, the company has also been viewed to conduct psychometric test in order to predict the future job performances of the candidates. The psychometric test is structured mainly to understand the various aptitude, competency, sensitivity, personality, intelligence, skill and memory of the candidates. The aforesaid tests are quite reliable in measuring the job performances of the potential candidates at large. The company performs several researches on designing these tests that ensure precise and guarantee maximum reliability concerning the information of the candidates. The company hires professional recruiters for the purpose of conducting and most importantly administering the aforementioned tests (Assessment Day, n.d.). It can be stated that the aforementioned tests are administered by the hired professional recruiters in terms of periodically reviewing as developing those tests through the execution of pioneering strategic thinking. Interviewing The interview procedure in Ernst & young can be regarded as a two-way dialogue between the applicant and the interviewer. In general, the interview process would allow both the applicant and the interviewer to understand each other in a better form. The interviewer would intend to determine the skills and the aptitudes of the applicants at the time of interview (Ernst & Young, 2010). The interviewing process of Ernst & Young has been viewed to conduct several rounds in order to select appropriate personnel for developing its businesses. If a candidate is successful to pass through the first interview round, then he/she would be eligible for the next round of interview. In this interview round the interviewer are the managers of the company who are trained and possesses an experience of five or more years. This is regarded as ‘one on one’ interview process (i.e. one interviewer and one interviewee) that lasts for 30 minutes (City University of Hong Kong, n.d., and pp.1-5). The next round of interview of the company generally conducts by one of its partners. This interview round is regarded as the tough stage for the candidates owing to the reason that the questions would be comparatively tougher as compared to the first interview round. It is assumed that only potential candidates would be able to succeed in this interview round. This particular interview round concentrates more upon the genuine characteristics and the abilities of the candidates. It is also regarded as a ‘one on one process’ (i.e. one interviewer and one interviewee) that might last for an hour (City University of Hong Kong, n.d., pp.1-5). Structure and Content There are different phases of interview that have been apparently observed in Ernst & Young. The phases have been described hereunder. Phase I- Introduction In this phase, a rapport is established between the applicant and the interviewer. The applicant needs to be calm so that he/she can answer all the questions properly. After having personal interactions, the interviewer in Ernst & young would begin to demonstrate about various aspects that will occur in the interview process (Ernst & Young, 2010). Phase II: Employer questions This particular interview phase is regarded to be the commencement of evaluation process. In this phase of the interview, the interviewer would analyze the skills and the abilities of the applicants that are seeking by the company. The style of the question that would make by the interviewer would vary with the responses of the applicant’s or the interviewee (Ernst & Young, 2010). Phase III: Evaluation In this phase, the interviewer focuses upon assessing the skills as well as the qualities of the applicants that fulfill the requirements of different job positions. In this regard, these may comprise technical skills along with abilities, team work, flexibility, motivation, leadership and communication skills among others. Additionally, the interviewer in this phase has also been noted to focus on various important topics like education and other relevant qualities of the candidates. In order, to comprehend the interpersonal skills of the applicants, the interviewer may ask certain challenging questions to them in order to visualize how they dealt with such questions. Moreover, in order to understand the actions of the applicants, the interviewer continuously asks complex questions to them (Ernst & Young, 2010). Phase IV: Raised Questions This stage is considered to be an imperative phase of interview round that lasts for 5-6 minutes. This is owing to the reason that this phase determines the abilities of the candidates to properly answer the questions that make by the interviewer. In this similar concern, the questions might include the responsibilities of the position, career path and certain other vital information about the company (Ernst & Young, 2010). Phase V: Close This phase lasts for 2-3 minutes where the interviewer would ask the applicant whether he/she have any further questions and thus the interview will be ended accordingly (Ernst & Young, 2010). Phase VI: Follow Up In this phase, if the interviewer recognizes that the interview process is ended successfully, then the company may offer the job to the potential applicant. The company would offer the job to the applicant and would provide the potential candidate with an invitation to visit its office (Ernst & Young, 2011) Types of Interview in Ernst & Young There are two types of interviewing method that execute by Ernst & Young that encompass traditional and behavioral interviewing. The traditional method of interviewing generally emphasizes on viewing the resumes and the questions by which the nature of the candidates is assessed. When an interview is conducted by the traditional method, questions are often recognized to be simpler in nature that might allow the applicants to rehearse their questions before facing interview. On the other hand, the method of behavioral interviewing differs from the method of traditional interviewing in terms of presenting real life examples concerning the experiences that possess by the candidates about what the applicants have performed in different specific situations. By evaluating the past experiences of the applicants, the interviewer determines the potential of the applicants to be suitable for any particular job that they are seeking for. To prepare for behavioral interviewing method, the applicants must examine their significant roles along with responsibilities that they held in past experiences (Ernst & Young, 2010). Job analysis Job analysis is regarded to be an important feature in any business organization. It is generally performed in order to examine the work activities, tasks and responsibilities of the employees on the basis of their completion of assigned tasks. It helps the organization to gather information about the current job culture of the company. It has been analyzed that Ernst & Young performs the process or utilize the technique of job analysis quite effectively. The company employs this method to gather information about the different jobs of the organization by maintaining a flexible working environment that increases the performances of the individuals on long-term basis. The company strongly believed that the successful conduct of job analysis would certainly assist the company in reducing stress of the workers and most importantly in raising their work productivity (Ernst & Young, 2012, pp.1-200). It can be affirmed that the information relating to job analysis can be used to generate job descriptions as it supports the business managers of an organization to assign different job tasks to the personnel for effectively monitoring their operational performances. Moreover, the job descriptions can be used to help generating interview questions or selection tests as it supports in providing due justification to every assigned job by a greater extent. Conclusion Ernst & Young is regarded as one of the top level companies in the world. It operates in different parts throughout the globe. The company possesses superior workforce operating in its several business locations that ultimately supports the company to accomplish its predetermined business goals. The company has been noted to follow a high-quality recruitment process that enables them to get potential employees from all over the world. In this regard, the company emphasizes both internal as well as external method in order to select their workforce. After the selection of the potential candidate the company conducts an interview to judge their ability and skills for fulfilling the job vacancy. The company also conducts certain interview tests in order to understand the future work performances of the potential the candidates. It has been viewed that the company execute the process of job analysis to understand the work culture of the company. The company desires to maintain a flexible working culture so that the operational standards of the employees as well as the work productivity could be raised considerably. In this regard, one of the valuable recommendations for Ernst & Young can be that the management of the company must continuously motivate the employees in order to increase work productivity by providing them with attractive compensation packages and reward systems. References Assessment Day. (n.d.). Ernst & Young verbal reasoning test. Retrieved from http://www.assessmentday.co.uk/verbal-reasoning-test-ernst-young.htm City University of Hong Kong. (n.d.). Recruitment process 7. Retrieved from http://www6.cityu.edu.hk/caio/Website/Big4/Big4_Interviews.pdf Ernst & Young. (n.d.). The Ernst & Young difference: high-performing teams delivering exceptional client service. Retrieved from http://www.ey.com/IN/en/About-us Ernst & Young. (2010). Managing today’s global workforce. Elevating Talent Management to improve Business, pp. 1-24. Ernst & Young. (2013). Selection process. Retrieved from http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/departments/accounting/undergraduate/eydegree/selection/ Ernst & Young. (2010).The interview. Retrieved from http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Careers-Interview-Guide/$FILE/Careers-Interview-Guide.pdf Ernst & Young. (2012). Integrated annual review. Retrieved from http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Jaarverslag_-_2011-2012/$FILE/Annual%20Review%20-%202011-2012.pdf Ernst & Young. (n.d.). Driving growth for future success. Retrieved from http://www.ey.com/IN/en/Issues/Driving-growth ILO. (2010). Disability in the Work Place: Company practices. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actemp/downloads/publications/working_paper_n3.pdf LSE. (n.d.). Application forms. Retrieved from http://www2.lse.ac.uk/intranet/CareersAndVacancies/careersService/CVCoverApps/Applicationforms/ApplicationFormBrochure.pdf Open Secrets. (n.d.). Ernst & Young. Retrieved from http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000098 Read More