Purpose: our North Star in a constantly changing world

As I prepared to take on my new role of EY Vice Chair, Central Region Managing Partner, I traveled around the region speaking with clients, partners and colleagues to gain a better understanding of what makes each of our offices unique throughout the Central Region.

While each team member and his or her office is one-of-a-kind, there is a strong thread that weaves us all together: purpose. We seek to build a better working world one step at a time, one insight at a time, to work with our clients and communities to seize opportunities and achieve their objectives. We will continue to do so until the world of business is working better. Because when business works better, the world works better. This is our purpose — and why we exist as an organization.

Why purpose?

I have continued to be impressed by how our people live out our purpose every single day. Our purpose is about more than a better corporate bottom line, it’s human-centered, socially engaged and seeks to create value for a broad set of stakeholders. It also helps to keep us grounded when we’re faced with complex decisions brought about by uncertain times, rapid change and disruption.

Future workforce

I have heard many colleagues talk about how the way we work is changing and how to harness the transformative potential of change and emerging technologies. We’re already getting a glimpse of the jobs of the future within the EY organization, and I couldn’t be more excited. We now have more than 1,700 robots automating repetitive tasks, which is allowing our people to focus instead on more complex, nuanced opportunities and challenges. For example, we are using robotics process automation to help our clients connect their existing systems to robot-aware digital technologies that help increase speed and efficiency as well as improve and transform services. The prospect of collaborating with my Central Region colleagues to do work that is even more inspiring, more innovative and more focused on our purpose is outstanding.

Attract and retain talent

At the end of the day, I want to know that I have made a positive difference in the lives of my colleagues and clients. One of the key attributes that job seekers look for in a company is how its purpose is ingrained in its culture. To remain competitive in the fight to attract high-caliber people, we are investing in three key elements of our culture that enhance what is important to our clients and our people.

The first element is inclusiveness. The EY organization is committed to diversity and inclusion, and I am encouraged every day by the work we are doing on the EY Americas Inclusiveness Advisory Council. And, through our Women. Fast forward program, we are supporting young women who want to have a career in technology, we are addressing external perceptions of the corporate finance profession, and we are coaching and mentoring women entrepreneurs around the world. It is programs such as Women. Fast forward that have helped us, among many other initiatives, to be recognized by DiversityInc as #1 on its “Top 50 Companies for Diversity” list.

The second element is engagement. I’m particularly proud of our focus on empowering our people to advance in their careers through our development framework known as EYU, which stands for “EY and you” and reflects the mutual commitment we have with our people to own their development and career.

This third element is development. We have developed myriad programs to help our people excel. On-the-job coaching helps employees gain a broader perspective, increases clarity and addresses particular issues and challenges. Mentors from our Career Advisor program give employees guidance, insights and practical advice to help them grow in their profession. And our global learning curriculum, which offers more than 16,000 courses, equips team members with skills that last a lifetime.

Celebrate success

In our purpose-driven culture, we celebrate the successes of our colleagues. I’m extremely proud of our 47 new partners, principals, executive directors and directors. They went through a rigorous selection process and their promotions reflect their strong contribution to our clients, to our teams and to our ambition. Each person has demonstrated great leadership and commitment to our shared values:

• Integrity, respect and teaming
• Energy, enthusiasm and the courage to lead
• Building relationships based on doing the right thing

I am eager to see the many contributions these talented individuals will make in the Central Region. Congratulations to:

• Darren De Groot
• Jeff Kulbieda
• Rick Wernimont
• Annie Kolman
• Taylor Adams
• Kari O'Connor
• Femi Adeyanju
• Sonnet Peterson
• Mike Edwards
• Mike Patterson
• Kevin Wasko
• Will Robinson
• Vicki Kamenova
• Derek VanEmon
• Mike Griffith
• Adam Wilson
• Sven Krause
• Connie Xia
• Kshama Neubauer
• Gerald “Chip” Johnson
• Matt Bouw
• Stephan Choe
• James Utz
• Norm Staskey
• Lauren Graf
• Brent Borio
• Christopher Zheng
• Ben Stockhausen
• Noah Lewis
• Gaurav Dua
• Melissa Cheng
• Richard “Jason” Guthrie
• Lara Witte
• Josh Ebner
• Joseph Johnson
• Robert McGinnis
• Marc Carlson
• Mike India
• Molly Murphy
• Ashim Talukder
• Joanne Gamber
• Bill Malczyk
• Laura Rossi
• John McBrearty
• Carmen Holthaus
• Jeff Schaffer
• Adam Spitznagel

As I transition into the role of Vice Chair and Central Region Managing Partner, I have the privilege to work with an incredibly high-performing team; including the Central Leadership Team, leaders across our geographies and dedicated partners, principals, executive directors and directors who boldly stand with me as we keep our eyes focused on our purpose.