The New Equation: Why solving the challenges of tomorrow needs new thinking

Everyday I work with the most interesting, committed and skilled group of people that I could ever hope to meet. Their diversity of experience has become even more vivid over the last year as we have been forced to travel less, and yet in some ways have been able to collaborate more. As I am writing this, I am thinking about our technologists in Silicon Valley and Shanghai, industry specialists in Chennai and Nairobi, reporting experts in Canada and Brazil, tax transparency experts in the United Kingdom, transformation experts in Germany, and many others in many other places. Each has exceptional depth of expertise in their area, and underpinned by our commitment to quality, together they provide the breadth needed to tackle our clients’ and many of the world’s toughest challenges.

It is our ability to bring together unique combinations of people, powered by technology, that really marks out what we do as PwC. And it is the central driver of our new strategy: The New Equation.

When I look at the world our clients and stakeholders operate in, the need to find new ways to solve problems is clear. The challenges and opportunities of the future – defined by climate change, technological disruption and shifting geopolitics – will need new, unconventional, surprising combinations of skills to solve. They will need to answer new questions in a world where markets, the way they work and the manner in which they allocate capital, are changing profoundly.

Talking to thousands of clients and stakeholders as we have been developing our new strategy, we have discussed the huge breadth of challenge and opportunity that is out there. But ultimately, they boil down to two interdependent needs: building trust and delivering sustained outcomes.

Trust has never been more important, nor more difficult to earn and keep. Organisations increasingly need to earn trust across a much wider range of issues, with a much broader group of stakeholders than in the past. Success depends on fundamental shifts in the way executives think, organisational culture, systems and ambition. A new approach to reporting is part of the answer, but only one part in a change that has to be systemic and relate to what organisations do, not just what they say. Organisations that succeed are more likely to attract capital, talent and customers, but getting there will take a different approach to the past – one that requires experts in organisational culture and carbon reduction as much as accounting standards and regulatory compliance. 

Similarly, the pressure to deliver sustained outcomes is only increasing, as competition intensifies, the risk of disruption grows and societal expectations rise. Organisations need to find new ways to deliver value that endures through periods of rapid external change. Too often, though, transformation is undertaken for its own sake – and often through a narrow IT-led lens, and therefore fails to deliver the outcomes required. Getting this right requires clarity about the outcome you’re trying to achieve, and an open mind about the best way to get there. Again, diversity of capabilities enables this – experts in shareholder value working with experts in ESG;  technologists working with organisational culture experts; deals analytics dovetailing with tax compliance. 

That is our belief. That solving the problems of the future requires teams of solvers – each with real depth in their area of specialism and together combining all the skills needed to solve new and complex challenges. Teams powered by technology, and with the flexibility to identify exactly the right platform or product for the task at hand. And of course, diverse in terms of culture, background, perspectives and personality. Bringing together those combinations of capabilities is the most secure way to build trust and deliver sustained outcomes. 

We have long been committed to this vision, which is why I spend my time with the varied group of people I talked about at the start of this blog. Over the next five years, we will be investing US$12 billion to go further. We will build on the incredible breadth we already have, and add another 100,000 net new jobs, with a focus on these new capability areas.

This approach encompasses all our work – helping clients build trust and deliver sustained outcomes, recognising that each is reliant upon the other. We are expanding ESG Centres of Excellence and creating a global ESG Academy which will enable all PwC partners and staff to integrate the fundamentals of ESG into their work.

We are committed to quality in everything we do and are making substantial investments to further enhance quality. We will invest US$3bn in quality, including US$1bn dedicated to accelerate deployment of technology that further automates the implementation of quality frameworks in audit, as well as build the delivery model for the audits of the future. We are creating Leadership Institutes in the US and Asia-Pacific to help leaders acquire the skills to lead through and manage uncertainty, build inclusive cultures, and support transformation. We will be setting out further commitments over the coming months

This is an energising time for PwC. Personally, I am excited that we will be doing even more to help clients and stakeholders solve their most pressing problems. PwC already is a community of solvers. I see that every day, and I see the skill, passion and technological expertise people bring to every task. Now we are empowering our people to do more, work even more collaboratively, and have greater impact. 

We are one of the world’s biggest recruiters of people into professional services roles, with many people joining us, acquiring skills and qualifications then taking on roles elsewhere. The commitments we are announcing today mean that the approximately 250,000 people over the next five years who we expect to come through PwC will be better leaders thanks to the skills and experiences they gain.

We are embarking on The New Equation from a position of strength. Over the last decade, our strategic investments have borne fruit – including the acquisition that led to Strategy& and embedded a dedicated strategy capability in a global professional services network for the first time. We have the people, brand and relevance to make a real difference. The task ahead is to make the right changes, tailored to the circumstances of each territory in which we operate, to meet the needs of our clients, our stakeholders, and ultimately, our society and planet.