The beauty of a flexible view on work: Celebrating a milestone

When I started at PwC as a 25-year-old auditor, flexibility was not in any way part of the job.

We all worked a long day, in the office, and we didn’t bring our lunches to work, worried about the image that would portray. I used to schedule a haircut on April 15th every year (Tax Day) because you wouldn’t think of getting away for even a moment during the busy season – not even for a trim.

I remember being shocked when other women in the office started to wear pant suits thinking that was too out-of-the-box. And I used to hide it when life required me to work from home - worried people would think I was slacking off if they found out.

Times certainly do change and I couldn’t be happier about that!

As I write this, it is 7 AM and I am in Lake Tahoe. I have already taken part in two conference calls with people on the East Coast, while sitting here in my pajamas, looking out a giant picture window at a gorgeous view of the lake. It would take your breath away if you were lucky enough to be here – which you could be if you work at PwC because our flexible work environment allows for this kind of creativity and so much more.

My home is actually in Burbank, but with my daughters in college, I realized this past year that I had a chance to change things up - so I came for an extended visit to Tahoe.

It has been amazing to step out of my usual world for a bit. I have taken several business trips from here, but now, when it’s time to come home, I come here,  where I get up early, work hard and then head outside to breathe in the fresh air and explore this beautiful place.

I have discovered mountain lakes I never knew existed, hiked to unbelievable waterfalls and energized myself personally and professionally. My job hasn’t suffered because I’ve taken this adventure. It’s flourished because I am happy. I’m not working less, just differently. And now instead of hiding the flexible way I work, I view it as incredibly important to be an ambassador for this modern approach to tell the world how well it works.

Flexibility is one of the biggest culture changes we’ve made at PwC to address the evolving needs of our workforce. It started eight years ago when we started learning about millennials and what they wanted in a workplace. We realized that, to attract top talent, we needed to make some very big changes and it turns out it has benefited us all.

My team spearheaded the firm’s efforts to make this transition and in November 2011 we launched Flexibility2 – the beginning of a journey to empower each of us to make flexibility happen every day. We all work hard to deliver quality and value to our stakeholders, but working hard doesn’t mean forfeiting our personal lives. Embracing flexibility means recognizing that employees can focus on things – big and small – that matter to them outside of work whether that is friend and family commitments, a yoga class, cable repairs or taking in a view of the lake.

Recently we extended flexibility to our dress code. There is a pretense around looking a certain way just as there’s a pretense about working a certain way and we felt we needed to shake that up, too. Our employees are just as smart in jeans or as they are in business suits and it was long past time to trust them to know what to wear and when.  

I see it as corporate courage – allowing people to be themselves and trusting them to get the work done and our employees truly appreciate it. As we celebrate our five year Flexibility anniversary, our internal polling shows:

• 81% of our people feel they get the flexibility they need
• 80% of our people feel the people they work for are considerate of their life outside of work
• 77% of our people say their teams actively plan and coordinate to implement flexibility

These results have improved every year since we started this journey. It turns out, this flexible approach is good for business too. It leads to better morale, increased productivity, overall satisfaction and higher retention rates.

Many of our clients have seen this firsthand as we’ve made these changes and are starting to become more flexible too. I have met with several of our clients and actually have a conversation planned with a CEO about loosening his company’s dress code.

But, even as we mark this milestone, there are still people who would rather do it the old way with more rules and control. It can take time for some to understand the benefits of loosening up and trusting their people or embracing flexibility without guilt.

So I will continue to speak about the benefits of flexibility and push us to do more. As I head back to Burbank, which I will do soon, I am also already starting to contemplate my next adventure. Maybe I will go live in San Francisco for a year. I’ve always wanted to do that. The possibilities are endless and I know I can do my job from anywhere and the firm trusts me to do so.

The future looks bright. But so does the landscape out my window here so excuse me while I take a few moments to sit back and really enjoy this view.

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