Sidebar: Principles for Change

How do you make changes in an organization that's mired in tradition? Ernst & Young put these five principles to work.

Start at the top.

Chairman and CEO Phil Laskawy has made it clear that Deborah Holmes's Office for Retention is not just window dressing. In a company where office size and location still mean a lot, Holmes's office space is just down the hall from Laskawy's. He also personally introduced her to the firm's top people and promoted her programs in companywide voice mails.

Lead by example.

When executives work like maniacs, their staffers are likely to do the same. At E&Y, partners try to become models of balance. When the 3-4-5 travel schedule for consultants was implemented, many partners adopted it as well. They also began talking openly about how they meet their own needs, so that others would feel comfortable doing the same.

One size doesn't fit all.

That's especially true in massive organizations like E&Y. So the firm encourages each office and consulting project to set up its own solution teams. An added benefit: Because large numbers of leaders and staffers are involved in the process, the measures had widespread support when they were put in place. "Most people are much more enthusiastic about new ideas that are homegrown," says Holmes, "and the ideas tend to be a lot better."

Keep it simple.

In 1997, consultants on E&Y's Detroit project had an idea: Why not offer extra compensation to staffers who log extra hours on the road? But they dropped the idea when it began raising too many questions. "If you want change to be sustainable, you have to keep it simple," says Bob Forbes, the partner in charge of that project.

Don't forget the big picture.

No matter what initiatives E&Y's solution teams consider, team members must always consider the corporate mission: to provide top-quality service to the firm's clients. Some teams resist measures that they feel might impede client service, even as other teams embrace those innovations. "Every change that's made has to be in the context of serving the client," says Forbes, "because that's what we're all about."

Sidebar: Sanity Toolbox

When Ernst & Young launched its life-balance initiatives, the firm didn't just roll out one or two measures. It offered a wide variety of items -- some quick fixes, some long-term solutions. Here is a sampling.

The 3-4-5 travel schedule.

Consultants can spend months at a time on the road. To ease the grind, the 3-4-5 schedule requires that consultants spend just three nights away from home, four days at a client's site, and day five working either at home or in their home office. Many consultants spend that fifth day at home, catching up on errands.

Life-balance survey and agreement.

Because consultants work on different assignments with different colleagues, each project begins with a comprehensive survey of individual needs and concerns. Consultants and their supervisors then complete a life-balance operating agreement -- a contract that spells out staffing requirements, an individual's specific needs, and the way that a supervisor plans to meet those needs.

Mail-duty reprieve.

E&Y's tax-and-audit offices in San Jose and Palo Alto came up with a simple innovation: Employees aren't obliged to check email or voice mail either on weekends or while they're on vacation. No one is prevented from doing so, but the message is clear: Checking in when you're off work is unnecessary.

Telecommuting.

This is far from a novel solution, but it has gained broad acceptance at E&Y. The company's Silicon Valley offices screen suitable candidates for telecommuting, based on logistics and temperament. Commuting distance, workload, and seniority are also criteria. Then E&Y provides qualified employees with an ISDN phone line, secure access to its network, a computer and other equipment, and office furniture. As a result, employees' commutes are shortened, and their morale is heightened.

Workload patrols.

Several factors contribute to unmanageable workloads: First, E&Y accountants get their assignments from a number of partners. Second, little effort is made to coordinate those assignments. And third, employees are loath to turn down billable hours. To address those problems, E&Y's San Jose and Palo Alto practices have each appointed two committees to review employees' time sheets and to make sure that no one is overwhelmed with work. Those committees can remove staffers from assignments, even when no replacements are available. The result? Less burnout.

Best-practices database.

Called the Life Balance Matrix, this online database contains descriptions of the best life-balance measures that are used across the firm as well as a list of contacts. The database lets offices share information and resources, so that they can build on one another's success.