The new world of work - choosing more, experiencing more, becoming more

Last week, I had the privilege of attending my daughter’s graduation - possibly one of the proudest moments for most parents and an occasion that I had personally been looking forward to eagerly. I had spent the better part of my 16 hour journey from Delhi to California thinking about what comes next for her - the kind of career she could build, the role she could play as a professional, the growth opportunities she could pursue - incessantly penning down thoughts in anticipation. But much to my surprise the conversation became more of a listening experience for me - a very insightful chat (or maybe monologue) as my daughter detailed her well-thought-out plans for the future.

What continues to amaze me about her and so many of our young minds today is their clarity of thought, their conviction to push the boundaries and their commitment to doing things in their own way and on their terms. In this particular conversation, what stood out for me was a seemingly simple phrase I heard her say - “These are my choices” - a statement that would resonate with so many of us. The workforce today likes to be in control and drive their choices - right from how they work and when they work to where they work… and what work they do! One binding thread for many of them is the need to be associated with something bigger and I believe that every person who joins the workforce has the potential of being a driver of India's growth - and therefore, the responsibility of providing the right ecosystem for each member of the workforce is the responsibility of the organisation. We’ve experienced change across multiple dimensions and the way we work has undergone a very significant shift - creating a huge responsibility for leaders to now curate a more meaningful, differentiated and fulfilling experience for their people. This is as much about this generation’s ‘choices’ as it is about our ‘responsibility’ of creating the right ecosystem for them to flourish.?

With our ears to the ground, at PwC, we started to rethink how we engage with our people and how we can deliver on their expectations. When we speak of integrating diversity in our culture, we want to be the organisation that celebrates their individual strengths and expectations, and aligns it to our Purpose. As an organisation, we are inspired by the role we can play in India’s 5 trillion aspiration and that begins with each and every member of our PwC family - we aspire that our people are not just a part of India’s transformation but they drive it! And to make that happen, we want to ensure that our people are well positioned for success - they are content, fulfilled and constantly learning and growing.?

I am proud to share that we have taken several steps in this direction - and we are presenting our people with the opportunity to choose more and become more.?

Balance more.

A big learning from the last two years was our ability to effectively connect and engage with our teams remotely. We have made significant investments in technology and infrastructure to ensure we create a seamless experience for our people and enable them to work from anywhere across the country. India’s talent pool continues to grow and we want to seize this potential without being constrained by geography. We recently opened offices in Jaipur and Bhubaneswar and will soon be opening offices in Noida and Thane as well - we want to tap into the immense talent across these locations and simultaneously provide our people with the flexibility to work from the location of their choice.?

Learn more.

An important aspect of creating a meaningful employee experience is encouraging continuous learning. We are committed to spending 1% of our revenue on upskilling our people and partners. We have partnered with a number of organisations including LinkedIn and Coursera to create customised learning programmes for our people to enable them to develop new skills and stay relevant in the changing world. We are now taking this to the next level and tying up with XLRI to offer select employees a post graduate certification in general management or a CPA certification to enhance their careers and build on their capabilities.

Explore more.

Growth is not limited to our professional journeys but as much about our personal development. With flexibility and more efficiency across our systems, we are encouraging our people to? pursue their hobbies and interests outside of the office. Whether they would like to explore their passion for the performing arts or participate in sporting tournaments or engage with social enterprises and volunteer with NGOs, we are committed to creating an environment where each of our people can extend their passion beyond work, even as they continue to deliver superior service to our clients.?

Pursue more.

The workforce today is looking for a more personalised career experience - they are looking for growth at scale - to explore new opportunities across emerging competencies, to continuously learn and expand their strengths. Considering the breadth of opportunities across our firm, we have presented our people with the option to explore diverse career options within the firm and apply for any position, even outside their current roles and competencies. This will enable them to further their careers in avenues of their choice, while thriving and growing with the firm. Our talent is the backbone of our organisation and we want to ensure we provide them with every opportunity internally and we are able to leverage their intellect and strengths in the best ways possible.?

Become more.?

Each of these initiatives is a reflection of our commitment to enable our people to choose more - more flexibility, more opportunities, more learning, more experiences and more growth. Our people remain our topmost priority and we are working towards creating an organisation of the future - one that is able to attract, retain and grow the best talent, a future-ready people - powerhouse. India is entering a very exciting time and we want to ensure that our people are well placed to support, enable and drive its growth.?

Committed to our people. Committed to India.