Creating value for our people
While many organisations make this claim, in PwC’s case it is demonstrably true: our people and the knowledge they possess are our most important asset.




 

"Every day, and wherever I am in the world, I am constantly reminded that our greatest asset is our people. Their quality, their diversity, their values and cultural sensitivity. In the words of one of our younger professionals: ‘We should welcome the challenges and never stop learning’. If we as the leaders of this global network can create opportunities for our people to achieve their greatest potential in gaining value for themselves, our clients and our communities, then I believe we will have succeeded in large part.”

Silas Yang
PwC China senior partner and member of the Network Leadership Team		  

Ever since we opened for business 150 years ago, it has been vital for us to attract bright professionals, mentor and motivate them, and inspire them to high standards of quality and behaviour.

We do this in several ways. And throughout, we are constantly looking to improve how we develop, engage and fulfil our people, to strengthen our position as the employer of choice. For example, during FY 2011 we’ve taken action to improve the way we assess and develop talent, and the way we deal with succession planning. Talent leaders in different countries are continually collaborating and sharing best practices to make us more sophisticated in these areas – and especially the way we develop future leaders.

During the year, we’ve also been driving a consistent recruitment experience across the entire PwC global network. An assessment in early FY 2011 showed that PwC firms’ recruitment processes and employee experience varied widely. We quickly identified best recruitment practices and helped PwC firms throughout the network apply them consistently. This programme is already driving up the quality of our new joiners’ experience.

One of the most important things our people do, every working day, is build relationships. This means we need a consistent approach to relationship building across PwC, based around a common set of priority skills. To help ensure this, we’ve designed and developed webcasts and workshops for use across the world.

One of the things that makes working at PwC attractive is the opportunity to work on assignments around the world.We’ve made great strides in driving mobility in FY 2011, with the number of people across the PwC network going on new overseas assignments nearly doubling from 2010.

Staying adaptable

Attracting and retaining talented people may require an organisation to rethink to meet the needs and expectations of its workforce. This means management asking itself: “To attract the people we need, what kind of business must we be, and what kind of jobs must we offer?”

Over the years, PwC has constantly adapted to keep recruiting the right people, by improving rewards, benefits, career paths, job responsibilities and development opportunities. When we’re not improving them, we’re constantly thinking about them. Here’s what we’re thinking about right now:

  • People not only like to be heard – they want to know we’re listening and prepared to change
  • People want us to build relationships with them
  • People want to feel that they’re a part of the decisions that affect them
  • Balance between work and personal life is an imperative at all levels
  • People want regular, specific feedback to understand their own opportunities for growth
  • Mobility is a strategic function at the heart of talent management
  • Messages get lost when airwaves are flooded: so communications must be streamlined
  • Learning and development programmes are also about bringing people together and building the PwC culture.

Values and culture

With our self-motivated and self-directed workforce, the compass that steers people in the right direction is culture. Culture is about values and ideas that pervade and inform day-to-day decision-making and behaviour, and that translate into superior products and services. At PwC, we help our people feel connected to our mission and empowered to assist in achieving it. This effort is the ‘PwC Experience’, which has four simple principles:

  • We invest in relationships
  • We share and collaborate
  • We put ourselves in each other’s shoes
  • We focus on value.

Externally, the PwC Experience helps us to deliver value and excellent service. Internally, it promotes bonds of trust, encourages personal improvement, provides a ‘safe space’ where people can ask for and receive help, and makes people accountable for their performance.