Organizational

Behavior
Group Project

PwC and Flex Program

Team 4:
Duong Ngoc Anh
Vu Quynh Thuong
Nguyen Anh Tu
Nguyen Anh Trung
Hoang Thi Thu Hien
Do Ngoc Dung
Bui Thi Thanh Mai
11/11/2017
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2
1. INTRODUCTION: PWC AND ITS CULTURE........................................................................................ 3
2. PROBLEMS: DREAMS THAT DON’T LAST LONG.......................................................................... 6
3. SOLUTION: INTRODUCING FLEX ............................................................................................................ 9
4. EVALUATION: APPLYING FLEX AND ITS INITIAL RESULTS ........................................... 14
5. ANALYSIS REVIEW AND ACTION PLAN ......................................................................................... 18
SUMMARY....................................................................................................................................................................... 25

1 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

ABSTRACT
This case presents an aspect of organization behavior – the organizational culture – in
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a global well-known firm operating in auditing and
consultancy service. In this case, a brief description about PwC will be introduced.
Followed that is the main part where some troubles and issues relating to PwC’s
organizational culture and the firm’s concern about its impact on their operation and
staff turn – over rate will be revealed. The firm has already figured out set of measures
to address their current issues and initial results has showed positive movements.
However, there are still some points need to be improved and a recommendation for an
action plan has also be incorporated by the end of this case.

2 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

1. INTRODUCTION: PWC AND ITS CULTURE

PricewaterhouseCoopers (often be known as PwC) is an international professional
services network with head quarter based in London, United Kingdom. Together with
Deloitte, EY and KPMG, it forms the legendary Big4 auditors. For many years, it has
been ranked as the most prestigious accounting firm in the world as well as the top firm
to work for in North America.

PwC is a network of firms in 157 countries, 743 locations, with 223,468 people. The
firm provides a variety service of accounting and auditing which including external
audit, management and business consultancy, taxation, and risk assessment and so
on. PWC established in 1998 by the merger between Coopers & Lybrand and Price
Waterhouse which are already had a history from the 19th century. In 2017 the global
revenue of PwC has reached to USD 37.7 billion most of this come from the U.S and
Western Europe. PwC certainly masters the accounting world with the largest audit fee
and providing service for 400 customers (around 86 % it’s customer) which belong to
Top Fortune 500.

The main purpose of PwC is to build trust in society and solve important problems. The
firm puts the emphasis on taking pride in creating differentiated value through a
network of technology-enabled innovators, who are committed to delivering client
services from strategy through execution and improve the transparency, trust, and
integrity of business practices.

About the aspect of organizational culture, PwC also well-known for not only its
professional working environment but also its attention to subtle things to care for the
employees. The firm always puts work force in the top priority. Employee is the heart
of business strategy and firm’ successful. PwC focuses on equal opportunity job and
diversity in the process of recruitment, make sure to attract candidate from different
backgrounds. Firm provides many tools – advance professional experience, daily
training, and effective response – to support professional lives of their staff become
more enjoyable and interesting.

The PwC global Chairman, Mr. Bob Moritz once said “The way we work is changing.
We know that our future success lies in working smarter. And we know how important
3 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

it is for you to find the right balance between work and life. Everyday Flexibility will
create more rewarding work experiences, by allowing us all flexibility in where, how,
and when we work.”

With this understanding, PwC has built up a set of core values which help firm to
maintain its traditional competitive advantage in the market while still help to move
forward to catch up with the changing world. It defines its values and behaviors as a
way to show its expectation for employees to working together and working with
customer. Even each person comes from different backgrounds in many countries in
the world but they always have a common to share which are inspiration, expectation,
supporting others to do the best when making the decision. These 5 core values are
illustrated as below

Firstly is “action with integrity”: Integrity is actually important factor to build trust for
society and customer. Firm expect to bring the highest services to customer. Even in
the difficult situation they always act to save the reputation and make the decision as
speaking for what is right.

Second value is “making the different”: Firm believes that all the action has impact so
they maintain the question about the future of the world. PwC’s staffs should keep up
to date information and actively finding the way to improve their world. This value

4 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

encourage PwC’s employees to never stop being curious about what is going on around
the world and never stop searching for new innovation. All the imitative, no matter big
or small, are counted. They believe that small change has great impact.

Third value is “care”: PwC cares about individual knowing that employee deserves it.
The firm tries to understand deeply about the need for contribution and the need of
being recognized. Based on that, the firm has provided many programs both in career
life or private life to encourage and empower its people.

The fourth value is working together: every people are encouraged to share their idea,
knowledge and opinion in order to strengthen the relationship between colleagues as
well as making the firm to be a better work place

The final value is “Reimage”: Good idea is not good idea forever. PwC’s people are
encouraged to always keep open-minded in every idea and experience new things. They
learn from failure innovate, test, iterate and keep moving forward.

With its long standing history, its reputation, its position in the market and all the value
it holds, PwC has always been looking at as the best working place that every people
dream on.

5 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

2. PROBLEMS: DREAMS THAT DON’T LAST LONG

If we go on a tour around several universities, choose any random students studying in
accounting, taxation or other finance related specialization and do a quick survey “Have
you ever dreamt of working for big4?” pretty much that we will get the 90% of “yes”.

Yes, working for big4 in general or working for PwC in particular have always been a
fairy dreams of many financial and accounting generation of students. With its big
name associated with features like professional working environment, competitive
salary, high profile resume and some other social, health care benefits, it is
understandable these firms has ranked among the top working place that people wants
to work for. According to Fortune, PwC is named in the list of "100 Best Companies
to Work For" in 2005-2016, #12 on 50 Best Workplaces for Flexibility list in 2016.
Other source name Consulting Magazine also listed PwC as one of the Best Firms to
Work for over 6 consecutive years. Practice have also proves that even after leaving
the firm, people tend to be offered higher position and salary thanks to their years of
experience working as employee of PwC.

Every year, PwC would welcome for application from fresh graduated students. With
said temptation, PwC would receive roughly 350 – 400 applications whereas only
roughly 150 available slots for low level new joiners annually. Therefore, PwC also
earned the reputation of having difficult entrance exam. Graduated students would have
to pass 4 rounds of testing. The first 2 rounds is written test, one test to check their
knowledge about their field they apply for (accounting audit, taxation consulting, legal,
etc.) and one test to check their IQ. After passing written test, applicants would join a
Group Assessment test where they are divided into different teams and assigned a task.
They will have to complete the task as a team work. At this round, the applicants are
being verified not only in terms of their industry understanding but also their ability to
be an effective part of a team. The last round would be face-to-face interview with their
future-being-supervisor where the applicants should show their confidence, their
presentation skills to prove that they suit for the position. After passing all these rounds,
it’s high possibility that ones can find themselves being team up with top students
coming from the most popular and prominent universities.

6 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

At this point, dream comes true. But, dreams don’t seem to last long.

The turn-over rate of PwC during the period from 2010 – 2014 always settles around
20 to 30%. It’s a very high rate and put a burden to not only HR department but also to
financial matters as it consumes a large budget for recruiting and head-hunting process.
With the demand coming from market, its own development target and this turn-over
rate, the firm’s HR department in Vietnam only each year have to recruit about 200
people at associates level, 30 people at middle managers and 10 people at senior and
higher management level.

Why would people leave the firm if this is their dreams? There are several reasons that
needed to be considered.

Working for PwC is a stressful experience. PwC focus on client value and the audit
approach is consistent applied across the worldwide network of firms with a high level
of quality. PwC employees are expected to work hard to deliver quality and build trust
to provide the best experience possible for clients. A normal procedure of an audit job
often consists of 4 main phases: Plan for planning and initial procedures - Identify risks
and developing strategy – Develop audit plan and gather evidence – Finalize the Audit.
The most and foremost requirement of the job is high quality, which means that the
auditor have to have in-depth understanding about the data customers provided, not to
look at the face but need to deep down mining the nature of the transaction to identify
any risks that may occur. Those findings will be reflected in the final report. Performing
this require auditors having not only good expertise but also the ability of rationale
analysis and professional scepticism. To make it harder, they will have to conduct all
of this in a tight schedule and close deadline. Reports may have to be delivered every
week, this project overlaps with other projects, and a long list of other customers
awaiting for receiving audit service. All are urgent.

As a consequence, during the busy season (or “peak” season as auditor often call), most
of the employees hardly find a time for their basic needs as meals or sleep, not to
mention relaxation or entertainment. Many of new joiners who just graduated from
school, lacking of practical working experience and time management skill have to
cope with these challenges. Suffering and struggling, many of them cannot withstand

7 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

for more than 2 “peak” seasons. They choose to leave the firm to release themselves
from a hard, high demanding and stressful work.

Working for PwC requires continuous learning. Right after joining the firm, employees
are required to fulfill 5 mandatory self-study training via the firm’s online learning hub.
Fails to do this, ones cannot pass the probation. After signing the contract, within two
years the employee will have to earn several international professional certificates
namely as ACCA, CIA, IIA, CISA, CPA, etc. Though the fee is covered by the firm, it
adds in another difficult task for the employee beside their already busy schedule. The
firm owns the right to discontinue contract with those who fail to get the certification
as they are considered to not qualify for the job.

To accomplish all of above, PwC employees may gradually lost their connection to
social life. They don’t have time for friend gathering, taking care of their network or
nurturing their hobbies and passions. For youngers, to save them from isolation, they
decide to find another relaxing job though reduce income. For those who have managed
to go through several peak seasons and put themselves in the position of middle
manager with well-paid package, there’s a point of life where they have to choose to
leave the firm - marriage. With spouse and kids to take care of, PwC employee find
that time spent for work have override the time they supposed to spend for their family.
The turn-over rate at this level is the most painful for the firm since middle managers
are people who have good experience, understand the firm culture and carry along them
set of client profile. Substitution at this level is also the most time taking and costly
procedure because of high demand of the market. The firm really need to take action
to become a more flexible, less stressful workplace if it wants to reduce the turn-over
rate.

8 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

3. SOLUTION: INTRODUCING FLEX

Flex+, a re-launch of PwC’s flexible work arrangement policies after adding
three new initiatives of: FlexFridays, FlexTime and Extended Paternity Leave, has
generated in 2016 with the aim of combining diverse, flexible forms of employment
with staff’s benefits (it allows staff to adjust their working time and work place
appropriately... instead of reducing working hours or quitting). True to its name (Flex
stands for Flexible or Flexibility), Flex+ is focused on the staff’s needs of even very
small, the flexibility is expected to be created from that so that staff can complete their
professional work while quality of their personal and family life is well and their own
plans could be carried out.

Elements of the Flex+ program

The program is divided into 3 key parts of: Flex@work, Life@work, Parents@work.
Whereby, many initiatives have also been initiated by PwC, that offers more options
for staffs in order to improve the balance between their work and personal happiness.
However, within the scope of this article, we would like to introduce only some of the
most flexible forms of employment initiated by PwC, such as: Career Break, Flex Time,
Flex Season, Flex Wear, Short Working Day on Birthday and Flex Parents.

Career Break

9 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

This program is indicated for objects of staffs that are in school age or in need of
additional professional skills such as: learn about new skills or short-term courses, etc.
Staff may take unpaid leave days from 4 weeks up to 3 months in a row for one year.
They may still receive a bonus if he/she takes unpaid leave days of less than 20 days in
the fiscal year. However, the approved unpaid leave must be utilized continuously
without any break(s) in between. Also, career Break applications for durations
exceeding 3 continuous months will be considered on a case to case basis. The purpose
of this program is to enable staff to achieve a work-life balance.

Flex Time
This program is applicable to PwC’s all staffs. Its benefits are that staffs are given the
option to select their FlexTime based on arrival and departure times, and also option to
have their time break for lunch flexibly. Furthermore, they are given the option to
choose working hours flexibly from a range of start and end times vary from 7:30 –
8:30 and 16:30 – 17:30 and one hour lunch break from 11:40 – 13:20.

In other words, with this initiative, from now onwards the working time will be offered
with multiple options without reducing working hours (at least 8 hours per day in
average). On the other hand, this allows the staff to flexibly adjust their working time
without affecting their productivity and quality of work. PwC believes that the
flexibility provided will enable the staffs to balance between work and life and operate
at personnel best in client service delivery, team work & individual performance.

Flex Season
FlexSeason is introduced to give staffs the flexible working arrangement where they
can work from home or anywhere else outside PwC offices for maximum 1 day a week
in specified off-peak months as decided by the managers (maximum 3 months in a
fiscal year of the firm).

For avoidance of doubt, this is not an additional leave benefit, but rather a flexible
working arrangement where in certain days the nature of work does not require staff to
be at the client’s site or in the office. Staffs are required to charge time-sheet for
assignments and/or fulfill their daily work requirement as a normal working day.

10 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

Staffs are required to inform their direct supervisor (for client service staffs) or
functional head about their intended working from home arrangement and obtain
approval by email at least one day in advance. While working from home/ outside
office, they are expected to stay contactable with clients and team members through
mobile phone, email, etc. to deliver timely and high quality of work. Also, they must
ensure that work related information/ conversations are kept confidential at all time. In
case of urgent requests by clients or by direct supervisor / functional leaders, staff must
be repaired to report in person to the client’s or PWC’s office.

This flexible working arrangement is not applicable when the nature of work cannot be
performed at home or elsewhere outside the office. In addition, this program does not
apply to staffs under probation, interns, contracts and temporary staffs. This program,
therefore, is to enable staff to achieve a work-life balance and to help staff reduce stress
in the workplace.

Flexwear
Flexwear allows staffs to have a variety of clothing options on Fridays such as: jeans,
khakis and fashion sneaker shoes. However, staffs all are not required to be in a
Flexwear. That means they may wear their normal official dress code on this day. On
the other hand, Flexwear applies only when not dealing with clients. In the case of an
appointment with a client, even if the appointment has just been announced, staff is
required to be in a business style, serious outfit. This program allows staff to feel more
comfortable and happy in the workplace.

Short Working Day on Birthday

It is applicable to all staffs regardless of their birthdays fall on weekdays or weekends.
Birthday is the most important occasion for an individual in the year. However, with
the increasingly busy working environment today like at PwC, people seem to have
less and less time for themselves. Understanding this, PwC has set out the “Short
Working Day on Birthday” policy.

In this program, PwC’s staffs shall have a choice of: either he/she will go to workplace
later than 2 hours or leave from workplace sooner than 2 hours on his/her birthday.
Staffs may leave on his/ her birthday itself, or the immediate working weekday before

11 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

or after your birthday. They are required to inform their direct supervisor (for client
service staff) or functional head about their plan to take 2 hours off. No leave
application is required for these 2 hours. Of course, unutilised birthday leave cannot be
replaced, carried forward or convert to cash or any other types of leave. This policy is
designed to enable staff to balance between work and life.

Flex Parents
FlexParents is introduce to give working parents the flexible working arrangement on
certain days that they need to be at home with their child(ren). This allows these parents
may work at home for up to two days per month until their baby is 12 months old.

For avoidance of doubt, this is not an additional leave benefit, but rather a flexible
working arrangement applicable to working parents. Staffs are required to change
timesheet for assignments and / or fulfill work requirement as a normal working day.
Staffs shall responsibility for roll call and finishing work as much as productivity at the
workplace. He/she must inform his/her manager (for client service staff) or the team
leader (for IFS staff) at least one day prior to homework officially. Beside it, staffs must
ensure that continuous connectivity with his/her clients and colleagues must be kept
going through all means of communication to make sure that the work takes place
smoothly, normal. This policy aims to provide working moms the flexible working
arrangement.

The overall benefits from the Flex+ program

Above are some of the initiatives that have been adopting by PwC in order to create a
flexible working environment that attracts and retains talents, where satisfying the
demands of a client service business and providing staffs with control and influence
over their own quality of life are harmonized. On the other hand, besides bringing the
above positive values to staffs, these initiatives, in different ways, are also the clearest,
most powerful answer to the value statements that has been targeting by PwC. Namely:

 “We act with integrity” – We speak up for what’s right, even when that’s the
harder option;
 “We care” – About each other, about our clients, about empowering everyone to
do their best;
12 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

 “We work together” – We know feedback, collaboration and diverse perspectives

make our work stronger.
 “We reimagine the possible” – At PwC, we innovate, we test, we iterate and we
learn along the way.

13 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

4. EVALUATION: APPLYING FLEX AND ITS INITIAL RESULTS

Understanding the urgent demands of talent retention, PwC decided to apply Flex
program as a method to provide the better working environment and improve the
collaborated attitude of all employees, especially in the high season of work. After 5
years of execution, Flex has some positive figures of 5 aspects: Flexibilities, Ethics,
Growth & development, Behavior change and People engagement.

First of all, upon the purpose to maintain the human resources, Flex is considered to
help PwC enhance their culture values such as: “We care” and “Make a different”. By
installing the fundamental software platform, this program allowed people to balance
life and work better. For example, working from home is a benefit which hardly can be
seen in an audit firm due to its data security, and still PwC granted the flexibility options
without compromising the quality of work. There was 73% of asked people saying their
managers trusted them when they used Flex@work, life@work or parents@work.
Upon listening to the reason of Flex+ requesters, the leaders could sympathize with the
difficulties of their staffs. As a result, 57% of the participants of this survey
acknowledged their supervisors to have been considerate of their life outside of work,
which has 6% of growth in comparison with this figure last year. Although there was a
minor change of the relationships between bosses and employees, PwC still witnessed
only 49% of workers to possibly have a healthier life style and success at the company.
It means more than a half of people feel exhausted with the heavy workload. Perhaps
the flexibility is not enough for them to recover and the burdens of work have not
decreased in the perspective of the employees.

14 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

Besides, another value of the firm – “Act with integrity” is stuck with this program to
encourage everyone to raise their voice of the ethical issues or concerns without fear of
negative consequences. 77% of laborers concurred they feel comfortable to discuss or
report those matters while they are working in PwC. “Dare to say, dare to do” culture
in an ethical way influent the juniors to follow and continue that tradition. The integrity
stimulation and demonstration of the seniors and managers were recognized by 88% of
workers – definitely not a small number. This entrepreneur characteristic is extremely
essential to contribute to the success of the company.

15 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

Moreover, PwC is also famous for the diverse and valuable training programs for all
apprentices working here. The percentage of those who think they are well- equipped
with learning and development courses in 2017 is 75%, 2% higher than the number in
2016. In contrast, the daily feedback and coaching in 2017 could not help to improve
their performance immediately as in 2016. This is the only number which has decent
of 2% to compare with the figure in 2016. Those number showed us that in PwC, the
long-term education could impact positively in their performances but the day-to-day
training rarely archives the instant effect.

The Global People Survey (GPS) are executed once per year in the end of the second
quarter. Based on the new feedback and comments, the questions and indexes were
amended. Therefore, the results had some new information which was unable to be
compared with last year as they were not in the previous questionnaire. The “behavior
change” index is not the exception. This figure in 2017 occupied 53% of total. On the
other hand, 47% of manpower thought the actions based on last year’s GPS had not
made the positive impact on their work experience at PwC. This is a thorny problem of
how to change the behaviors of not only employees but also the middle and high-level
managers.

16 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

Last but not least, the people engagement may be counted to be one of the most
important indications of workers’ satisfaction. As can be seen from the above chart, the
highest percentages belonged to the pride of PwC employees at the rate of 80% and
83% in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The rate of those who agreed that PwC is a great
place to work raised to 65% in 2017 while this number in 2016 was just 61%, let alone
the number of employees in 2017 is 12,767 people more than one in 2016 according to
the Global annual review 2017 of PwC. Almost the indices tended to raise from at least
3% to 7% after a year with the exception of the employee commitments. The figures of
intention to stay at PwC for 12 months onwards remained unchanged of 67% in both
2016 and 2017. It showed that keeping the talents after every harsh working season was
very challenging despite the advanced program as Flex.

17 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

5. ANALYSIS REVIEW AND ACTION PLAN

Over the past 5 years after the first time Flex+ was introduced, many new aspects have
been added in to increase its efficiency. Together with it, the positive and limited
aspects of the Flex+ program have gradually been pointed out. Specifically, some
criteria have improved significantly and the level of job satisfaction has increased.
Come back to the evaluation from section IV, it is easy to see that there is something
still not quite satisfactory for the staffs , the survey showed some evaluation criteria
had not improved.
We are particularly interested in the criteria for the long-term work commitment to
PwC of employees / engagement of employees:
According to the survey, feedbacks from employees about the questions-list were quite
positive, the percentage of job satisfaction improved, the percentage of employee
“proud of working at PwC” as well as they “believe that this is a great workplace” also
increased.

However, the result for criteria “I expect (plan) to be working at PwC 12months from
now on" showed no improvement. This one looks like there is a contradiction! Why
are employees happy about their work at PwC but do not want to commit to work long
term? 67% of those committed to stay over the last 12 months mean that short-term
employees see PwC as an ideal place to work, but not for the long term over the next
12 months, at least 33% of workers will leave PwC, which is not expected by
employers.
In order to understand about the situation, some analysis has been gone through and
below here are several major reasons found.
Professional working environment but high work intensity.
In a different perspective, workers who are too focused on their jobs will be isolated
from outside social activities; social relationships may gradually be lost.
Management mindset in the style of centralized staff management

18 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

Due to the firm high demand of quality and tight schedule, the managers often living
in a fear that his /her subordinates can not satisfy the requirements and meet the
deadline without regularly check-up. Thus make team members need to always be
present at the office to stay connect with the whole team.
To improve the quality of work and increase the employee satisfaction index we
recommend PwC to implement the following measures:
Let employees feel more comfortable from the work.
Manage staff performance and progress on the basis of the program content, orientation
and plan scheduled. Create an open working environment where employees can
organize and distribute their time. As the selected staffs are excellent, almost every
people have a positive attitude and high sense of responsibility to complete the work
assigned.
Support manager in controlling work process without controlling attendance of
staffs
A measure to support managers to keep track with their subordinates work whilst giving
them free space to reduce pressure is also in needed. This measure should improve the
efficiency of management, monitoring, inspection, quality control work of the
subordinates.
Besides, it’s important to build trust- relation between managers and subordinates,
encourage multidimensional interaction to enable them can exchange their views and
opinions, and it is especially significant to give subordinate rights to proactive with
their work as well as take initiative in the implementation time assigned.
When workers are autonomous in their work, self-control of work time and
implementation plan from the supervisor are clear and specific, they will certainly
balance work and their living.
This will be the opportunity for the company to retain their employee’s long term
commitment.

19 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

Many PwC’s employees are unconvinced that excessive work demands are worth the
sacrifices to their personal life – and if they come into an organization and fine they are
not getting the full life they want, they will look elsewhere. At the same time, they are
willing to compromise: give them some say in how they work and where they work,
and they will delivery.

Getting the work done in less traditional ways doesn’t mean less quality or productivity
– and it is important for PwC’s managers to appreciate this. PwC’s staffs are every bit
as committed to the success of the firm and to delivering on their projects – but it might
take a bigger leap of faith to allow them some freedom in how they get there. By
encouraging PwC’s managers to also participate and to model flexible behavior, PwC’s
labors will have an arrangement that is completely flexible, from project to project,
person to person, and week to week.

It’s becoming more and more crucial to accelerate the integration of technology into
the workplace to enable workers to harness technology in ways that give them more
flexibility and increase efficiency. PwC’s people accustomed to exchanging
information via social media and other forms of technology and they expect to have
access to the best tools for collaboration and execution at any time.

To pass on their knowledge, Google Suite is the best solution. It can help workers
change the way they think about digital communications and actively engage with their
clients using the channels and networks now available to them. Google Suite is ways
of encouraging PwC’s people to engage in social media in a relevant and appropriate
way. With digital transformation changing the business landscape globally, PwC’s
people need to be on enabling development through applying technologies into works.

Google Suite – G Suite

G Suite tools that allow teams to share ideas instantly, attend meetings remotely,
collaborate from anywhere in real time and work on the go are helping companies
innovate.

With 300$/ user/ year, G Suite is the best solution with four main functions:

- Connect – Make decision faster, face to face:

20 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

o Use shared Calendars to see when others are available and schedule
meetings with automatic Emails invites.
o With one click, turn your meeting into Video conference from any camera-
enabled computer, phone, or tablet.
o Share your screen to review your work as a team, and make decisions on
the spot
- Create – Collaborate in real – time:
o Easily work on Documents, Spreadsheets, and Slides across your devices,
with or without internet
o Work in a single document with teammates or people outside your
company. See edits as others type, communicate through built-in chat, and
ask questions in comments
o Multiple people can work at the same time, and every change is saved
automatically
- Access – Store and share files in the cloud:
o Keep all your work in one place with secure access from your computer,
phone, or tablet
o Quickly invite others to view, download, and collaborate on any file – no
email attachment needed
o File updates are automatically saved and stored in Drive, so everyone can
always have access to the latest version
- Control – Secure your data and devices:
o Protect your company’s data with security options like 2-step verification
and single-sign-on, and use Mobile management to keep your data safe in
the case of a lost device or employee turnover
o Archive email messages and on-the-record chats, and control how long they
are retained
o Easily configure security settings from a IT centralized administration
console, and call or email Google support for help 24/7

21 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

Action plan

For the best preparation for applying Google Suite for PwC’s staff, PwC need to follow
plan which will be trial implement in one year – 48 weeks, starting in May when not in
PwC's busy season. The action plan might be divided into 3 main phases: Preparation
and planning, Transition and Deployment.

Preparation
and Transition Deployment
Planning

 Preparation and planning

In the first period, it is necessary to clearly set up an objective, scoping and timeline
for such innovation project. The objective “changing the way we connect and
collaborate with each other, from which helps to increase people engagement rate from
67% to 80%” should always be stated visibly and continuously to all the firm. Scope
of application would be firm wide in all 158 nations but can be rolling out gradually
from one to another country; users would be staffs at all levels. At this Preparation
phase, the human resource needed for the project will also be mobilized to form a
project team. Project team will include people coming from Information Technology
(IT) Department to be in charge of Technical and Training aspect. It will also include
active agents coming from Internal Communication Department to be responsible for
the communication campaign to raise awareness. In addition, with 300$/ user/ year and
236,000 people worldwide, identifying and planning budget is a very important part
before running the project. Within 2 week, this Preparation stage should be completed
to ready for the next period – Transition.

 Transition

In 10 weeks, PwC has to focus on work with Google to bring a lot of features and
improvements to suit the nature and workflow of PwC. The information and data of

22 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

PwC is extremely secure. Applying the G Suite to give staffs the freedom and freedom
to work anywhere they may be exposed to potential risks. If the people leaks
information to the customer will cause damage to the reputation and image of the
company. Therefore, IT collaboration with Google building information security and
control system is a very important step, ensuring the ability to meet the work process
of workers and controlling remote information.

At the same time, documentation is an integral part of implementing a new program

that will apply to all employees. Communication materials will give labors an overview
of why the software is deployed, how the software affects the company culture, and
what the software will bring about them. The eye catching image will be what attracts
staffs to learn and create a wave of software research that will be executed within the
company. Meanwhile, the training materials will help them understand the features and
how to use the software to the most effective.

 Deployment

8 weeks of training is a very important time. Communication will conduct once a week
to continuously impact staffs perceptions about the transformation of the company's
working culture that will have a utility that helps them work more comfortably and
effectively. There will be articles introducing the features of the tool with images of the
interface or some mini games to increase the knowledge of staff. At the same time,
coaching and training, twice a month, will give workers a deeper understanding of the
tooling features, as well as practicality on the tool that will bring them practical
experiences in tools that can be applied to work, avoid risks and errors. Training also
provides tips and tools for employees to make faster and more effective. Testing that is
once per month, people are learning how to deal with issues arising in the course of
using the tool, continually learning the skills.

The next 27 weeks is busy season, PwC will use utility to work across the company;
juniors and seniors will use the tool on the actual work. They will have to apply
knowledge and skills to use tools to accomplish work efficiently and deadline. The IT
department will work with staff to support to deal with technical issues related to tools,

23 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

systems and information security. Simultaneously monitor, measure, evaluate the

effectiveness of the tool during the work of people.

After being overwhelmed with a heavy workload season, this is the time to conduct
surveys and receive all company’s feedback on tools that help increase productivity,
tools that assist them in balancing work and work personal life. The data from the
survey will help assess whether the tool has an impact on corporate culture and increase
engagement with the company's workers. PwC will provide improvements to the
facility in order to create a favorable working and real “Flex” environment for all staffs.

Conclusion

The move to Google Suite is not just a change in IT strategy; it is a shift in PwC
company culture. PwC need to think, share, and move faster to bring products to the
marketplace.

PwC are becoming much more of a customer company in terms of how PwC people
think and act. PwC want to move to where the consumer is headed, not where they are
today. This is not always easy because PwC operate across so many locations
internationally. PwC’s future success depends on our ability to build strong
relationships and share and work together across the team. Google Suite will help
PwC’s employees break down geographical barriers and work together quickly, from
anywhere – keeping PwC on track to help build what is called, "Flexible environment".

24 | 25
 Case of PwC – Flex Program

SUMMARY
Although named as one of the Big4, PwC as many other global corporation also have
their own problem to cope with in the fast changing world. For a professional working
place like PwC, expertise, knowledge or technical insight staffs are not too hard to
acquire, the most challenging is to retain them within the organization. That is the
reason why organizational culture is playing an important part in the organization
behavior as general and always has been the point that PwC leaders need to clearly and
carefully put in to consideration. With their core values as “act with integrity”, “make
a difference”, “care”, “work together” and “reimagine the possible”, the firm has
already set a solid background for any add-in program like Flex+ to better improve
their organizational culture. Despite the fact that each program still has certain
shortcomings, but PwC still a typical case as an organization who care for its people.

25 | 25