Create a strong culture
When one of Misheff’s long-time employees called him up and
said he was thinking of taking a job elsewhere and would he meet
with him to discuss it, Misheff jumped at the chance.
As they talked it through, Misheff became more confident that the
man wouldn’t take the other job because there were too many benefits that Ernst & Young offered — mainly a flexible work environment. This man would be in at 6:15 in the morning, but if you went to
his desk around 5 p.m., he was nowhere to be found. Instead, he was
off watching his children in the activities they did, and that flexibility
was important to him.
Offering a great work environment is crucial, not only for the
happiness of your employees but also for your clients. If you
have a great culture, it retains employees, and their experience and history with customers strengthens those client relationships.
Like his employee, one reason Misheff has stayed with the firm
for three decades is because of the flexibility.
“My kids will tell you — I’ve been there,” he says. “I don’t miss
anything. I would have left and found a different job if I couldn’t
have. It’s too important to me.”
While some companies cling to old-school hours for employees,
the more successful ones are changing with the times in that
regard.
“You have to create an environment of flexibility in today’s
world,” Misheff says. “The new generation coming up doesn’t have
the same beliefs and behaviors as I do. A flexible work environment will provide an appropriate balance for that person and
everybody’s different. Some people want more balance from work;
some people want more balance from family.
“I’m a big believer in leading by example. That’s how I got here. I
watched guys and how they were able to deal with their families
and deal with issues, and I talked to them. A partner loves to do
nothing more than mentor a young person. They love it, and it’s a
badge of honor — they’re asking me how to do it. That means
something to have people looking up to you.”
To keep building the culture, reward people for their successes.
This comes in several forms, the first of which is additional responsibility.
“That continual growth upward allows the person to keep developing and growing because you give them new responsibilities,
whether that’s more responsibility with the client or more supervisory responsibilities within,” Misheff says. “Those opportunities
continually grow somebody.”
While opportunity grows employees, so does honestly addressing performance or character issues.
“You just have to sit down with someone and say, ‘Here was the
expectation — let’s make sure you understand it. If not, that’s part
of the problem, so let’s make sure you do, and here’s where your
performance is today,’” Misheff says. “We do a good job of screening out perception versus reality because sometimes there are perception issues. At the same time, I think you deal with nonperformance or nonfitting upfront with candor and honesty, and you’re
there to help them for those who want the help to get to the next
level.”
Part of differentiating between perception and reality is talking to
the people on that employee’s team to see what they say against what
the employee says. This helps you not get lost in their emotion or false
perceptions.
When you address negative issues instead of rewarding them, it
sends a message to other employees of how they should operate with
honesty and integrity.
“If someone came through the ranks that didn’t have those qualities,
they wouldn’t make it as partner,” he says. “That’s how you keep
ensuring that it’s spread throughout the whole organization.”
Promoting from within not only gives your employees career direction and incentive to work hard, but it helps the company, too.
“It helps build your culture — they’re homegrown,” Misheff says.
It’s important to also give people raises and bonuses when
they’re warranted and give formal awards to those that go beyond
expectations. These could be for exceeding standards for the business or for exceeding cultural expectations. For example, when
new employees come from a foreign country, Ernst & Young
employees work to make sure they’re not only getting the right
clients but also getting around the city, getting invited to the parties and adapting to a new town. Helping these people in their personal lives makes them more confident as employees, so employees’ efforts for cultural inclusion are commended.
While there may not always be enough awards, money or promotions available to give everyone, sometimes the best way to
build people up is through informally recognizing them.
“It’s also the day-to-day culture of walking down the hall and putting your hand on someone and saying, ‘Hey, thanks! You did a
great job! Really — you were a big part of us winning this,’” Misheff
says. “That type of culture means more than some of the more formal programs.
“I don’t care if it was the person doing the typing, the printing, the
photocopying — we’re all a team here, and everyone has a role to
play, and it’s important in a culture to recognize that everyone’s
role leads to success and not just one person. When we all work
like that, we’re very powerful.”