PwC Canada’s Women in Leadership Programme is supporting the professional and personal growth of women through its comprehensive development, retention and advancement initiatives.
Women in Leadership Programme
While we are certainly seeing progress in the numbers of women represented in leadership in more recent years, building sustainable pipelines of female talent is an issue that is making this trend difficult for companies to sustain.
PwC Canada is working to reverse that trend through its Women in leadership (WiL) programme. The intensive six to nine month-long initiative is designed to support the personal and professional growth of top female talent within the firm and enable them to more effectively chart a course to leadership.
After noticing they were losing top female talent at a faster rate than men, PwC Canada launched WiL in 2013 to help women in the firm achieve their career goals at PwC rather than leaving to pursue them elsewhere. The programme focuses on four key elements: insights, tools, networks and experience, and includes virtual and in person sessions on a variety of leadership topics with prominent guest speakers, various assessments including a psychometric evaluation and 360 feedback assessment and mentoring opportunities.
The programme also promotes sponsorship. Realising gender equality is not just a women’s issue, WiL encourages men to get involved by nominating, coaching and mentoring participants. Together, senior women and men are creating leadership opportunities and accelerating the development, retention and advancement of high-potential women while also building a more inclusive culture.
After much success, the WiL programme was expanded in 2017 to include participants from organisations outside of PwC, enabling an even larger population of women to take what they have learned through the programme and apply it within their own teams.
"I am proud to have been a part of this programme since its inception. It has helped to build lasting, trusted relationships and continues to deliver sustained outcomes as our participants and mentors pay forward what they learn in the programme to future leaders.”
The Results
Since 2013, PwC Canada has built and refined a powerful, award-winning programme to develop, retain, inspire, support and advance women. The programme has shown measurable results with a 90% retention rate among recent alumni. In 2022, 70% of women who were admitted to the partnership at PwC Canada were WiL graduates.1
Participants consistently give the programme high ratings, reporting they are better equipped to take the next step in their career while executives say the programme has helped them empower top talent.
By nurturing a culture in which women have equal opportunity to achieve their potential, PwC Canada is creating serious inroads into increasing equality for women in leadership and building a more robust pipeline of upwardly mobile women.
Women in Leadership programme video
Participant testimonials
“Having a WiL participant from my client has been so rewarding for both of us. I have built a trusted mentoring relationship with my participant, such that we still meet regularly and she calls me for advice. On the flip side, she has become a coach and sounding board for me in terms of sharing developments with the client, which makes me a better Lead Relationship Partner (LRP).”
“WiL inspired me to pursue excellence, resist perfection and stay curious. WiL has expanded my horizon and introduced me to many amazing people, both within and outside of PwC. I have built genuine authentic relationships through WiL.”
“Thanks to the WiL program, my confidence and assertiveness have grown exponentially. I have never felt more comfortable in my own skin and it shows. I am now a mentor for young women in my organisation and get to pass on the torch.”
Footnotes
1. Data Source: PwC Canada People Analytics, October 2022
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