Nurturing the Human Element: How One Firm Is Pursuing Audit Quality through a Career Progression Framework and Timely Feedback

'Focusing on [the Millennial] generation to make sure we're supporting them in the way they need to be supported is important to our business. Erin O'Donnell, CPA, a senior manager at PwC By the time Erin O'Donnell arrived at the airport for a return flight home from a meeting in April, a reward had been sent to her email inbox informing her that she had done a good job. O'Donnell, a CPA and senior manager in PwC LLP's office in San Jose, Calif. had traveled to San Diego in support of a partner at the meeting. Afterward, the partner sent O'Donnell a reward as part of a PwC program that gives partners and managers small allotments of money available for "real time recognition" of staffers. O'Donnell appreciated the quick recognition. "Having something immediate like that, knowing that what I did had an impact that day and in that moment, really goes a long way for me," she said. Real time feedback and a personnel development model known as a global career progression framework are part of PwC's answer to the challenges of developing and retaining talented people in the accounting and auditing profession. As firms continue to focus on improving audit quality, the talent crunch can be an obstacle. Staff retention was ranked as the No. 1 concern for firms in the two largest size categories (11 20 professionals and 21+ professionals) in the 2015 Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) CPA Firm Top Issues survey. Discussions about audit quality often lead to talk about following standards and procedures, obtaining and documenting necessary and appropriate audit evidence, the design of internal controls over financial reporting, and maintaining effective systems of quality control. But at an even more basic level, having the right people to perform these and other tasks may be the most important element in the pursuit of audit quality. Developing leaders also is essential as firms focus on improving audit quality and delivering outstanding service. "If you don't have the right people and you don't keep the right people, then the rest of it becomes very difficult," said Len Combs, CPA, the U.S. chief auditor and leader of auditing services for PwC. "It is a people business." Incorporating information from PwC's 2015 report, Our Focus on Audit Quality, Combs explained how PwC is addressing the people element of audit quality with a global career progression framework that is designed to help people develop the skills necessary to succeed at their tasks, including the performance of high quality audits. To be sure, the pursuit of quality at the firm is a multiphased effort that encompasses far more than a career progression framework. It includes initiatives addressing the firm's culture, methodology and processes, technology, and monitoring procedures. But the framework for career progression provides the foundation for the development of the people who will carry out these initiatives, which makes it an essential part of the firm's audit quality efforts. O'Donnell said the framework is designed to develop the whole person. She said that auditors today are expected to be much more than technicians. They are called upon to be leaders, coaches, and service providers. The framework sets benchmarks for these qualities, enabling professionals and their managers to monitor progress. It allows O'Donnell and the firm to focus on her aspirations and the strengths she provides as a whole person. "I think it does help retain people, because you feel like the firm is focusing on you as an individual rather than you as another technician, Auditor No. 1,304," she said. "It's really focused on who is Erin O'Donnell, what are her strengths, and what does she bring to the table?" CORE PRINCIPLES FOR PROFESSIONALS Through its global career progression framework, PwC tracks, communicates, and monitors its professionals' development across five core principles.