Culture: The culture in this 143 years old company has been the best and it is deep-rooted in the employees. Employees make an organization and employees from the best companies like Goldman Sachs with ethical values make an organization into the Fortune 100 companies and this reputation as the best employer with ethics has been maintained by Goldman Sachs since its inception. From the time of the recruitment even before the formal offer letter is rolled out, orientation process, and training on company values the employees accept these cultural values as a part of their life. The company recruits only the finest and optimistic people. Those candidates who do not evince a scorching ambition, total commitment, and an inclination for teamwork are quickly weeded out (Endlich 20). Goldman Sachs is a reputed investment banking firm because of its strong culture that is dependent on a common passion for teamwork, reliability, integrity and brilliance. The company follows an open and organized culture that allows the employees to fulfill their appetite for work with individual responsibilities and ownership of the task. The financial performance of Goldman Sachs depends on the employee friendly environment in which the business is done. Some factors that contribute to the financial performance are the financial markets that are transparent, liquid and well-organized, low price increase (inflation), gaining the assurance and trust of stockholders and depositors, providing global support and creating international relationships.
Employee Training: The employees in Goldman Sachs are from diverse backgrounds and everyone is required to undergo the diversity training. It is an essential requirement by the company for the employees to complete two hours of training to be comfortable working with people of diverse backgrounds. The working strategy to work with the team members, peers, colleagues, and superiors is also covered as part of the training. There can be challenges to work with people from various backgrounds and Goldman Sachs has taken numerous initiatives to abridge this gap to enhance the growth of the individual and the organization. By these trainings the people are encouraged to understand that not everyone is alike and every one can have diverse interests. The differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, are eliminated and a sense of ownership is developed by the diverse management training. Diversity management as a key factor achieves the goals and objectives. Goldman Sachs holds various awareness programs on diversity like the history and heritage month, master classes and diversity dialogues, and diversity awareness week.
Customer Service: Customer service is one of the major success factors in Goldman Sachs and it is done meticulously and religiously, as being the top investment banking company it has a vast database of high profile clientele all over the world. The customer service in Goldman Sachs acts as a benchmark and a model to the other companies. Next to a company’s product, excellence in customer service is the single most important factor in determining the future success or failure of the company (Gibson-Odgers, 11). A high percentage of the employees deliver exceptional customer service to their clients. Goldman Sachs delivers the best quality product and an excellent customer service. Goldman Sachs engages a customer management system to track the customer activities and accounts. This system has proved to be very beneficial to the organization by allowing them to know about the customer going away and develop strategies to retain them and the system has helped the numerous clients by improved customer satisfaction.
Risk Management: Goldman Sachs has sustained great standards concerning client selection, appropriateness and revelation as a financier and investment banker. A key management requirement for risk/return optimization is to integrate risk management in the business processes of the company (Lam 5). Goldman Sachs integrates the various forms of risks like the Market risk, Credit risk, Operational risk, Liquidity risk, and Regulatory risk in its risk management and has various strategies to manage these risks at all times. To manage the market risks Goldman Sachs diversifies the exposures, and controls the position sizing in trading. There is lot of emphasis on continuous development in the organizational standards that is reviewed on a regular basis to manage the regulatory risks. The decisions for the risk management in Goldman Sachs are not derived by the past failures, or by knowing the future, but they have been created keeping in mind the unidentified circumstances. The company follows mark-to-market accounting approach where the assets and liabilities of the firm are valued with the market price.
Support from the Top Management: Due to the key factor of flexibility and open communication, the senior management in Goldman Sachs is very much supportive towards the employees. This support from the management builds the employee commitment towards the company, results in low attrition and allows the employee to engage in the organizational activities. Guidance and support are generally required and may take the form of a professional coach, a savvy HR advocate, a mentor in senior management, or some combination of these roles (Bunker, Hall & Kram 45). The work environment provided by Goldman Sachs provides lots of opportunities for self-development, engages the employees in multiple company activities, allows them to utilize the work-life programs and creates a complete work-life balance. This not only allows the employs to be dedicated to the company but also allows them to spend quality time with their families. The senior management recognizes the needs of the employees in their tenure with the company and supports career growth to avoid attrition and create a healthy environment. The top management enables flexibility and supports the existing culture of the organization keeping in mind the requirements of the employees.
References
Endlich, Lisa. Goldman Sachs: The Culture Of Success. (Illustrated). Simon and Schuster, 2000. Reprint.
Gibson-Odgers, Pattie., The World of Customer Service. 2nd Edition, (Illustrated). Cengage Learning. 2007. Print.
Lam, James., Enterprise Risk Management: From Incentives to Controls. (Illustrated). John Wiley & Sons, 2003. Print.
Bunker, Kerry. Hall, Douglas T. Kram, Kathy E. Extraordinary Leadership: Addressing the Gaps in Senior Executive Development. John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Print.
