This essay focuses on typical career path. The firm, which was recently named one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, is taking a number of steps to build a sense of loyalty among the rank and file.
What’s your sense of the typical career path at a Big Four accounting firm? Put in five or so good years, then step away from the grind of travel and hours for something more slow-paced? PwC, the New York–based firm with 41,531 U.S. employees (and 157,955 employees worldwide) is fighting to make that career path a bit less typical.
The firm, which was recently named one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, is taking a number of steps to build a sense of loyalty among the rank and file. Some of those steps are focused on making PwC a fun place to work.
For example, interns who receive offers of full-time employment get to compete in games and challenges at Disney World. PwC also uses sporting events and leagues to promote camaraderie. Nearly 400 employees— including interns and partners—participated in its softball tournament in Denver.
are focused on making PwC a convenient place to work. For example, the company offers a number of desirable perks, including telecommuting. Job sharing, compressed work weeks, paid parental leave, and paid time off for volunteering.
Indeed, PwC recently announced that it would begin contributing $1,200 a year to employees’ student loans.
The founder of a startup helping PwC administer this new perk views it as a “tremendous differentiator” when PwC recruits on college campuses. Helping hires pay off their student loans should be particularly valued by Millennials.
who typically carry a significant amount of debt from college.
PwC hopes that’s the case, as it’s struggled to build loyalty on the part of Millennials in recent years.
Whereas new hires typically stayed for multiple years to take advantage of training and development opportunities. More and more Millennials have been quitting after a year or two.
“Our first reaction was to question ourselves,” says Anne Donovan, a manager in PwC’s human capital group.
“We thought we must be hiring the wrong people.” That sense changed when PwC commissioned a large-scale study of Millennial attitudes, to find out what drove loyalty for that age group.
What did that study show? Summarizes Donovan, “Millennials are driven by how well their team works together, how supported and appreciated they feel, and how much possibility they have. They’re all about how it feels.
Details;
Firstly, be honest
Secondly, be true
Lastly, be sure