Winning Cultures at Morgan Stanley: Interview

Assessing candidate calibre makes up a big part of the recruitment process at financial services giant Morgan Stanley. 

With over 600 offices in 30 countries employing more than 53,000 people and with over US$625 billion in assets under management, Morgan Stanley is one of the world's largest and most successful financial services companies. We talk to Dawn Nicholson, Managing Director, Human Resources in Europe about how the people factor contributes to Morgan Stanley's winning culture.

What do you believe are the key factors that motivate the best candidates to join Morgan Stanley and have they changed over recent years?

When it comes down to attracting the best people, we're in a very strong position because the power and quality of the Morgan Stanley brand is massive. I was talking to some of our summer associates recently - students from leading business schools who are with us over the summer months to gain an insight into what it's really like to work here - and they all said that the reason they applied was because we have a name that really is second to none in our chosen markets. It's no surprise that people are attracted to the organisation because of its demonstrable business success, but they are also attracted by other attributes of the brand such as our reputation for integrity in everything that we do.

Over the past few years I think that these (softer) aspects of the brand have become increasingly important, particularly to individuals joining us from business school. There's much more interest in what goes on behind the organisation's public face and, in particular, to our attitude towards such issues as diversity and corporate social responsibility. Of course, applicants from the MBA community are still motivated by the high financial rewards that an employer like Morgan Stanley can offer, but the business school experience seems to provide a sophisticated degree of understanding of what an important role these areas play in the modern commercial world.

Exactly how do diversity and CSR contribute to creating a "winning culture"?

Let's look at diversity first where I think there are two pillars to a well-defined business case in its favour. First, as a global organisation, we're acutely aware that we work with an extremely diverse range of customers and clients. If we are to genuinely understand their needs and aspirations, we have to reflect that diversity within our own business. Secondly there's no doubt that there is always a war underway for the best talent and that talent is not restricted to any one gender, nationality or ethnic background. Similarly, it is not restricted to any sexual orientation, disability or age. The management of Morgan Stanley, at every level, is completely committed to the belief that, if we want to attract, develop and retain the best people, we simply can't afford to be fettered by outdated ideas. In Europe, we've addressed this through a broad spectrum of activities, such as the setting up of a European Diversity Council, developing employee networks for groups such as parents, women, ethnic minorities and lesbian and gay employees. We have mandated diversity training for all our people, initially in the UK and now rolling out across the rest of the continent. We were also one of the first organisations in our field to institute genderspecific training. The first programme was based on a recognition that education and the working environment sometimes develop differing skill sets in men and women and was, therefore, initially designed to help our female professionals understand, amongst other things, how to make best use of business networks. Of course, in doing so, we were very careful to embrace the views of both men and women in our organisation, to identify what would really benefit both individuals and the business as a whole.

In terms of corporate social responsibility, we're great believers in giving back to the comunity we operate in and we consequently do all we can to encourage our people to take part in volunteering programmes. We also get behind individuals who want to contribute in other ways such as by becoming school governors, trustees or mentors. It's all part of our aim to attract and retain well-rounded people. Investment banking is a demanding environment which calls for a lot of focus and commitment, but we believe that the most effective people are those that remain plugged in to the world outside the office.

What part does your training and development strategy play in attracting and retaining good people?

We invest a lot of time, effort and resources in training, which is geared to allowing everyone in the organisation to fulfil his or her full potential. I've already talked about how we've used training as a tool in such areas as diversity and we're currently working on what we believe will be a highly effective programme of training for new managers, but, for a business school graduate, the first introduction to our development programmes will be a four week induction course which is designed to provide a firm technical base around Morgan Stanley's financial products and models. In addition to this, the course provides a wide range of networking opportunities and also develops presentation and communication skills. We aim to provide the very best teachers and, while that means that some may come in from outside, the bulk of the work is done by people from within the business, which makes the whole experience more real and inspiring. It's also very much an international experience. This year, for example, we brought new hires from our Asia Pacific offices to London which helps them build the feeling of being truly a global team, right from day one, in their careers with us.

How would you sum up what it is about the Morgan Stanley culture that gives you a lead in the "war for talent"?

It's perhaps best summed up in the words of our Chairman and CEO, John Mack, who says that, "At Morgan Stanley, our success depends on fostering a culture where our five core values of integrity, excellence, respect for individuals and cultures, entrepreneurial spirit and teamwork are encouraged and rewarded." What's exciting about the Morgan Stanley environment is how vibrant and buzzy it is. There's always a feeling that things are happening and that anything is possible. This is a place where you get a lot of contact with very senior people right from the start of your time here and we work hard to ensure good internal communication through a range of avenues from formal meetings and web casts to (brown bag) lunches or breakfast meetings for small groups. What's really important about this contact is the free exchange of ideas that it generates. This is most certainly not a place where you have to toe a corporate line: we actively encourage people to challenge the status quo with new ideas whether they've been here twenty years or two weeks. I've been with Morgan Stanley for over twelve years now and I can honestly say that I've never felt inhibited in putting my view forward in any way.

Source: QS TopMBA Career Service