Executive summary

Company of choice : PWC (Accounting firm)

Objective & Rationale

The objective of this project is to help solve the effects of The Great Resignation
experienced in our chosen company, PwC Singapore. We believe that our holistic
and well-thought out solution can effectively improve employee treatment and
increase employee motivation and morale, ultimately reducing the turnover rate of
PwC Singapore.

Situational Analysis
The average attrition rate among the Big Four firms in the city-state rose to 38% in
the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2021, compared with 24% in the year-earlier period,
according to figures submitted to the government. Outside the Big Four, the median
attrition rate among auditing firms in Singapore is even higher at 62%, after doubling
from a year before. In PwC Singapore's Transparency Report 2022, the company
states that their low retention rate of 62% might be due to the pandemic and high
demand for accountants in the external market.

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/big-four-audit-firms-dangle-higher-pay-to-keep-si
ngapore-talent-092239187.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cu
Z29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHC3OQeUOaU2AL71wqeT0DSyfrZ0
NM0oHNMdVAG32FA65iWEalURhp6xr6wfJ3HSjQf6h8pV3druF4zSS_8y1avCb9xb8
TIjTedXBwT8eUxSn4U53SxJ-uDOGjmEqIbtJ22GkZ4cfy7UImbfZa2z7pseHh6sAKXt
Ax-UZw8yN6-L

Outline problem/issues
1. Lacking in work life balance, unhappy with work culture
Poor corporate culture: PwC Australia had a culture that prized revenue above all
else and tolerated poor behaviour from so-called rainmakers (individuals who are
particularly adept at generating new business, securing client relationships, and
bringing in significant revenue for the firm. These are typically senior professionals
who leverage their extensive networks, industry expertise, and client management
skills to attract lucrative deals and high-value projects.).
lack of independence and external voices among the firm’s management, excessive
power conferred on the chief executive, and an overly collegial culture that inhibited
constructive criticism.
https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/pwc-australia-allowed-rainmakers-to-behave-poorl
y-report-finds-20230927

Poor working culture + worklife imbalance → Lachlan*, who’s worked at PwC and EY
described the culture at the Big 4 firms as an “iron man contest”. He also believes it
would take years to break the “ingrained” company culture.
“You survive or leave,” he told news.com.au.
Executive summary
“Each level punishes the next level down. They see it as: ‘If I had to do it, then you
have to do it’ and it propagates the same kind of bad behaviour.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/auditors-from-big-4-financial-services-firms-la
sh-working-conditions-at-deloitte-pwc-and-ey/news-story/88e1c1e3f95e16d4272941
6d7b599092

In Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has been encouraging companies to

continue offering flexible work arrangements since April 2022.
https://vulcanpost.com/818086/four-day-work-week-catch-on-in-singapore/

(reasons) PWC is a client-focused organization whose clients look for criteria that
often necessitate personnel working long hours. Therefore, sometimes they may be
required to work on weekends or holiday to meet client deadlines and needs.
https://thecambridgeconsultant.com/does-pwc-pay-overtime/

2. Inefficient hiring process combined with high turnover leads to too much
workload due to lack in manpower

PwC has faced several controversies in recent years, with the Australian tax scandal
standing out as particularly significant. Reports have surfaced suggesting that PwC
leveraged government relationships to assist clients in both Australia and the United
States. As a result, the firm has experienced a high rate of staff turnover, attributed in
part to an emerging toxic corporate culture and a shortfall in personnel, which has
placed considerable strain on the remaining workforce. Feedback from Glassdoor
indicates that both past and present PwC employees have expressed concerns
about the company's recruitment strategies. One review highlighted that the hiring
process often involves the provision of misleading information to entice job
candidates, while another pointed out a lackadaisical approach to recruitment,
leading to the onboarding of individuals who lack ambition, subsequently impacting
the overall morale and productivity of the team.

- Slow career progression

https://www.robertwalters.be/insights/career-advice/blog/The-tight-labour-market-pos
es-double-risks-for-Big-4.html

Indeed Reviews: Singapore PwC

High stress, low reward, low satisfaction → Long working hours, survive with little
sleep, the occasional micromanaging boss, and really nasty clients.

long working hours, lots of politics, lack of career growth, mundane way of doing
things instead of trying new way of doing them
Executive summary
Bad culture, some manager very demanding and only expect you to deliver without
any guidance, stressful working environment.Good stepping stone for fresh
graduate.

https://sg.indeed.com/cmp/Pwc/reviews?ftopic=wlbalance

Advance and mature through a series of five levels. Normally, workers will spend 2-3
years at each stage, starting with Associate and progressing through senior
Associate, manager and director.
https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/gx/en/careers/career-path-at-strategyand.html

Solutions (PwCares) 3-pronged solution

Solution 1 (Change of work culture)
- Implementing fixed hours to prevent overworking
- At the same time, Introduce a more flexible work arrangement culture eg.
WFH
Solution 2 (Improved hiring practices and promotion structure)
- Better hiring practises, to smoothen and shorten the time spent to replace
empty work positions
- introduction of AI to automate some processes like grouping and general
analysis of applicants. First round filtering, pick out strong resumes with
certain keywords
- Implement a new career progression system based on merit instead of
fixating on years of service, use KPIs eg. project involvement, cost savings,
team appraisal as a measure(?)
Solution 3 (Improve employee welfare)
- Campaign to improve employee treatment and employee engagement, focus
on welfare (Ensure that is not taking up employees’ weekend)
- Team cohesion

Recommendation 1
PwCares will include a major change in the work culture of PwC. As PwC is a
consultancy and client-based service providing firm, project deadlines have to be
met, thus this causes a situation of overworking and lack in work life balance
amongst the employees. PwCares will include the mandatory implementation of a
fixed 9-hour work day, and provide clear guidelines on situations which allow
employees to work remotely. If employees are required to work after office hours to
complete a project that is meeting the deadline, dinner allowance will be given and
employees will also be given the corresponding time-off on a non-peak period to
ensure that employees are fairly compensated.

Recommendation 2
PwCares involves revised and improved hiring practices to mainly target the
shortage in manpower and to facilitate the process of hiring. As there is an existent
Executive summary
problem of overworking experienced by our current employees, a more refined and
efficient hiring system would inject a larger volume of new employees to effectively
fill up the shortage in manpower. PwCares would include upgrading of hiring systems
through the inclusion of AI to automate time-consuming tasks such as filtering,
grouping and general analysis of applicants.

Recommendation 3
Under PwCares, PwC would churn out a series of Employee Welfare Programs
(EWP). It seeks to provide more work-life balance and increased benefits for
employees through allowing employees to partake in leisure activities that suit their
preferences. Since PwC employees currently already work minimally 5 days a week,
during non peak periods and even up to 80 hours during busy seasons, these
programs would be integrated into employee’s work days as part of their normal
work schedules, without having to eat into their personal time.

Firstly, as part of EWP, a lounge area will be provided, which includes comfortable
reclining seats, game consoles, and an expanded pantry with an increased variety of
refreshments. This can provide some stress relief and reduce burnouts from
employees such as lunchtime, for employees to relieve stress if they wish to and
promote team cohesion, eradicating the strong hierarchical system in PwC. This can
increase workplace productivity which is key to PwC’s success especially
considering the unproportionate workload, overall reducing the hours employees
need to spend to complete work.

Secondly EWP would provide a selection of memberships that PwC employees

would be entitled to select from annually, such as gym, pilates etc.

Recommendation 4
Additionally, slow career progression is also one of the key reasons for the high
turnover in PwC. To tackle this, PwCares would involve a restructuring of promotion
criterias, shifting from years of services to a merit basis. To ensure a fair assessment
of employees contributions and performance, KPIs such as project involvement,
punctuality, cost-savings, proactiveness would be included in employees’
assessment and appraisal and promotions would be given to employees with the
highest rating. PwC would also be establishing a robust employee recognition
system alongside the merit-based promotion system, dedicated to acknowledging
outstanding performance or punctuality by offering monetary or non-monetary
rewards (extra off days) to as special merit.

To boost employee’s progression due to merit, PwCares would include funding for
employees to take on continuous learning through online courses, workshops and
certifications.

Conclusion
Executive summary
To conclude, tackling PwC Singapore's high employee turnover rate is an important
project that needs a sensitive and well-thought out approach. With the
implementation of the proposed strategies, we envision a future where PwC
Singapore becomes an employer of choice, retaining its exceptional talent, and
ultimately achieving higher levels of success and client service excellence.

Group Responsibilities and Timeline for each member

Isaac - Leader
Ensure internal deadlines are met by first review of project on Week 10
Set agenda for weekly meetings on Monday
Crisis-management, push for faster pace of work if work is not completed by the
arranged deadline
Jing Yang - Vetter
Contribute to the project while ensuring that the team is heading the right direction
(Till Week 10)
Do quality checks for work done by group members (Till Week 10)
Vernice - Researcher
Find credible and supporting sources of information, ensure accuracy of data and
generate graphs and charts if required (By end of week 9)
Lindy - Timekeeper and Researcher
Ensure that every milestone is completed as planned and conduct in-depth research
to source for reliable secondary information. (Week 7-10)
Ruoxin - Slides and Graphic Designer
Organise report in a coherent manner, taking note of the aesthetics and alignment
(Week 8-10)

Slide deck report components

Follow the bgc sample on class site under content written comm 3
Executive summary
Report overview (Project rationale, Project roadmap)
Research methodology
SItuational analysis (Situational Overview, Key findings)
Recommendation
Implementation
Implications (Limitation, feasibility)
Corporate partnership
Stakeholder benefits
Conclusion
References and Appendices
Executive summary
Executive summary
Objective & Rationale
This project aims to counter the effects of The Great Resignation experienced by PwC
Singapore. We believe that our holistic and well-thought out solution can effectively improve
employee treatment and increase employee motivation and morale, ultimately reducing the
turnover rate.
Situational Analysis
The average attrition rate among the Big Four firms in the city-state rose to 38%, from the
previous year’s rate of 24%, in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2021, according to government
figures. Outside the Big Four, the median attrition rate among auditing firms in Singapore is even
higher, at 62%, after doubling from a year before. In PwC Singapore's Transparency Report
2022, the company states that their low retention rate might be due to the pandemic and high
demand for accountants in the external market.
Issues Identified
At PwC, three significant issues stand out. Firstly, employees grapple with a work-life balance
skewed by a company culture focused heavily on profit and leniency towards high-performing
"rainmakers," even at the cost of other staff’s well-being. Additionally, demanding client
expectations add to the need for overtime to meet stringent deadlines. Secondly, PwC suffers
from a lack of manpower due to inefficient hiring practices. The firm's reputation has suffered
from scandals, including a major tax incident in Australia, where it was accused of improperly
using government connections, resulting in high staff turnover. The toxic work culture and
insufficient staff places excessive pressure on existing employees. Glassdoor reviews also reveal
problematic recruitment strategies at PwC, where deceptive practices and the hiring of less
driven staff members negatively impact overall team spirit and effectiveness. Thirdly, the
detrimental corporate culture at PwC has resulted in sluggish career advancement, leading to
diminished staff morale. Former employees have described the oppressive working atmosphere
with a "survive or leave" mentality, highlighting the dismissive nature of the environment.
Proposed strategies (3-pronged strategy: PwCares)
1. Change of work culture
- Mandatory implementation of a fixed 9-hour work day, and flexible arrangements considered.
- If workload necessitates working overtime, dinner allowance will be provided and the hours
worked overtime will be fairly compensated with corresponding time-off on a non-peak period.
- Employee welfare programs and benefits provided to improve employee’s work-life balance:
Upgraded lounge area for more comfortable breaks and increased cohesion within team, a
variety of memberships for employees to enjoy at a subsidised rate (e.g. Pilates, Gym)
- Bi-weekly lunch catering: Promotes reduced hierarchy in PwC through communal eating.
2. Improved hiring practice through inclusion of AI
- Automation of time-consuming tasks such as filtering, grouping and general analysis of
applicants reduces resources needed for hiring.
- Targets shortage of manpower due to time lag between resignations and hiring to fill the
vacancies, which causes an excessive amount of workload for current capacity.
3. Revision of Promotion structure
- New promotion criteria based on merit instead of years worked, measured by KPIs to ensure
fair assessment of employees (eg. punctuality, cost-savings, proactiveness)
- Implement more employee recognition to reward exemplary performance in the form of
monetary or non-monetary benefits.
Conclusion
To conclude, tackling PwC Singapore's high employee turnover rate is an important project that
needs a sensitive and well-thought out approach. With the implementation of the proposed
strategies, we envision a future where PwC Singapore becomes an employer of choice, retaining
its exceptional talent, and ultimately achieving higher levels of success and client service
excellence.
Executive summary

https://www.phenom.com/blog/examples-companies-using-ai-recruiting-platform - read up
to prepare examples of companies which have introduced ai successfully in hiring

https://content.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/from-free-holidays-to-subsidised-childbirth-here-are-6-spo
re-companies-with-great-hr-benefits/#:~:text=Employees%20can%20apply%20to%20work,costs
%20of%20the%20family%20members. - read for examples of employee benefit of the best
companies in sg

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-meritbased-promotion-vs-seniority-11565.html - merit
bases structure vs seniority

https://www.glassdoor.sg/FAQ/PwC-Question-FAQ200095-E8450_P4.htm

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/12/disgraceful-breach-of-trust-how-pwc-one-of-
the-worlds-biggest-accountancy-firms-became-mired-in-a-tax-scandal