Gold Standard represents aspirational performance, guiding and

challenging you to strive toward being the best. Gold Standard sets a

Gold Standard very high bar. It asks you to think of the very best examples you
have seen who demonstrate the highest standards of quality, risk
management and technical excellence, business leadership, client
leadership, team leadership and personal leadership. This
framework includes Gold Standard examples for each rank across
service lines and CBS. These examples cover multiple aspects of
what the best of the best looks like, but it is not a checklist or an all-
inclusive list. Even though individuals below the manager/assistant
director ranks are not formally evaluated against business
leadership, all dimensions can be used as a catalyst for broader
development and career discussions. For more information, see
Understanding rank expectations and Gold Standard.
Administrative
Quality, risk management and technical excellence
Quality, risk management Technical excellence
► Manages complex deliverables and produces high-quality results with little oversight ► Builds credibility using technical and professional knowledge to help internal clients
understand and resolve business issues.
► Sought out for quality of technical judgment and knowledge by teammates, clients and
leaders.

Business leadership
Business acumen Business development Innovation
► Establishes credibility with internal clients and others by ► N/A ► Develops an innovative approach or offering that
demonstrating an understanding of their business significantly affects the bottom line or improves a
environment and how they make an impact on the process.
business.

Client leadership
Connected
► Actively leverages relationships and broad network of
resources to positively influence or affect results.
Proactive
► Takes personal responsibility for understanding client
needs and expectations. Effectively anticipates and
proactively addresses issues to ensure timely delivery of
high-quality work.
Insightful
► Exhibits exceptional client management skills, going
beyond assignment work to produce ideas and actions.

Team leadership
Shared vision Right mix Team contribution
► Coaches colleagues and team members on how the ► Demonstrates respect for differences in individual style ► Helps others navigate change by encouraging agility and
team’s work contributes to EY’s strategic priorities and and background, and for how this impacts the team. flexibility to meet the evolving needs of the team, clients
function’s goals, in order to make this linkage more Displays curiosity by asking appropriate questions in and business
effective. order to better understand a situation.
► Looks for different ways to contribute to a more
inclusively teaming environment.

Personal leadership
Presence
► Always communicates messages clearly and confidently.
Shows sincerity and is approachable.
► Values and builds professional relationships.
Vitality
► Demonstrates ability to maintain a balance between
personal and professional commitments.
► Demonstrates concern for team members and is a role
model for EY values.
Agility
► Demonstrates self-awareness, adapts easily to differences
in styles and backgrounds, and observes differences non-
judgmentally.
► Leverages EY experiences to help solve our communities’
most pressing challenges and brings learning from
community experiences back to EY, ultimately embodying
EY’s purpose of building a better working world for our
people, our clients and our communities.

Gold Standard | 1
Staff and associate
Quality, risk management and technical excellence
Quality, risk management
► Masters complex tasks, understanding the implications of work performed on overall
engagement or project quality.
► Improves quality through proactively asking for guidance from others.
► Meets mandatory compliance, learning and other professional requirements.
Business leadership
Business acumen
► Applies an extensive understanding of EY and/or client
business models to significantly enhance personal
contribution to team goals.
Client leadership
Connected
► Actively identifies and establishes professional
relationships across EY and with external stakeholders.
Team leadership
Shared vision
► Proactively shares new ideas to support achievement of
shared vision. Assumes significant role in driving
collaboration and team commitment.
Personal leadership
Presence
► Always communicates messages clearly and confidently.
Shows sincerity and is approachable.
► Values and builds professional relationships.
► Proactively self-manages career development and
professional growth, demonstrates openness to new
experiences, coaching, learning and relationships to
support them in achieving aspirational performance for
their level.
Technical excellence
► Develops and embraces technical excellence in increasingly complex areas.
Business development
► Expands understanding of the EY value proposition
through working on opportunities which aid business or
internal development.
Proactive
► Takes personal responsibility for understanding client
needs and expectations. Effectively anticipates and
proactively addresses issues to ensure timely delivery of
high-quality work.
Right mix
► Demonstrates respect for differences in individual style
and background, and for how this impacts the team.
Displays curiosity by asking appropriate questions in
order to better understand a situation.
► Looks for different ways to contribute to a more inclusive
teaming environment.
Vitality
► Demonstrates ability to maintain a balance between
personal and professional commitments.
Innovation
► Identifies improvements to enhance delivery of assigned
tasks.
► Keeps up to date with internal and external developments
and shares insights with wider team.
Insightful
► Continuously demonstrates enthusiasm to learn and asks
“better questions” that lead to new thinking or insights.
► Regularly leverages organization-wide learning and
business knowledge to develop a point of view to help
clients.
Team contribution
► Demonstrates a strong commitment to team success,
going beyond their own tasks to help the team as a whole
to succeed.
Agility
► Demonstrates self-awareness, adapts easily to differences
in styles and backgrounds, and observes difference in a
non- judgmental way.
► Leverages EY experiences to help solve our communities’
most pressing challenges and brings learning from
community experiences back to EY, ultimately embodying
EY’s purpose of building a better working world for our
people, our clients and our communities.
Gold Standard | 2
Senior, Senior Associate and Supervising Associate
Quality, risk management and technical excellence
Quality, risk management Technical excellence
► Always takes responsibility for performing high-quality work on ► Identifies and resolves complex issues on the engagement/ project to the
engagements/projects. satisfaction of leadership, demonstrating a broad technical skillset.
► Communicates critical areas of risk to the team and manager on a timely basis,
consulting where appropriate to help resolve issues.
► Meets mandatory compliance, learning and other professional requirements.

Business leadership
Business acumen
► Demonstrates a deep understanding of internal and
external business environments, relevant to work
activity.
► Provides meaningful suggestions and successfully
implements changes which enhance delivery.
Business development
► Frequently and effectively leverages internal and
external knowledge, experience and relationships to
identify potential new opportunities.
► Makes relevant internal and external connections
and proactively fosters relationships and networks
to help progress opportunities.
Innovation
► Considers diverse perspectives to develop new
ideas and insights and translates these into
practical initiatives.
► Contributes to creating an environment that fosters
new ways of thinking, the development of new
ideas, and continuous improvements to existing
ways of working such as utilizing GDS and analytical
tools.

Client leadership
Connected
► Able to (relatively) autonomously manage difficult
client relationships. Knows when to bring in
appropriate EY leaders and to elevate an issue
when appropriate.
Proactive
► Displays a deep understanding of client
requirements and priorities and can therefore
anticipate client needs and challenges.
► Can effectively balance different demands to meet
client deadlines while simultaneously maintaining a
high standard of work.
Insightful
► Builds and demonstrates service line, functional
group, sector or market knowledge and uses it to
enhance relationships with clients and deliver on
goals.
► Regularly brings ideas and insights to clients that
provide value, and help address risk.

Gold Standard | 3
Senior, Senior Associate and Supervising Associate
Team leadership
Shared vision
► Generates a shared sense of purpose through
individual contribution and by fostering team
collaboration.
► Known within the practice for outstanding
commitment to mentoring, and to developing team
members by providing learning and experiences
that are motivational and engaging.
Personal leadership
Presence
► Shows authenticity and is always sensitive to the
wider context of a situation.
► Nurtures environment where others can
communicate openly and honestly, and proactively
connects different people in order to come up with
better solutions and ideas.
► Proactively self-manages career development and
professional growth, demonstrates openness to
new experiences, coaching, learning and
relationships to support them in achieving
aspirational performance for their level.
Right mix
► Contributes significantly to high performing teams
by recognizing and leveraging individual strengths
and diversity of thought to generate solutions for
better outcomes.
► Combines an openness to, and awareness of,
diversity across cultures and creates a safe team
environment that enables everyone to contribute
equally.
► Actively contributes to the retention and
recruitment of a high performing, diverse, team.
Vitality
► Demonstrates ability to maintain a balance between
personal and professional commitments, and
encourages others to do the same.
Team contribution
► Demonstrates exceptional commitment to team
success; making a measurable impact to the
experience and development of team members.
Agility
► Can quickly understand fast- moving situations,
rapidly understands the context of different
situations and responds to new challenges and
demands effectively.
► Skillfully adapts own style to differences in others’
cultures, styles and backgrounds.
► Leverages EY experiences to help solve our
communities’ most pressing challenges and brings
learning from community experiences back to EY,
ultimately embodying EY’s purpose of building a
better working world for our people, our clients and
our communities.
Gold Standard | 4
Manager and assistant director
Quality, risk management and technical excellence
Quality, risk management Technical excellence
► Leads complex engagements/ projects, and/or delivers outstanding quality ► Seeks out relevant internal and external learning resources and effectively
results in complex and challenging environments. applies learning to address and resolve technical issues.
► Applies a deep knowledge of subject matter and a constant desire to improve to ►
deliver best in class quality.
► Develops a reputation for identifying matters concerning quality or risk and
escalates these to the executives in charge, by either consulting where
necessary, or engaging the team to consult.
► Leads by example by meeting mandatory compliance, learning and other
professional requirements and setting the right tone for his/her team to
contribute to a culture of quality, compliance and risk management.

Business leadership
Business acumen
► Leverages a broad and deep understanding and
knowledge of strategically important EY go-to-
market priorities to identify, design and deliver
significant value added opportunities and/ or
substantially mitigate risk.
► These contributions lead to: improvement in
profitability and/or effectiveness of
engagements/processes AND/OR expansion of
engagement scope and fees. (Excluding Assurance
channel 1 and CBS).
Business development
► Plays an integral role in activities which enhance
EY’s market leadership and responsibly considers
what to do and how to execute on the strategy.
► Proactively assists in the design, development
and/or implementation of strategic initiatives which
contribute to the future growth and success of EY,
taking the lead on one or more initiatives.
Innovation
► Collaborates widely within EY and externally, to
innovate and create new ideas, talent and solutions
to improve capabilities, thereby adding to EY’s body
of intellectual property.
► Actively supports innovation, new ways of thinking,
the development of new ideas, and continuous
improvements to existing ways of working, and
helps spread this approach to others.
► Investigates opportunities to improve the
profitability of engagements with greater utilization
of alternative delivery models including GDS,
analytics and other technologies

Gold Standard | 5
Manager and assistant director
Client leadership
Connected
► Has a well-established reputation internally and
externally.
► Builds networks internally and externally to broaden
EY’s relationships, thereby creating opportunities to
bring the strength of global EY to the local market.
► Owns mid-level relationships at the client and
regularly interacts with, and develops relationships
with the C-Suite.
Team leadership
Shared vision
► Builds a diverse and high performing team
environment that encourages collaboration, and
empowers personal development and achievement
of team goals.
► Builds an environment based on mutual trust that
enables effective mentoring, coaching and
counseling.
Proactive
► Proactively anticipates client’s needs and leads,
develops or contributes to teams’ ability to bring
innovative ideas and thought leadership.
► Creates high levels of satisfaction with clients and
project team by building and maintaining trust and
credibility, delivering on promises and timely
outputs.
Right mix
► Applies a global mindset when leading teams, taking
into consideration cultural differences, time zones
and any other factors that may impede effective
teaming.
► Focuses on the needs of the team, rather than
personal preferences or historical ways of
operating, to build the capability of all team
members, or when making decisions that can
impact the career advancement of team members.
► Drives the retention and recruitment of a high
performing, diverse, team.
► Actively uses their network to further advance their
team members and counselees.
Insightful
► Has a point of view based on a strong
understanding of the client, service line, functional
group or market.
► Proactively shares insights and becomes a trusted
advisor with clients and internal EY teams and
counselees, resulting in tangible results.
► Leverages and integrates other EY specialists on
engagements/projects to bring the full breadth of
services to our clients.
Team contribution
► Works across boundaries to foster agile cross
service line/functional group teaming. Recognized
for being passionate and committed to mentoring,
coaching and counseling and developing team
members through their experience, knowledge and
networks.
► Promotes flexibility and provides support to enable
our people to achieve both their personal and
professional goals.
► Provides ongoing, quality support to team members
and/or counselees in order to help them maximize
their performance and achieve their potential.
Gold Standard | 6
Manager and assistant director
Personal leadership
Presence
► Confidently communicates and shows sensitivity to
different styles of communication.
► Is always open to different perspectives and takes
the time to actively listen and encourage ongoing
dialogue between all members of the team.
► Communicates proactively and often with
counselees and team members to drive open and
honest development and career conversations for
the purpose of building trust, authentic meaningful
relationships and exceptional career experiences.
► Proactively self-manages career development and
professional growth, demonstrates openness to
new experiences, coaching, learning and
relationships to support them in achieving
aspirational performance for their level.
Vitality
► Maintains a balance between personal and
professional commitments. Is conscious of the
wellbeing of team members and reprioritizes work
so others can find balance too.
Agility
► Confidently and skillfully navigates different
scenarios. Can understand differences in styles,
background and changing needs and knows when to
shift or hold steadfast to make decisions if
necessary.
► Exhibits curiosity and leads with questions during
ongoing conversations with counselees.
► Applies professional skills to help solve our
communities’ most pressing challenges. Directly
applies community experiences to deliver better
value to clients at EY and leads by example for our
people, ultimately embodying EY’s purpose of
building a better working world for our people, our
clients and our communities.
Gold Standard | 7
Senior manager and associate director
Quality, risk management and technical excellence
Quality, risk management Technical excellence
► Enhances the quality reputation of their function, service line or EY as a whole by ► Recognized internally and externally at a Region and/or service line
delivering outstanding results in complex and challenging environments. level/functional group as a leader in a particular technical, or functional area or
► Is sought after to help address complex quality or risk management issues, using sector.
specialist skills from other service lines and/or functional group where necessary. ► Demonstrates great depth of specialization by contributing to EY points of view
► Consistently and actively helps drive the Region/or service line/functional group on emerging issues.
quality agenda.
► Leads by example by meeting mandatory compliance, learning and other
professional requirements and setting the right tone for his/her team to
contribute to a culture of quality, compliance and risk management.

Business leadership
Business acumen
► Applies entrepreneurial spirit and deep service line,
business, sector and market knowledge, as well as a
wide range of global EY resources, platforms,
delivery models, services and alliances, to design
and deliver sustainable growth. Anticipates
emerging issues that create risk or opportunity and
is sought out as a trusted advisor.
► Substantially improves profitability and/or
effectiveness of our most complex projects or
processes, AND/OR significantly grows complex
markets, accounts or engagements (excluding
Assurance channel 1 and CBS].
Business development
► Uses the strength of personal brand to
help demonstrate market leadership
and differentiate EY in a responsible and
ethical way.
► Effectively leads the design, development
and implementation of strategic initiatives which
contribute to the future growth and success of EY.
► Demonstrates excellent coaching skills when
coaching others to enhance their business
development skills and experience.
Innovation
► Drives innovation in all that they do and is
recognized as a leader in this area.
► Implements new ways of working, delivery models
(eg GDS, automation, analytics, contractors and
alliance partners) and/or technological
advancements that enhance the intellectual
property, growth or profitability of EY.
► Acts as an innovation champion who drives culture
by creating an environment which helps foster new
ways of thinking, development of new ideas and
continuous improvements to existing ways of
working.

Gold Standard | 8
Senior manager and associate director
Client leadership
Connected
► Uses well-established reputation and highly
connected internal and external networks to bring
all of EY to clients, with the right people in the right
locations, building strong relationships built on
trust.
► Drives high-level relationships at the client and
routinely interacts with the C-Suite.
Team leadership
Shared vision
► Establishes a culture of highest performing teams
where team member strengths, trust and
collaboration are mobilized to deliver the highest
quality results.
► Ensures balanced feedback is delivered to all team
members through open, honest communication.
► Achieves the highest levels of engagement,
development and satisfaction of a diverse mix of
people, regardless of the complexity or challenging
nature of the environment.
Proactive
► Well-known for being proactive, visible and
delivering exceptional client of client service, often
helping clients to anticipate and prepare for
emerging issues.
► Achieves the highest possible client survey
feedback results and satisfaction levels in very
complex or challenging client environments.
► Supports team members and counselees to
contribute effectively to high levels of client
satisfaction.
Right mix
► Purposefully models inclusive behaviors to drive a
positive high-performance team culture.
► Deliberately brings together, and continually
supports and develops, the right mix of diverse
talent to ensure the highest performing teams.
► Understands the complexities and nuances of the
global environment including any risks and
opportunities.
► Recognized as an outstanding leader with respect
to the retention and recruitment of people.
► Demonstrates curiosity about team members
and/or counselees to expand understanding of own
perspectives.
Insightful
► Creates an environment that encourages innovative
ideas based on a strong understanding of, and
experience with, the client, market, service line,
functional group and EY.
► Is sought after across the organization to share EY
experiences and points of view.
► Leverages and integrates GDS, automation,
analytics and other staffing models to bring the full
breadth of services and technologies to our clients.
Team contribution
► Skillfully leads high performing teams and has a
strong track record of helping others achieve their
goals.
► Role models exceptional coaching, mentoring and
counseling behaviors and takes the time to develop
their team.
► Improves the teams’/counselees’ awareness of
unconscious biases and preferences to ensure
equitable decision-making and fair evaluation
standards in self and others.
Gold Standard | 9
Senior manager and associate director
Personal leadership
Presence
► Makes genuine connections with others in a way
that builds trust and makes lasting positive
impressions among different individuals and
stakeholders.
► Skillfully draws out different perspectives from a
broad network of individuals to enhance dialog and
to generate the best solutions.
► Communicates proactively and often with
counselees to drive open and honest conversations
for the purpose of building trust and authentic
meaningful relationships.
► Actively manages career development and
professional growth to ensure the right
experiences, coaching, learning and relationships
are built to move in the direction of career
aspirations and accelerating performance.
Vitality
► Role models personal and professional balance.
► Proactively measures how other team members are
managing to balance their commitments and takes
the time to coach to ensure the right balance is
maintained.
Agility
► Demonstrates a high level of emotional intelligence
- flexes personal style according to the context of a
situation to drive engagement with all stakeholders.
► Leverages multiple perspectives to make sound and
timely decisions, helping individuals and teams deal
with ambiguity, particularly during times of
uncertainty and change.
► Exhibits curiosity and leads with questions during
ongoing conversations with counselees.
► Applies professional skills to help solve our
communities’ most pressing challenges. Directly
applies community experiences to deliver better
value to clients at EY and leads by example for our
people, ultimately embodying EY’s purpose of
building a better working world for our people, our
clients and our communities.
Gold Standard | 10
EY | Assurance | Tax | Transactions | Advisory

About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and
advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver
help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in
economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders
who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders.
In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working
world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.
EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or
more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited,
each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global
Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide
services to clients. For more information about our
organization, please visit ey.com.

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This material has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is
not intended to be relied upon as accounting, tax or other professional advice.
Please refer to your advisors for specific advice.

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