We advise a wide range of multinational companies on their HR issues, combining the in-depth knowledge of our personal tax, mobility, reward and HR effectiveness professionals with the expertise of our corporate finance, management consulting, legal and accounting specialists. Our multi-disciplinary approach allows us to advise on all aspects of people management, helping our clients to create value for their businesses through people.
Turbulent economic times are bringing people-related costs into sharper focus than usual for employers. Whether as a way of sustaining business strategy, or even as an alternative to headcount reduction, businesses need to be ever more flexible to fully understand, manage and reduce their people-related costs.
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Challenges
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How PwC can help
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| Pensions |
- Introduce pensions plans in lieu if salary reviews are frozen
- Scale down legacy pension scheme liabilities and manage associated risks
- Redesign benefits to reduce cost and risk
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| Headcount |
- If redundancies are unavoidable, ensure legal and tax positions are robust
- Review your performance management system and ensure talent is retained within the business during downturn and beyond by managing communications with trust and integrity
- Understand the full impact of restructuring and the true costs of reducing headcount, including the hidden costs of pensions and incentives
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| Absence Management |
- Benchmark absenteeism and assess variations with industry expectations
- Review management approach and absence policy – manage closely and robustly, taking action where necessary
- Quantify the cost to the business and develop strategies to reduce absenteeism, including line manager training
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| Expenses |
- Review expense policies to ensure they meet current and future business needs
- Develop controls and processes to protect against excessive, unnecessary or fraudulent claims and train staff accordingly
- Ensure documentation structured to tax risks for deductibility of expenses
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| Analytics & Benchmarking |
- Review effectiveness of current workforce against industry sector
- Understand measures relating to talent management, human capital return on investment, remuneration and HR & people risk
- Use acquired knowledge to improve best practice within business
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| Pay & Productivity |
- Fully understand current productivity levels and their link with outputs and profitability
- Develop strategies to increase productivity and performance
- Ensure employee commitment to change through effective communication
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| Incentives |
- Consider incentive value of underwater options and possible new strategies
- Review remuneration structures and consider increased variable element and deferral
- Maximise financial efficiency of current and future incentive plans
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| Employee Benefits |
- Review and benchmark employee benefits for cost and tax efficiency
- Minimise employee tax risk to avoid unexpected liabilities and penalties
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| Secondments & Mobility |
- Outplace staff with clients and customers to deliver specific contracts and projects
- Identify areas of potential growth and investment for the business and redeploy staff to those areas
- Maximise internal talent by stretching them in new roles
- Understand the return on investment from global mobility programmes
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| Flexible Working |
- Review flexible working policies to drive down cost and extend the concept for specific areas of the business
- Open up part-time working opportunities to employees who might not qualify under the existing policy arrangements
- Introduce policies for unpaid leave, career breaks and sabbaticals
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HR & Finance Effectiveness
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- Review cost effectiveness of the HR and finance functions’ roles and responsibilities
- Assess the value of function outsource providers and the effectiveness of these business relationships
- Review function policies and processes with a view to improving risk management and cost control, and introduce efficiencies
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