Annual Review 2006 - PwC

Why?
Our
People.
Developing future leaders:
the CLP Business School
In partnership with the Australian Graduate School of Management,
the CLP Business School seeks to develop future Client Lead
Partners of the fi rm. Over an eight-month period, participants are
mentored by a partner who provides them with individually tailored
development. The program is very much externally focused, and
provides practical skills to enhance the value we provide to our
clients. The application of learning is immediate as it is delivered
directly to the client.
Taking the pulse of our people
At PwC, we continually strive to ensure we remain a professional
services fi rm of choice. An important part of this is ‘taking the
pulse’ of our people to see whether they think we are on the right
track. This year, we again conducted the Global People Survey to
measure employee satisfaction and engagement. Almost 50 per
cent of the Australian fi rm participated – up 14.6 per cent from the
previous year. Of these, 90 per cent said they were proud to be
associated with PwC and 78 per cent would recommend PwC as a
good place to work, in comparison to a benchmark result of 68 per
cent from other corporates. We also asked our people if they
believe they have the opportunity for growth and development at
PwC. Seventy four per cent said yes – supporting the signifi cant
impact that our continuing development and leadership initiatives
are having.
Client relationships and quality service are core elements of the
PwC culture. This was supported by 87 per cent of our staff telling
us the fi rm is continually improving its products and services and
84 per cent of staff reinforcing that PwC is committed to building
long-term relationships with clients. On top of this, 86 per cent of
our people agree that PwC operates with integrity in its external
dealings with clients and suppliers. PwC’s success at corporate
responsibility was also reinforced, with 94 per cent of respondents
strongly agreeing that PwC is socially responsible by supporting
community events and organisations. The fi rm has a strong
commitment to continuing to capitalise on the strengths and the
opportunities identifi ed in the survey.
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PricewaterhouseCoopers
Attracting and keeping the best of the best
The war for talent continues in a very competitive marketplace, but
PwC continues to be well placed in attracting and recruiting quality
talent to our ranks. Evidence of this was the announcement of PwC
as the 2006 Best Graduate Intake Program at the Australian HR
Awards. The 2007 campus recruitment theme, ‘be who you want to
be’, demonstrated PwC diversity and fresh thinking. It focused on
the fl exibility of our fi rm, the opportunities we can provide to
graduates and the value we place on individuality.
Our graduate program was a great success, attracting over 10
times the number of applicants for the available positions and
achieving an acceptance rate of 87 per cent, well clear of our
nearest competitors.
Despite the highly competitive lateral market in which we operate,
the fi rm has continued to attract high-calibre individuals, both
within the local and overseas markets. The Australian fi rm
continues to be a destination of choice for secondments from PwC
offi ces all over the world.
In FY06, we brought in nearly 800 lateral recruits, of which 200 were
existing PwC staff joining us on secondment from another country.
At any one time, we have approximately 500 people participating in
our global secondment programs. This program gives our staff
fantastic professional and personal development opportunities
through all stages of their careers and allows us to service our
clients with the best talent the marketplace can offer.
Reaching the Pinnacle
This year saw the launch of the Pinnacle program, breaking new
ground for the fi rm. The program is run with senior partners who
are approaching the end of their career with us.
Pinnacle has three core aims: opportunity – a chance to refl ect
and share future hopes and desires for their future, both within and
outside the fi rm; renewal – feeling energised and focused on what
they really want to achieve in their last years with the fi rm; and
legacy – leaving their own unique footprint on the fi rm which
refl ects the many contributions they have made to our people
and clients over their career.
Pinnacle is run as a weekend residential, with spouses heavily
involved – refl ecting the commitment they too have made to the
fi rm and reinforcing the concept of the wider PwC family and
community. The program also gives us an opportunity to renew
focus on how best we can capture the collective wisdom and
knowledge from some of our most senior practitioners.
Many of our partners move on to signifi cant roles in commerce
and the wider community. Pinnacle aims to capitalise on that
opportunity and maintain strong relationships with our alumni.