Related Posts

Suing Big 4 Auditors Hasn’t Gone as Well as Investors Hoped

Sure, there are settlements here and there but not the big KA-CHING! investors are looking for.

Lawsuits have been dismissed against Deloitte & Touche over its audits of mortgage financier Fannie Mae, as well as a case against PricewaterhouseCoopers accusing it of helping hide risks at insurer American International Group. KPMG settled a lawsuit stemming from its audits of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp, now part of Bank of America, for a relatively modest amount. “Every time somebody comes up with a new fraudulent scheme, auditors miss it,” said Andrea Kim, a partner at law firm Diamond McCarthy LLP in Houston who represents plaintiffs in auditor lawsuits. “The historical pattern is that they find a way to manage the litigation to limit their liability.”

Analysis: Big wins elude investors in auditor lawsuits [Reuters]

Which Big 4 Firm’s New Hires Aren’t Receiving Performance Ratings?

There are clues:

We hope you are settling into your new role and that things are going well!

The purpose of this email is to make you aware of some important information regarding the year end performance management process that applies to all new campus hires and all newly hired associates/administrative assistants for this year.

The firm recognizes that as a recent new hire, your primary focus is to transition into your role and responsibilities and build your network. It is important that you have the appropriate amount of time to learn about the firm and integrate fully before you are formally evaluated on your performance. Therefore, for this performance year, which ends June 30, 2011, you will not be assigned a performance rating.

Even though you will not receive a rating, you will participate fully in all other aspects of the performance process, such as getting feedback from individuals you work with and meeting with your counselor to discuss your feedback, progress, development and goals for the 2012 fiscal year. We are confident that even without a performance rating for this year, you can fully understand how you are doing by asking the right questions and having meaningful conversations with those you work with.

In the meantime, please make sure you are getting periodic feedback and staying in touch with your counselor. As the year end process approaches you can access helpful tools that will help you prepare for a variety of coaching conversations

Further, you can learn more about the Performance Management and Development process by clicking here.

If you would like to discuss this further please contact your counselor or your People Consultant. Thank you for your participation in this important process.

Take a stab in the comments and feel free to speculate as to the motivation and repercussions behind “all (wo)men are rated equal.”