Bonuses at PwC for ‘outstanding performance’

Senior partner Simon Perry said that the combination of technology and empowering colleagues at PwC Channel Islands had made a positive difference.

‘Trust is every bit as important as technology in creating new ways of working. By focusing on outputs, not inputs, and giving people the autonomy to decide how they meet their objectives, we trust them to deliver,’ he said in the firm’s newly-published transparency report covering the year ending 30 June 2021.

‘While we knew in theory that flexible, digitally-enabled ways of working were the right way forward, the past year has provided solid proof of their efficacy. The combination of advanced technology and workforce upskilling, commitment and empowerment is reflected in rising revenues and client satisfaction scores.

‘In the year up to 30 June 2021, we recognised this outstanding performance through bonuses for every member of staff up to director level.’

Figures included in the transparency report showed that total fee income (unaudited) at the firm was £57.7m. for the year ending 30 June 2021, compared with £48.6m. for the previous period – with the results extracted from the draft PwC Channel Islands accounts yet to be finalised by the partners.

But the transformation of the workforce still had some way to go in ‘some crucial respects’.

‘We are really pleased that at all grades in the business we have a relatively equal split between men and women and negligible gender pay gaps, with an overall pay gap at the staff level of 2.6%,’ said Mr Perry.

‘However, at the partner level, we still have work to do. Including partner pay into our gender pay calculation increases the gap to 36%. This is a consequence of having two female partners and 12 male partners.’

But the business was determined that it would be able to close the gap with ‘a strong pipeline of diverse talent’.

‘This won’t happen overnight and we need to double down on our efforts to create an inclusive culture, investing in leadership development and bringing through our high-potential women if we are to achieve greater gender balance and see the pay gap improve over the next five years.

‘We want to make this a place where everyone can fulfil their potential. We recognise that this is not only the right thing to do morally, but is also critical to the performance of our business by broadening our perspectives and range of experience. Our inclusion and diversity commitment covers all stages of the employment life cycle from recruitment and induction through to performance review and progression.’