Talking Trust

James: Hello and welcome to PwC Canada's new podcast series on trust. I'm James Temple PwC Canada's Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, and I'm your host. Now, we all know we're in an era like never before, where trust has become a critical business imperative and a lever of value creation. In this podcast series, we'll explore some of the key elements of trust. We'll talk about why trust matters so much today. Some of the actions we've taken here at PwC Canada as part of our own trust journey and what it means for your people, as well as your brand and reputation. Now, to kick things off, I'm joined by PwC Canada's CEO Nicolas Marcoux. He'll take us through some of the societal shifts that are driving the trust agenda and what this means for us at PwC Canada and other organizations working out their own approaches. Welcome, Nicolas. Thanks for joining me today.

Nicolas: Glad to be here, James. 

James: Now to start things off, can you tell us about what the trust agenda's all about? Why should organizations care about trust? 

Nicolas: Trust has really become one of the most fundamental issues organizations are grappling with today. And when you think about it, globally, we've experienced an erosion in trust across the board, right? We've got lack of trust in governments, lack of trust in large corporations, major financial institutions, lack of trust in media, even lack of trust with us, the big four accounting firms. And trust is so important that that's why it's at the heart of our new global strategy, The New Equation, which is all about two intertwined needs: the need to build trust and the need to deliver sustained outcomes. 

James: Nicolas, I imagine for some organizations, the need to be trustworthy with, you know, so many stakeholders on more and more topics given the challenging, you know, complex environment around us, why would you say non-financial matters like trust are such important markers of success? 

Nicolas: Well, James, what we've been able to experience at PwC is that organizations that score well on key trust measures are actually more successful and more confident about their future. And let me give you an example here. Let's take compliance as an example. So organizations that take a more proactive approach to identifying and evaluating key risks are actually able to be bolder about their ambitions and more confident versus the companies that just treat compliance as an obligation or a cost of doing business. And to take another example, think of privacy protection. If you have a data breach, you'll have a harder time holding onto your customers, and it will also be quite challenging to attract new ones as well. And the same applies to other areas of ESG. Think of climate change. So the trust agenda is really about the impact on all of your stakeholders, and we really know that trust is built from the inside out. 

James: Nicolas, I know you spent a lot of time talking to leaders at Canadian organizations about their key challenges, their priorities. What are you hearing from them about trust? 

Nicolas: Well, trust is definitely a growing priority for Canadian business leaders and James, like the cool part about my job is I get to talk to a whole bunch of senior executives from large organizations from across the country. And what's been interesting to observe is that although many companies are doing lots of things around building trust with their stakeholders, actually very few have adopted a holistic approach to trust. And I truly believe that this will change, and we at PwC, we're currently working with several larger corporations guiding them on their trust journey. 

James: And Nicolas, what would you say to organizations that are struggling? 

Nicolas: Well, James, I would tell them, hang in there. This this is absolutely a journey and it takes time to build trust. At PwC Canada, we're on our own trust journey and I can tell you that this is going to be challenging. It's going to be very difficult. But I can also tell you, we're not going to give up until we get it right. 

James: Nicolas, can you talk about that in more detail? You know, what does trust mean for PwC Canada? What does our journey actually look like? 

Nicolas: Well, James, as you well know, trust has always been critical to us. It's core to our purpose. So really, when you think about our purpose, it's to build trust in society and solve important problems. So to help build trust, we need to be trusted ourselves. And this goes like well beyond building trust through our financial reporting and compliance work. We're focused on a broader range of issues that help us build trust, including how diverse and inclusive we are, our ability to ensure data privacy and our impact on the planet. So building trust means being transparent, not always spinning the data to make ourselves look better than we really are. It's about being accountable and making progress on all of these issues. We need to be willing not just to talk about our successes, but also be truthful about where we have gaps and how we're going to be filling in those gaps. Being vulnerable and honest is critical to building trust. 

James: What you just said, really, really spoke to me. Can you talk about how PwC Canada is building trust? 

Nicolas: Well, James, this is a journey, and we recognize that we don't have all the answers. So for example, when the pandemic hit us back in March of 2020, we didn't have a playbook as to how to manage a business of this size and complexity in a pandemic. So as a leadership team, we chose to use our culture and values as our guiding light, really leading with calm and care. We tried to be transparent about what we knew and open and honest about all that we did not know. And I truly believe that it helped us build trust with our partners and with our people. It's so important that our everyday actions match our commitments. We have to do what we say and say what we do. So at PwC Canada, we've identified seven KPIs that we will be measuring and reporting on, all around trust. So we want to be transparent and accountable by telling our stakeholders all we're doing and because we're PwC Canada, we're going to address how we're going to move the needle in areas where we need to do better. So, for example, we're not where we want to be when it comes to representation of visible minorities, so we're going to be doubling down on creating a culture of belonging and inclusion because it is absolutely a business imperative for us at PwC Canada, and we're going to be setting five year targets to improve, and we're going to be holding ourselves accountable on those targets. 

James: Now, when you talk about making sure your everyday actions match your commitments, are there any examples of the concrete things that you're doing? 

Nicolas: Sure, James, let me let me perhaps give you a few examples. So first, this past year, we strengthened our governance by appointing four external directors to our board. And what's interesting is they really bring a collective and broad range of experience that will really help us on our diversity of thought. Second, we've been on a digital upskilling journey these past few years, upskilling our people as well as the communities we live in, and we've committed to upskilling one million Canadians and nonprofit organizations over a three year period. And I'm proud to report today that we are well on our way, having already increased the digital acumen of over 625,000 people across Canada. Isn't that great?

James: That's an incredible result, and I'm glad you mentioned that last point, because I think it really touches on a group that we know are so critical to the trust agenda. And of course, that's our people. Can you talk more about that? Why is it so important to focus on employees, people and culture? 

Nicolas: Well, let me go straight to the war on talent, because the great resignation is affecting all organizations and it's becoming more and more challenging to attract and retain the right people. And at PwC, we're really focused on three things. We're focused on meaningful work, meaningful rewards and meaningful connections. And we really see ourselves as a community of solvers. And you know, what our people are telling us is it's not just about compensation. People want a sense of purpose. 

James: Nicolas, this is fascinating. You know, I've really enjoyed the discussion on this. And before we close, what would you say to leaders trying to navigate this trust journey? 

Nicolas: Well, first of all, I've really liked this conversation as well and will tell business leaders: as leaders, building trust begins with us. It is important that we support each other and trust each other. So what I have experienced is when we ask someone to go outside of their comfort zone, it can be very powerful and impactful to say a few words like, I've got your back. And simple words like these help to build trust and make people feel engaged and empowered. We also have to be vulnerable ourselves and own up to our own shortcomings. And trust me, I've had a few, and I'd like to leave our listeners with a challenge. Apply the trust roadmap to your own organizations. And if you need help, we'd be happy to share some of our own experience and guide you on your own trust journey. 

James: Nicolas, thank you for these great insights,  and thank you for being so  vulnerable, and for your authenticity. And thank you to our audience for listening today. Please visit our website to learn more about trust and the steps we took on our roadmap. In our coming episodes, we'll continue exploring the trust agenda. On the next episode we will feature Louanne Buckley, Partner and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. She’ll be turning the tables on me and I’ll walk us through the PwC Trust Roadmap and explain how we’re holding ourselves accountable in more detail. We’ll then discuss the people aspects of trust and considerations for your brand and reputation in future podcasts. I'm James Temple and this is Talking Trust. I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and I look forward to bringing you future insights on the trust agenda in the next episode.