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Dare to Dare 143

are often viewed by employees throughout corporate America as a “flavor
of the month”; therefore, he dared to integrate “People First” as a cultural
philosophy, not as a program initiative. In order to accomplish this, Jim
continued to meet with thousands of employees in small groups to solicit
candid feedback and address their concerns. The big question that came
out of this road trip was, “How do you go about changing the behaviors of
senior managers and partners in order to achieve a ‘People First’ culture?”
After “People First” was launched in 2001, Fortune magazine invited
Jim to participate in a conference panel discussion to present Ernst &
Young’s “people strategies.” This was the very first time the philosophy
was discussed publicly. Jim recalled, “I began to sweat. All of a sudden it
hit me. I was going to tell 100–150 CEOs, half of whom were our clients,
that our people are more important to us than they are.” Jim’s daring was
rewarded when nearly all of the CEOs in the room told him that “People
First” was indeed a smart move. Jim made a sure bet that his team of
highly motivated and highly satisfied professionals would result in the
very best service to clients.
Yet a mammoth challenge lay ahead: how to abandon the “old-school”
philosophy. There is the traditional, “I’m partner, you’re the grunt mental-
ity,” Phil Laskawy explained. “It’s the 80–20 rule or maybe the 60–20–20
rule. Sixty percent are going to accept it, 20 percent are going to leave,
and 20 percent are going to resist the philosophy. Hopefully that last 20
percent keeps getting lower and lower.”
From the massive amount of employee feedback Jim gathered, it was
clear that some leadership behaviors desperately needed changing. As a
prescriptive measure, the human resources team created “People Point.” In
this anonymous rating system, every employee in North America receives
a request via e-mail to answer one question as it applies to a specific PPD
(principals, partners, and directors): “How effective is this individual at
creating an environment of mutual respect and encouraging personal
growth?” A non-numerical scale allows employees to rank the individual
on a scale from “Not,” to “Extremely.”
The “People Point” review system is completely voluntary. Reviewers
are encouraged to evaluate as many or as few PPDs as they wish. Reviewers
are also afforded the opportunity to submit additional comments as they
deem appropriate. At the onset of “People Point,” Jim Freer, vice chairman
of human resources, said management speculated that they would receive
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