This Advice From an EY Leader Should Not Be Taken Literally

As previously discussed, a few people are getting impatient with the lack of mid-year comp surprises at Ernst & Young and KPMG. While KPMG seems to be chewing on the idea, we couldn’t help but notice the lack of any word out of E&Y.

We had concocted several scenarios, including the firm paying people large bonuses in exchange for absolute silence but we immediately dismissed this idea as “idiotic” since Big 4 types can’t resist getting chatty when it comes to money. But the lack of kvetching is what we found to be most perplexing.

Until today that is! Finally, someone has had it with the efforts (or lack thereof) of E&Y in response to Deloitte, PwC et al. We may wrong but since there’s less than two shopping weeks left until Jesus of Nazareth’s birthday, people are, as is typical, a little irritated (something which, we’ve never really understood, this is a great time of year). Case in point – the observations we received from “Ernie Guy” in the midwest:

I recently read your article discussing the fact that E&Y and KPMG are lagging in their variable pay efforts. Well E&Y Midwest thinks they have solved the problem, but they haven’t. It seems that their response to PWC’s recent generosity is simply more of the same. They have “enhanced” the recognition program so that gift card awards can be given in more denominations (instead of just $50 or $100 they can now be $50, $150, $200, $300, $400, or $500). However, this doesn’t seem to do much as the next level of award already was eligible for $500-$2000 amounts.

It’s a completely ad hoc process anyway, and does not at all ensure that high performers are rewarded for their work. On top of it all is the fact that I’ve heard that many award nominations have been pending approval for the last month. How great would that be if a bonus meant for Christmas (and remember, they are mostly gift cards, which would be ideal for Christmas shopping/gifts) doesn’t arrive until January 17th!

Needless to say, I AM ANNOYED.

Thanks,
Ernie Guy

We’d add more here but it doesn’t seem necessary. Discuss the efforts of E&Y to date and if there is a pleasant holiday surprise coming your way, email us the details.