PwC commits to ‘building enduring cultural change’

PwC Australia has outlined the next phase of its governance and culture shift, including the appointment of a fourth independent non-executive to its governance board and the release of independent monitor Webb Henderson’s report.

As part of its renewed “uplift”, the firm pledged to further enhance its deep industry expertise, grow its core offerings in assurance, advisory and tax and legal, in addition to a focus on AI.

“Culture will continue to be at the core of the firm’s strategy, as it dials up the importance of its three behavioural anchors: curiosity, collaboration and challenge,” PwC said.

Kevin Burrowes, chief executive of PwC Australia, said a key component of embedding the actions outlined in the firm’s ‘Commitments to Change’ was building a culture of sustainable high performance.

“We have an incredibly high-performing workforce, which we take great pride in. What’s important is that the outcomes we drive are done in a sustainable way, with ethics and integrity front and centre. To reinforce this, we’ve reset how we measure and reward our people,” he said.

“For partners, their performance is now assessed against a balanced scorecard, including non-financial measures. For all our people, ‘how’ they deliver their work is just as important as ‘what’ they deliver.”

“These changes may seem small, but they are critical shifts helping us build a leading culture. It’s the natural next step as we continue to dial up our cultural anchors of curiosity, collaboration and challenge.”

Webb Henderson was appointed by the governance board last year to assess PwC’s progress against the 47 actions it committed to, after the release of Dr Switkowski’s 2023 independent review of governance, culture and accountability.

According to the report, 46 actions had been implemented or progressed to be delivered against their timelines, with only one action having been partially implemented.

John M. Green said the report provided an independent assessment of PwC’s progress and outlined the foundations it had laid out to continue embedding change.

"Facing difficult circumstances, PwC’s partners took on an ambitious governance and cultural change program, including reforms that fundamentally changed the way the firm is governed – in short, a program of reinvention," he said.

“Today does not signal 'job done'. We will continue our work on these important changes, as we maintain focus on our growth priorities and enhance our culture of sustainable high performance.”

It was also revealed that Wendy Stops had been appointed to the governance board as an independent non-executive.

Stops, currently a non-executive director of Coles Group and previously on the board of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and chair of Blackmores Group, was set to commence in her new role on 1 July.

Green said Stops brought significant technology expertise to the governance board, having had major technology roles across Asia-Pacific during an executive career with Accenture.

“The diversity of thought around our board table – from both independents and partners – helps us provide important constructive challenges and encourage curiosity. As we welcome Wendy, we’ll be enriching this with additional perspectives to continue shaping and strengthening our governance model.”

Finally, PwC partner, Debbie Smith, was announced to be set to succeed the role of chief risk and ethics officer from Jan McCahey at the end of this year.

The firm said Smith has been with the firm for over 30 years, during which she has led some of the firm’s largest audit engagements, held the role of Brisbane market managing partner, and is currently the risk and quality leader for the firm’s assurance business.