Even before the pandemic and the “Great Resignation,” PwC had plans to evolve their recruiting process. While increased expectations for equitable hiring intensified recruiters’ challenges, PwC was investing in a talent optimization and acquisition strategy to support company growth goals. Carrie Rees, HC Operations Director, says, “We knew change was coming. Over the past three years alone, we’ve processed 500,000 job requisitions and 6.1 million applications. And even though we had Workday Recruiting enabled across the PwC network, recruiters were using a variety of methodologies and offline tools.”
Agility for people, processes, and technologies.
To meet its growth goals, PwC wanted to standardize its global talent acquisition processes using Workday Recruiting and still retain flexibility to meet the regional requirements of its more than 150 member firms. Catherine Pinchen, HC Operations Director, says, “Having an agile business is a key part of our strategic global roadmap, but we must also recruit in a way that matches our corporate values. We want to continue to hire diverse talent and upskill and reskill staff. We also want to enable our people to make data-driven decisions and have a great experience working for us. We can do this with Workday.”
A global level set.
As a first step, PwC had Talent Acquisition and HC Operations teams complete a survey to better understand their workflows and pain points. Surprisingly, results revealed that only 30% of the PwC network used Workday Recruiting and only 10% used its tools as designed. Amy Richmond, HC Operations Managing Director, says, “Getting feedback from our people and understanding what matters to recruiters and what they need to make data-driven decisions was eye-opening. We’ve deployed many Workday features and upgrades, but none of that matters if people don’t understand how to use the tools.”
PwC quickly created what it now calls its Recruiting Academy. Over four months, 290 employees from teams across the global network each completed up to three levels of training. Each course provides specific training about Workday functionalities and PwC’s unique configuration so that recruiters can better understand how to effectively use the system. “There were a lot of ‘aha’ moments during these classes,” says Rees. “Even some people who had been using Recruiting for years said, ‘I didn't know it did that.’” After they completed the coursework, the 290 “super users” were charged with sharing their knowledge and training 1,300 recruiters across PwC’s network of firms.
Making global adoption a reality.
To help member firms address pain points, PwC deployed 50 recruiting configuration enhancements, along with several change management tools. Richmond says, “We created a benefits calculator so that recruiters can measure how much time they’ll potentially save on activities by using Workday features.” PwC also rolled out a capability maturity matrix for firms to self-assess their use of Recruiting. With it, firms can see their progress on their adoption journey and receive guidance for taking the next logical steps in a manageable way. PwC also obtains critical internal insights. Rees says, “Today, a year and a half after our initial survey, 90% of our member firms use Workday Recruiting - a 60% increase.”
Consistency can improve data integrity.
By establishing consistent digital processes and a shared foundation of knowledge about Recruiting, PwC saves time and reduces risk. “Now our large territories like the US, UK, and China—which recruit hundreds of thousands of candidates a year—use the same tools, processes, and language as our small territories that hire maybe 15 people a year,” explains Rees. “The resulting data integrity has allowed us to tell a larger story about our candidate pipeline and network of firms.”
Increasing automation and insight with Workday also helps recruiters pivot and hire the right candidates faster. Richmond says, “We expect to save up to 9,000 hours in one fiscal year by using Recruiting properly, which can free up more time for looking at potential hires.” Some of the efficiencies come from automating larger workflows such as request routing, but PwC has also saved significant time by automating simple steps such as creating requisitions. Rees says, “Every click and every minute spent adds up, especially since one recruiter can easily create hundreds of requisitions in a year.”
Circling back to PwC’s initial goal for this initiative, Pinchen concludes, “Improving our recruiting processes when we did helped us manage the challenges of the Great Resignation and propel us toward our new goal of increasing talent by 100,000 by 2025. By making the most of the technologies we already have, including Workday, we can build a stronger foundation for thriving and for pushing the boundaries of our business potential.”
