Building a meaningful journey for your people

There’s a quote by Jim Collins, author of : “People are not your most important asset. The right people are.” PwC’s Lieven Lambrecht knows this is true, but finding, keeping and training those people means offering them a meaningful, tailored journey where they feel happy, safe and engaged.

The job market in Luxembourg (and across the globe) is scorching. While every country has its challenges, . Lieven Lambrecht, People Leader at PwC Luxembourg, says, “It’s an employees’ world right now and the dynamics are constantly shifting. While remuneration is always important, more and more companies are waking up to the fact that they have to listen to what people are expressing and then work on offering a meaningful journey, tailored to the individual, in an attractive workplace. A person with purpose who feels safe and valued and who has room to develop is more likely to stay with your organisation. That just makes sense.”

The company is very conscious of the growing challenges for many in today's world, but was happy to announce at the end of the last fiscal year good growth across all PwC Luxembourg’s businesses and an 11% increase in turnover.

“When PwC Luxembourg is successful,” says Lieven, “it is because of the people who work—but more importantly stay— with us, who are the key factor in that success and in building a prosperous and sustainable future for our company.”

It is no small effort however, for a company with so many employees, many who hail from other countries or continue to live across borders, to keep them all happy and cared for. Staff turnover, as with other big firms, is an issue, while at the same time Luxembourg’s labour market is losing in attractivity and continues to be challenged by post-pandemic seismic shifts such as remote working (made more difficult by those cross-border works and their country’s differing tax and social policies) the great resignation and other factors.

It is for these challenges in comparison to other European countries that Luxembourg-based firms need to make extra efforts and investments to develop their talents while growing the workforce in absolute numbers. For PwC Luxembourg, providing maximum flexibility, maintaining pay equality on all levels, fostering an inclusive and diverse work culture and upskilling their talents is key.

“To allow for this,” says Lieven, “a number of measures were taken. The remote work policy was adapted to meet new workforce needs and a total of seven satellite offices were opened, offering employees flexible work options with reduced commuting due to their proximity to national borders. Also, the recruitment activity has been reinforced with a strong linkage in attracting a diverse range of people through diversity-specific recruitment targets for gender equality.”

“We are constantly working to offer the best holistic package possible,” he continues. “This means first of all listening to our own People and to the markets. Our goal is to allow the people who work for us to have a say in the sustainable growth of the firm. Once we hire people, or for those who have been working for us for some time, we have put considerable investment into upskilling them and this includes training on sustainability core behaviours: values, DNI, ESG, health / mental health and others.”

“A strong workforce that is thriving and healthy is important for our growth. By contributing our energy and resources to enable a more diverse and thriving workforce, we provide our clients with the best service outcomes and continue to create long-term value,” he concludes.

Find out more details in PwC’s annual review’s .