Investing in our people
At PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), we believe in helping our people reach their full potential. That's why ongoing learning and teaching are integral to the PwC culture. We ensure our people receive leading-edge technical training as well as skill-building programs and experiences. We also assign each employee a coach to guide them in the areas where they can continue to grow and develop. Coaches provide feedback, advice and encouragement regularly. Through Everyday Coaching and Learning and Education, we provide enriching developmental opportunities for our people. This kind of investment is not only good for our people, it's good for our business. As we our people improve, so does our overall service to clients. Here's how it works:
Everyday coaching
Our vision of being distinctive will be achieved when we drive the very best of coaching skills and behaviors into our everyday connections. In order to support professional development and create a teaching culture, we have defined our efforts through "Everyday Coaching." While formal coaching is a structured process, informal coaching happens everyday at PwC. These brief, spontaneous coaching conversations are intended to share knowledge, enhance skills, improve performance and further career development. To help raise the level of awareness of the importance of everyday coaching, we have produced a video series of reality-based themes which were delivered through Firmwide e-mail.
Formal coach-coachee meetings, which are facilitated through our Performance Coaching and Development tool, happen at least three times a year. At the start of the fiscal year, the coach and coachee establish a development plan. Mid-year, they conduct a progress check. At year-end, they have a formal review to discuss goals, career direction, strengths and challenges, feeding into the following year's plan. Through informal and formal coaching, our people receive ongoing feedback essential to their growth and development.
Learning and Education (L&E)
At PwC, we expect our people to continuously develop themselves. By combining on-the-job training, job rotations, and international assignments with innovative training approaches, we enable our people to take charge of building successful careers. Here, that starts with developing one's technical and project management expertise. It also requires developing valuable skills in the areas of relationship management, leadership, teaming, business perspective, and communication.
To support our staff in their continuous self-development, we offer tuition reimbursement, plus thousands of classroom training sessions and eLearning courses throughout the year, and conferences that bring together people from PwC offices around the globe. It is in this type of continuous learning environment that PwC people truly thrive. Here are some examples of our programs:
- Genesis Park: A five-month residential program for high potential managers worldwide to focus on real-life issues facing the firm. Attendees receive personalized feedback and coaching, and build strong cross-firm relationships.
- SOAR (Starting Out Able and Ready): A series aimed at newly admitted U.S. partners consisting of self-assessment and development planning.
- Ulysses: A social responsibility program matching top talent to sustainability projects around the world, yielding a learning journey which is both outward-looking and inwardly reflective.
