Should quitting a job really mean saying goodbye?

Should quitting a job really mean saying goodbye?

When you’re in a people business, your success depends on running a well-oiled recruitment machine. At EY last year we hired more than 65,000 people around the world – that’s one person every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

We hire great people, we equip them with the training and tools they need and we get them serving clients as quickly as we can. And we’re by no means unique – whether you have 250 people or 250,000, that’s what being a people business is all about.

Our alumni are important stakeholders, and we want to maintain strong relationships with each of them.

At the same time that we’re welcoming all of these new colleagues, we’re wishing others well as they move on. Approximately 30,000 people left EY last year, and we were sad to see them go. But we didn’t say ‘goodbye’ because they weren’t ending their EY stories – they were starting new chapters, as EY alumni.

Our alumni are important stakeholders, and we want to maintain strong relationships with each of them. For a people business today it’s crucial to become as good at letting people go – and maintaining relationships with them – as hiring them in the first place. People can leave an organization without leaving behind that organization’s people and the relationships they’ve developed.

Our people promise

Today people change jobs more often than they used to. When I started work more than 30 years ago, people thought that if you changed jobs every couple of years you were disloyal. These days, everyone understands that moving around can be an excellent way to build your knowledge and skills quickly.

Whenever you join EY, however long you stay, the exceptional EY experience lasts a lifetime.

What hasn’t changed, however, is that every job represents an investment, by both employee and employer, and it’s an investment that can continue to pay dividends long after the employer/employee relationship ends. At EY we sum it up in our people promise: whenever you join EY, however long you stay, the exceptional EY experience lasts a lifetime.

We’re proud to develop people who have successful careers at EY and then go on to do amazing things outside EY. Today we have more than 850,000 alumni, among them CEOs, CFOs, non-executive directors, entrepreneurs, government officials and academics. If you look at any field, there’s a good chance you’ll find an EY alum excelling in it – even the Olympics.

Harnessing network effects

In today’s highly networked world, making and maintaining connections is more important than ever – LinkedIn was founded on that idea. Companies and individuals sit within complex webs of stakeholders, from clients and customers to alliance partners and alumni. Using networks effectively is a key to success.

Our alumni can be our best advocates and sources of business and employee referrals– most still have fond memories of the time they spent with us. They can also provide an objective outside perspective on us – they know us well enough to see what we’re doing well, as well as where we’re falling down. And they can be top-notch sources of expertise on their sectors and on global trends, as well as excellent sources of advice and mentors for our people.

They know us well enough to see what we’re doing well, as well as where we’re falling down.

On top of all that, our alumni form a great ‘re-recruitment’ pool. They know us, they know our culture and when they return they bring with them the new knowledge and skills they’ve picked up outside of EY.

I’ve written before about Why I Left EY Three Times – But Joined Four. I may be an extreme case, but I’m by no means alone. I’m one of thousands of ‘boomerangs’ who work at EY – people who’ve left and then come back.

Of course it’s not all about what our alumni do for us. Our people help our alumni to further their careers and build their businesses by making introductions and connecting them to EY knowledge and insights across our global organization. It’s through that virtuous circle, coupled with the training, development and mentoring people receive at EY, that the EY experience lasts a lifetime.

Our Alumni’s view

A few years ago we set up the Global EY Alumni network to help our alums and our current people connect and work together in ways that benefit everyone involved.

We work hard to nurture the network, and to better understand the views of our alumni, we recently surveyed 120,000 of them across 100 countries. The results showed:

  • 85% of our respondents feel a strong emotional connection to EY.
  • 67% of respondents said they would consider working at EY again, and 88% said they would recommend EY as a place to work to a friend.
  • 61% feel it’s important to maintain a strong ongoing relationship with EY, but, showing us where we need to improve, 50% said they don’t have enough regular contact with current EY people.

What have we learned?

Through our experience with our alumni network as well as through our survey, we’ve learned many lessons. The three that I think stand out are:

  • Alumni want to remain involved. Most people leave jobs for positive reasons and feel good about their previous employers. More than two-thirds of our surveyed alums would be happy to introduce someone from EY to a business contact.
  • Social media is a fantastic tool to help keep alumni connected and up-to-date – but forging one-to-one relationships is the key to success. Meeting someone for a cup of coffee is worth a thousand tweets.
  • How alumni feel about an organization is shaped more by their last day on the job than their first. When people leave, it’s time to warmly thank them, to celebrate their accomplishments and assure them you want to keep in touch, not to put them through a cold ‘exit process’.

Never say goodbye

Cultivating long-term relationships is something I’ve done my entire life. From 27-31 March we’re celebrating our alumni around the world for EY’s annual Alumni Week, holding events in 130 offices in 40 countries. We’re looking forward to catching up with thousands of former colleagues to hear what they’re doing and how we can help.

Quitting a job and moving on to another means many good things – new challenges, new colleagues and a new commute among them – but in today’s connected world it should never mean saying goodbye. 

Donna Svei

Executive Resume Writer | Board Resume Writer | Fast Company Contributor | Former Retained Search Consultant | Korn Ferry Leadership Architect

5y

I'm still proud to be a Deloitte alum. 

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Bill Ross

Realtor® @ Texas Providence Real Estate | 1st Time Homebuyers | Moving to Texas From Out-of-State Buyers | Finding Cash Buyers For Home Sellers | Bill@HillCountryHomesteads.com

6y

This is so obvious and yet so often ignored. Very well said.

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Denise W.

TEDx Speaker, Keynote Presentations, Workshop Leader. Resilience, Mental Health & Inclusion. Certified Speaking Coach.

6y

As an EY Alumni, I am proud to say I started my journey with Clarkson Gordon before they were to become the Ernst & Young that I later worked with. My colleagues were hard working and enthusiastic. Their mission was to provide excellent customer service and I found out the true meaning of becoming a team. During that time in Canada, I worked for Henry Pankratz, Bonar Lund, David Leslie and many others. I have fond memories of Bill McFarland visiting our office too.. many funny stories of the time we had together. Fiona Macfarlane was a manager and is now the Managing Partner of Ernst & Young. All of these people were determined that the office should be a cut above. I have many happy memories and shall always use my time there in my talks about fine leadership.

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Michael Darcy

Vice President Human Resources | Global People, Organization & Digital Transformation Leader - Helping Create the Future of Work

6y

One of the many truly great things about EY is the Alumni network and life-long relationships. Thank you EY for leading on so many important fronts. EY is in my blood!

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Okseon Kim

General Manager at (주)에이블엑스

6y

Thank you. I agree with your view. For me, ex-company is like old friend. Thank you and good luck, Voith!

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