08/05/2006 | MBA, UK and Ireland

Winning Cultures - Morgan Stanley

By: Dawn Nicholson, Morgan Stanley - Managing Director, Human Resources, Europe

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.

Dawn Nicholson, Managing Director, Human Resources, Europe
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.