PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Gender Advisory Council Gives Support Where Professional Women Need It

By Heather Cassell

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Gender Advisory Council is helping the company pave the way to success and recognition. DiversityInc recently named PwC as one of the top five in its inaugural “Top Companies for Global Diversity” for its commitment to creative diversity and global culture.

Samuel A. DiPiazza Jr., PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Global CEO, credited the company’s Gender Advisory Council as part of the suite of initiatives which saw the company listed alongside Verizon Communications, The Coca-Cola Co., Bank of America and Procter & Gamble in a June 3 news release.

“We are extremely proud to have made it into DiversityInc’s first-ever global top five list,” says DiPiazza in the release. “Diversity is not just the right thing to do; it is a business issue. We believe that when you work in teams that reflect different backgrounds and perspectives you’re going to get a better answer and innovative solutions.”

Recognizing that women make up half of the global workforce, but only 13 percent of the partnership, PwC, which provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to more than 146,000 clients in 150 countries across its independent network, established the Gender Advisory Council in 2006. The Council’s goal is to aggressively address the lack of advancement and retention of women in the company’s workforce.

Under Cleo Thompson’s guidance as the Programme Office Leader, the Gender Advisory Council, which is made up of 12 women and men from around the world, has taken off like wildfire. The Council works strategically to mend the holes between women’s employment needs and their advancement at PwC—and to serve as an example for all companies.

Earlier this year the Council published The Leaking Pipeline, which profiles 79 PwC female leaders from Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Through interviews conducted over a two month period and along with a summary of current analysis and thinking on the topic from a variety of global academics and educational institutions, the Council found patterns that have successfully led women to leadership positions within the company.

The report indicates that a way to to reverse or reduce the loss of professional women through “voluntary termination,” which, according to the report, is at a “rate of two or three times faster than men once they have attained the experienced, mid-career, manager/senior manager level of their careers” is to provide a variety of opportunities and to work with women to meet their professional needs. The report suggests creating “stepping stone” advancement opportunities, mentor programs, and movement within offices within the company, as well as raising the sensitivity of senior leaders to cultural and gender differences, as proven ways of improving diversity and the retention and advancement of talented employees. In turn, the report also suggests that employees should provide “positive” feedback to company management for taking “risks” by appointing women to leadership positions.

The findings and recommendations aren’t new to companies and women in the workplace, but the report notes it “found no evidence of deliberate, conscious gender bias.” While outright gender discrimination wasn’t found, it did suggest “a lack of pro-active consideration of females for major assignments, a lack of gender consideration in succession planning, and a reticence amongst senior men to mentor women at the leadership level” is actively holding women back.

PwC, even without having the solid evidence of the report behind them, jumped ahead with creating the Council to address women’s mentorship, networking, and opting out/on ramping needs. Within the past two years Council members around the world have supported initiatives to help women transcend traditional roadblocks in their careers.

Currently, U.S. women can participate in a variety of programs, including Women’s Networking Circles, Mentor Moms, and Full Circle.

The Women’s Networking Circles, which are designed to provide access to role models, mentors, and networks to management-level women, operate in 34 locations across the U.S. More than 3,000 women have joined the network and are paired with mentors who meet regularly to exchange ideas, analyze each other’s professional developmental issues, and receive guidance and feedback as a group.

Mentor Moms is a new program to help mothers re-enter the PwC workforce after having a new baby. Women are paired with mentors who assist them with setting up a plan before they take maternity leave and are also given a comprehensive guidebook that includes tips, strategies and advice collected from other PwC mothers. Currently, the program is available only in the New York Metro and Southern California offices, but it is in the process of going national.

The networking and new moms programs are inspiring perhaps the most innovative program to-date – the Catalyst award winning Full Circle, which assists PwC women to exit the workforce for up to five years, yet retain their relationships and professional development at the company. The goal is to help ease employee concerns about leaving the company for whatever reason as well as assist them with returning to work. PwC maintains participants’ professional credentials, pairs them with “senior coaches” and encourages them to join training events. Full Circle participants are also welcome at and encouraged to attend the company picnic and other social events.

Activities in other PwC countries includes leadership development programs, bias awareness training, co-coaching initiatives with women from client firms and an innovative reverse mentoring scheme, which sees junior women paired with senior men. These initiatives are closely tracked and assessed for their potential to stem the leaking pipeline and improve the company’s metrics.

Cleo Thompson is clearly plugging the leaks at PwC and raising the company’s profile, but she also goes beyond the company’s corporate culture and structure with the Gender Advisory Council’s blog The Gender Agenda. Each week Thompson reports about what corporate women are doing around the world as well as provides tips, good reads (like TheGlassHammer.com, which was mentioned this past week, with a big thanks from Thompson to Nicki Gilmour, CEO and TGH publisher ), and details of what the top accounting firm is doing to address this key business issue.