“We used to be very [random] in our training, except for the technical knowledge,” says People Leader Lieven Lambrecht. Now, however, every member of staff at PwC Luxembourg has to undergo a three-year training plan, which should give employees tools to navigate any aspect of tax, advisory and compliance and be fully proficient in the sector. On top of a centralised global team, 12 local employees make sure that the modules--taught at levels of awareness, competence and deep knowledge--remain up-to-date.
Our upskilling programme is not something you do in a year.
Three pillars make up their “Your tomorrow” upskilling programme. The first one teaches hard skills, like digital literacy, while the second educates employees on business acumen, namely dealing with clients, proposals, negotiations, writing. The third leg of the training is the “soft touch”, as Lambrecht calls it. Relationships, leadership and collaboration make up this part. Through internal and external classrooms and e-learning opportunities, employees are thus able to learn--and continue to do so, though more topically, once the three years are over.
Lambrecht doesn’t worry too much about staff leaving: “We never train a workforce with the fear that they will leave once they’re trained.” Its high hiring rate and turnover rate--the Big Four company plans on recruiting 910 new joiners--make PwC a learning experience for the employees, whose skills allow the group to meet client demands. Lambrecht calls it a symbiosis: “We happily train them, because then they can execute what we need, and on the other hand, for some it’s an experience that they want to have.”
PwC Luxembourg in numbers
No. of employees: 3,110
Average staff age: 30 y.o.
Average seniority: 4 years
Total training hours: 165,303
Training per employee: 58 hours per year
Modules offered: 65-70
This article first appeared in the of the June 2022 edition of Delano magazine.