While there is still much to do, we are proud of the progress we are making; through our Diversity strategy, set both at a PwC network and at a local firm level, we aim to understand and cater for our people’s unique day-to-day experiences. We strive to address any barriers we might come across through such conversations, be it related to recruitment, career growth, or otherwise, to ultimately enable our community of solvers to deliver sustained outcomes to our stakeholders.
Our strategy, based on Gender Equity, Cross-border, and LGBT+ inclusion (Sexuality), heavily relies on these insights, as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which enable us to take decisive action on issues which are important to our workforce. This includes ensuring that our internal systems and processes are aligned with the pursuit of fair and impartial outcomes. We take pride in the trust and engagement our people show in various Inclusion and Diversity internal and external initiatives, and are committed to transparency as a core aspect of our devotion to advancing equality in our society.
Our Inclusion & Diversity Strategy, launched in 2021, puts an inclusion mindset into focus whilst holding us accountable, enabling us to drive tangible action. We measure our progress in line with the PwC network, and our vision and strategy. We understand the positive impact of cultural change, as well as its benefits, and continuously strive to identify new areas where we can make a difference, both internally and externally, to genuinely enable us to embrace and value diversity.
Our strategy is primarily focused on 3 pillars:
Gender equality has been at the centre of our inclusion efforts for a number of years. Our strategy in this area focuses on offering equal opportunity irrespective of gender. We periodically analyse gender-related people data to identify any areas which, in line with our global and local aspirations, are keen on building on and improving. These aspirations include but are not limited to career progression, succession planning for key roles, representation at senior positions, and indicators such as inclusion indices collected through our Global People Survey. This analysis allows us to identify opportunities which then form the basis of our strategy and in respect of which specific action plans are set out or identified as critical in achieving our targets.
Our firm currently embraces 38 different nationalities from across the world representing different ethnicities, educational backgrounds, gender identities, languages, cultures and beliefs.
With our expatriate community accounting for 33% of our overall staff complement, our onboarding and retention processes are constantly kept in focus and revamped on a continuous basis, through one-to-one feedback, obtained from our expats and through focus groups.
As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to having fair expat representation across grades including the firms’ management. Professional development, including upskilling, resources, and coaching material, is equally accessible to all staff, without bias.
Embracing diversity is at the foundation of all that we do, and our mission is to Listen, Act, and Transform. Because we recognise the importance of our cross-border inclusion strategy, we have a dedicated task force that works closely with our expatriate community to collect feedback, through which measurable results and tangible initiatives are discussed and set in place to ensure that the firm is continuously providing the support and assistance that our expats might require.
We recognise that fostering an inclusive workplace goes beyond gender, nationality and ethnicity, and this is why we chose sexuality as an area of focus for our strategy, where we promote a culture of acceptance. By respecting individual identities and celebrating the LGBT+ community, we strive to create an environment where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work, whilst feeling respected and empowered, resulting in better overall wellbeing for our people. This is not just the right thing to do, but is also our ethical and social responsibility.
Over the past year, whilst leveraging on the PwC Shine Network (fostering our LGBT+ communities from around the world), we celebrated Pride Month throughout the month of June for the fourth consecutive year, with the theme of 'Beyond acceptance: Learn. Grow. Make a difference.', designed to inspire further change. We are also having discussions on conducting internal training to further raise levels of visibility, awareness, and education towards acceptance, and reviewing the UN standards of Conduct for LGBT+ inclusion to ensure that our firm policies contain inclusive language. We also continue to celebrate and promote our local pride month in September, both internally and externally.
The very popular International Food Festival took place once again in 2023, where our people come together to celebrate our diversity in nationalities, whilst savouring delicious cultural dishes prepared by our own people in light of the International World Day for Cultural Diversity.
We extend personalised flexible arrangements, tailored to our people’s requirements on a one-to-one basis, with the goal of fostering a work-life balance that aligns to their needs. These customised arrangements differ in nature; from empowering our team members to adjust their working hours to a reduced schedule, modifying the scope and schedule of their work, or incorporating more remote work into their routines, amongst others.
We believe in the importance of accommodating diverse lifestyles and preferences among our workforce, recognising that a one-size-fits-all approach may not meet everyone's needs. We work collaboratively to establish flexible arrangements that enhance our people’s overall wellbeing and productivity.
As organisations grow, the topics of diversity and inclusion become an important component of the people strategy that cannot be overlooked. Employers need to make sure they are catering for all their people equally, as the business world continues to become more diverse, and to ensure an inclusive mindset, one that...
This year, we celebrate a decade of PwC’s Women in Work Index. The analysis explores the impact of the pandemic on women’s lives, jobs and wellbeing.
