In late April, TBR visited with EY’s People Advisory Services (PAS) team at the firm’s Boston office. Rapid changes in the HR role, along with the need to effectively manage the workforce amid ongoing transformation and increased technology adoption, have driven greater investment in the function and a need to effectively manage the changes. The discussion centered on how these external drivers led to changes in EY’s services. First was a thorough review of the global EY Change Experience (ChX) method, which is an updated, data-driven change management approach that focuses on achieving business outcomes through behavior change. Second was a preview of EY’s CHRO (chief human resources officer) 2030 study, which was published in early June and emphasizes the need for talent readiness and business focus.

Transformation within EY’s PAS

Starting off the discussion, Randy Beck, EY’s Global Organization and People leader, spoke at length about the major market priorities and activities that have been the focus in 2025 to provide leading methodologies and thought leadership to their clients. EY’s PAS guides client workforce strategies, impacting people experience, organization and workforce transformation, HR transformation, rewards and people transactions, and people mobility.

 

A key area of emphasis was updating the change management service offering to align with market needs. This year, EY implemented a single global, modernized change management methodology, moving away from the over 33 different methodologies previously used across PAS engagements. This unified methodology distinguishes EY from its competitors, enhances global consistency, improves the employee experience, and ensures that clients’ transformations through PAS are more successful and enduring. The methodology seeks to create a data-driven, proactive rather than reactive approach to change, enabling clients to prepare and adjust to the transformation turning points. As part of the launch and to support consistency, EY retrained 2,600 employees in the practice across 60-plus countries using e-learning to recertify its staff. This mandatory training ensures EY’s practitioners will follow the same methodology moving forward.

 

In structuring the methodology, EY sought to embrace modularity and scalability, enabling the company to meet clients at their current maturity point and prepare them for future changes. EY consultants collaborate with clients as change management solution architects to design suitable project approaches, utilizing appropriate tools and technologies to address their requirements.

 

EY sets itself apart from its peers through the methodology, backing its transformation with data and technology and addressing the people side of organizational change. In the methodology, EY calls out Meaning, Empowerment and Growth as the change conditions, or guiding principles, which are applied at the individual, team and organization levels throughout a project to make change stick. Each project approach is also centered on delivering change components under the four change pillars: leadership, engagement, confidence and proficiency.

 

To align with the company’s overall vision and better guide change, EY ensures that members of clients’ leadership teams are in position to guide the transformation. Throughout the engagement, EY provides resources and training for clients, enabling them to support and uphold their transformations. Fostering confidence using data, metrics and established governance exemplifies the need for change and encourages support across the organization. Lastly, the need for skilled individuals to lead and uphold change highlights the importance of ongoing skills development, underscoring the pillar of proficiency.

 

EY shared six additional practices that differentiate the company in the market. One key feature that practice EY leaders demonstrated to TBR was the Network Analysis tool, which plays a critical role in driving effective organizational change. The tool maps trusted networks within the organization and identifies influential leaders, enabling them to champion change and help ensure it takes hold.

 

The development of the Modernization Change Experience methodology reflects EY’s PAS practicewide commitment to a more modular, proactive and people-centric approach to change. Using the platform, EY seeks to better guide change for its clients and establish “change as a muscle,” enabling the company to be proactive and a part of clients’ normal operations. While acknowledging that change is necessary, EY also recognizes that change can be personal, highlighting the importance of change as an experience that fully engages client talent to make the transformation more successful. Further, the platform drives the value of outcomes, reflecting an industrywide shift toward outcomes-based engagements and risk-sharing on projects.

Conclusion

As workforce and employee experience grow increasingly critical in the era of rapid technological advancement, EY’s refreshed approach within PAS — centered on a unified methodology and a stronger focus on people experience — helps distinguish the firm from its peers and better aligns with technology-driven transformation initiatives. Further, taking a global approach to retraining and methodology creates a more unified approach within the firm to better engage with clients and navigate market change.

 

EY has structured its portfolio to meet clients where they are in their transformation journey, delivering solutions that empower them to embrace change and lead their own initiatives effectively. Integrating experience and continuous change into people advisory and workforce transformation strengthens EY’s competitive edge while enabling clients to sustain long-term progress, anchored by technology.