Price Waterhouse Coopers' Workforce Planning - Case Study Example

Organizational Case Study Name Institution Price Waterhouse Coopers Introduction Price Waterhouse Coopers Australia is focused on supporting people to achieve professional and personal goals, and consequently retaining and attracting a talented and diverse workforce. The company mission is geared towards creating an inclusive culture by responding to the changing needs of people by use of innovative initiatives. The company focuses on creating diversity in leadership through building and developing sponsoring skills among the partners so that they are able to share their knowledge with women in the firm (Montana & Charnov, 2008). Organizational policies and strategies focus on providing a clear path for one to grow through his career at PwC without any problem. Operational management and organization of human resource is very important for the continuity of the organization. Recruitment, training, controlling, and directing has to be with a dynamic and strategic perspective that will ensure the growth of the organization. Attainment of the overall objective of the firm depends on daily set objectives and goals. Organizational strategies and goals Parental leave is given to primary care givers at PwC. All staff members with over 12 months of service have to be given parental leave which equals to fourteen weeks of the total remuneration. There is a purchasable annual leave equivalent to four weeks that is granted after foregoing pro-rata remuneration in a period of above twelve month. Personal and family commitments are encouraged to be settled outside the office working hours. There is mentoring program to assist people in the management of their work-life and flexibility (Laurentis, 2004). The progression and support of women is main focus for the firm as well as mentoring circles has been started to a broader group. Women mentoring circles are meant to empower the women to be performers. Mavens in the company are people who provide their understanding, time, and knowledge to colleagues. Volunteers have been employed to provide impartial perspectives to colleagues and provide common-sense guidance in a manner that is discreet (Noble & Watson, 2007). The company ensures equal opportunities to all and offers a chance for career growth despite gender. Although the senior most full time employment positions are majorly held by men, PwC has done alone to ensure that women occupy the senior positions in the company. Description of industry Price Waterhouse Coopers offers industry –focused assurance, tax, and advisory services for private and public clients in such areas like corporate accountability, risk management, performance and process improvement, structuring and mergers and acquisitions. The company provides audit services to companies in a various industries in order to assist in management. PwC focuses on quality in tax, assurance, and advisory services. The assurance team assists in linking the performance of the business to financial reporting to stakeholders. There are many players in this industry but reputable firms are well known because they operate across borders (Poterba & Hagen, 1999). PwC is found in more than 150 countries and is bound to face cultural and professional diversity. Managers have to come up with integrating strategies that should be used to create harmony towards obtained a common goal. Organizational and policies analysis Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) Australia has 420 partners. Sixty one of the partners are female whereas the remaining 359 are male. Female partners form 14.52%. 42 of the female partners are full-time employees while 352 are male. The company has no casual partners. Part-time partners include 7 male and 19 female. Therefore, the part-time partners has female majority. The company has 444 directors comprising of 138 female and 306 male. The male forms the bulk with 68.92%. Among the full-time directors, 94 of them are female while 288 are male. Part-time directors are composed of eleven male and 44 female. There is no female causal director while male casual directors are seven. Senior managers are 612 in total; male senior managers are 331 while female are 281. Female senior managers who are on full-time basis are 200 whereas female senior managers are 317. The part-time senior managers comprise of 6 male and 43 female. There is one causal male senior manager against seven male senior managers. Price Waterhouse Coopers managers are 762 in total. 378 of these managers are female while 384 of them are male. The population of accountant in the company is 1126 senior accountants/consultants in total. Out of these 557 are female while 569 are male. The full time senior accountants/accounts are composed of 524 female while 560 are male. Among the senior accountants/consultants who are part-time 28 of them are female while four are male. Casual senior accountants comprise of five female and five male. The company has 1427 accountants comprising of 765 female and 662 male. Out of the accountants’ population, 720 of them are female full-time employee whereas 656 are male full-time employees. Part-time accountants comprise of 35 female and 2 male accountants. Casual female accountants are ten while male casual accounts are four. The company has 212 undergraduates, among these 110 are female while 102 are male. The female full time undergraduate are 98 while male full-time undergraduates are 84. Part-time undergraduate comprise of four female and 8 male. The casual undergraduate are made up of eight female and ten male. The company has 428 support staff. The female support staff is 419 while the male support staff is only nine employees. Among the support staff 343 are full-time female employees while 9 of them are male. The part-time support staff comprise of 68 female without any male. Eight of the part-time employees are employed on casual basis. The total female employees in the company are 2709 while total male employees are 2722. The population of employees is 5432 employees. The ratio percentage of male to female is 49.88% for female against 50.12% for male. While the whole ratio shows equity most women occupy either casual positions, part-time or lower class job positions in the company. However, there is no major problem on gender parity in the company since the ratio of male to female is close almost equal. Majority of the senior positions are occupied by male employees while majority of the junior positions like support staff are occupied by female employees (Hollan, Hutchins & Kirsh, 2000). The company has not fully acquired equity and policy as depicted by the discrepancy in senior management positions that are full time. Many female are given casual jobs of lower class. Remuneration has not been a problem and all workers are handsomely compensated. Analysis of diversity issue Gender diversity has stood out as the main focus of the firm and as part of the eQuilibrium program and PwC Experience. Women have been supported to stay at the firm. Leadership forums have been used in engaging women in important issues and providing avenues where they can network and learn from others in order to gain confidence (Stevens & Bloom, 2003). PwC Australia considers the issue of women empowerment and involvement in the daily running of the firm as important. A program dubbed ‘My mentor program’ by PwC provides women with a self study technologically-based educational program which is designed to assist them in building their careers by offering an opportunity of networking, engaging, and sharing of ideas with peers. Provision of equal opportunity to all has been the driving force behind the development educational program (Gonzales, 2004). In many communities women are disadvantaged. The aim of eQuilibrium is to attract, engage, and retain particular demographic groups including women. The eQuilibrium intranet site provides online resources to help people business case for flexible working. The eQuilibrium aims at building diversity and talent through creating environment which supports and understands the changing life needs of people as they proceed through their career through PwC. Women have to be given space to rise through the hierarchy of management. At PwC it is believed that empowerment of women brings about more choices for both men and women. The choices can possess intensely ramifications for economic and social fabric worldwide (Sengupta & Bhattacharya, 2006). More women have to find their way to the top ranks without discrimination. Many programs are instituted at PwC Coopers in order to provide equal and multiple opportunity for both women and men. Statistics indicate that Australia has the lowest number of women who are in management positions. The mining and mineral industry has only 6.3% of women in key management positions (Dessouky, Moray & Kijowski, 1995). Most companies have no women in their boards. Getting women to take an active role in the productivity of the organization has been an important agenda for Price Waterhouse Coopers. Many organizations in the world do not take the issue of gender equity seriously. Appreciating the role of women at the place of work has been on the rise in the recent years. PwC enhances individual choice and flexibility in recognition of the diverse needs of the people to support personal and professional aspirations (Harris, 2005). The company eQuilibrium program offers the framework of supporting these aspirations through providing best practices procedures and policies. One of the biggest huddles to diversity is unconscious bias. It is described as a human characteristic that influence judgments and decisions concerning other people. Understanding biases and enhancing self-awareness enable collaboration within a diverse population. Compliance professionalism and risk management is the goal of many organizations (Ayean et al, 2000). Workers who are useful to the organization have to be hired. Australia is facing increased cultural diversity owing to widespread European and Asian migration. Organizations have taken steps to integrate immigrants into their workforce. There are policies set against discrimination and racism and every avenue is expected to be an avenue for equal opportunities. The world financial crisis has brought about challenges in retention of employees and many organizations have ended up restructuring their workforce just like PwC. Recommendations and conclusion Workforce planning has to be done with equal discipline and rigor applied to operational and financial planning. The gap that exist between men and female in senior management positions have to be filled. Most of the women are employed on casual basis as compared to men. This should not be out of discrimination and stigmatization but personal choice. Employment has to be on the basis of competence, knowledge, and training as opposed to gender and nepotism considerations. The indigenous communities have to be integrated into the company’s workforce. A concerted effort has to be made to attract indigenous groups (Senecal, Loughead & Bloom, 2008). Opportunities for women have to be provided and promotion should be on merit and competence and nothing else. Whereas the company has devised ways to empower women, men should not be left out of the empowerment programs. Development and training programs should all be designed for both women and men and efforts should encourage equity in the company. The indigenous groups should not be left out on the empowerment program if diversity has to be achieved in the entire organization. The small groups of marginalized people have to be incorporated in the recruitment plans of the company. The workforce restructuring being done in PwC should not target a specific group of people. The rule should be applicable to all members of the organization without discrimination. The morale of workers is highly affected when they realize that have no job security and can be victimized any time. Equal opportunity and diversity remains a strategic imperative for Price Waterhouse Coopers. Competition for talent, changing demographics, impact of globalization, and increasing importance of innovation and technology is affecting the existence of business organization. All challenges that are impeding a safe working environment have to be tackled without only concentrating on cultural and gender diversity. Diversity should be encouraged in ethnicity, gender, industry experience, and other areas within the organization. Promising workers have to be mentored to become shrewd and inspiring leaders. The influence of labor union and increased awareness should neither be ignored nor underrated. Any organization has to make sure that it is not overtaken by events or changing times. Market intelligence and studying clients’ needs will always provide the necessary direction. Senior management positions should also be given to women and be encouraged to utilize every opportunity that comes their way. References Ayean, Z., Kanungo, R.N., Mendonea, M., Yu, K., Deller, J., Stahl, G., & Kurshid, A. (2000). Impact of Culture on Human Resource management practices: A 10-Country Comparison, Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49 (1): 192-221. Dessouky, M.I., Moray, N. & Kijowski, B. (1995). 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A seasonal-long team-building intervention: Examining the effect of team goal setting on cohesion. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 30: 186-199. Sengupta, N. & Bhattacharya, M.S. (2006). Managing Change in Organizations. Melbourne: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. Stevens, D.E., & Bloom, G.A. (2003). The effect of team building on cohesion. Avante, 9 (2): 43:54. Poterba, M.J. & Hagen, J. (1999). Fiscal Institutions and Fiscal Performance, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. Read More