Ernst & Young LLP Recognized on FORTUNE's "100 Best Companies to Work For" List for the 14th Consecutive Year

NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ernst & Young LLP announced today that FORTUNE magazine ranked it among the "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the 14th consecutive year. The firm ranks number 59 this year, climbing 18 spots from its 2011 ranking.

"Ernst & Young LLP takes great pride in our 14-year history of being listed among FORTUNE magazine's '100 Best Companies to Work For' because we know our people and our culture power our business," said Nancy Altobello, Americas Vice Chair of People, Ernst & Young LLP.  "We believe our increased standing reflects a strong culture that is not just a nice thing to have—it is a competitive advantage that is core to serving our clients."

As FORTUNE evaluated the firm for the 2012 "100 Best Companies to Work For" list, it reported that its Trust Index score—the result of the most extensive employee survey in corporate America—increased substantially when compared to the previous year. The firm attributes this jump to its commitment to building a "whole of life" relationship with its people.

"We've developed a people strategy that centers on establishing 'whole of life' relationships with our people, meaning that before they arrive, while they are with us and after they leave we are working to build and strengthen our connections with them," Altobello added. "These long-term connections reach across geographic borders, cultures, service lines, generations and professional experiences and ultimately enable us to deliver the best service to our clients."

The Ernst & Young organization sees diversity and inclusiveness as the key to delivering on its "whole of life" promise to its people and is working to build it into every aspect of their experience. This means that Ernst & Young people and teams value the differences that individuals bring—based on their experiences, culture, generation, education and ethnicity—and that people feel empowered to contribute their unique perspectives to strengthen team performance and deliver the best work product for Ernst & Young clients.

Other notable efforts under way to improve the firm's culture include:

• Continuing to invest in the EYU learning framework. EYU provides formal learning and training plus the coaching and experiences its people need to reach their long-term career goals. This means mapping the meaningful experiences people should have at each level and building robust career mobility programs. It also means building programs to help people get the coaching they need to grow, from daily, on-the-job feedback to meaningful, long-range career discussions.
• Creating a series of signature live events that recognize people's significant career milestones through learning, development and celebration. In the past year, Ernst & Young LLP has rolled out this experience to those who attain the Senior rank in its Assurance practice. 
• Maintaining the firm's competitive benefits and compensation packages, including generous time-off policies, a variety of flexible work arrangements and life management resources, 401(k) match and a defined benefit retirement plan, and promotion bonuses for more than 4,000 client-serving personnel.
• Offering new tax offsets on same-sex domestic partner health and welfare benefits in the US, making Ernst & Young the first of the Big Four accounting firms to provide this perk.
• Growing the team by pursuing aggressive fiscal year 2012 recruiting goals, seeking to hire more than 10,000 people in the US.
• Instituting "EY Connect Day" as an annual tradition, bringing together each of its offices for a day of fun and community service that resulted in more than 48,500 volunteer hours in 2011 alone.
• Rolling out its new Recognition Award program to enable people to frequently recognize each other with "on the spot bonuses." Ernst & Young people have given one another more than 30,000 recognition awards since September 2011.
• Fostering new team-building opportunities through "counseling families," small groups led by partners in every service line and office to improve communication and teaming.

Methodology

To pick the "100 Best Companies to Work For," FORTUNE partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. This year, 280 firms participated in the survey, generating responses from more than 246,000 employees at those companies. Two-thirds of a company's score is based on the results of the institute's Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about management's credibility, job satisfaction and camaraderie. The other third is based on responses to the institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communication, training, recognition programs and diversity efforts.

About Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 152,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.

For more information, please visit www.ey.com.

Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.

This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited that provides professional services to clients in the US.

SOURCE Ernst & Young LLP