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BUSINESS: 468 PRACTICES


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Initiative

New world. New skills: Employee volunteerism

New world. New skills: Employee volunteerism
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PwC

PwC's accounting practice began in London a century ago. As times have changed and PwC has expanded globally, our commitment to clients – like you – has never wavered. With us, you're supported by a global network of over 284,000 people in 155 countries with one goal: to help your business thrive.

PwC: About us



Objective Action

At PwC we aim to build relationships of trust and solve important problems. The aim of our Corporate Responsibility is to help people, start-ups and NGOs acquire the necessary skills for their sustainability and to succeed in the modern environment, with an emphasis on digital technologies. In the time of the pandemic and its consequences, our purpose becomes even more important.

The participation of our employees is the basis of our Corporate Responsibility strategy and is the driving force behind all our programs. Our employees voluntarily participate in the programs by imparting their knowledge and experience to students, startups, NGOs and all other people in need.

Our employees gain new experiences and expand their views through their voluntary activities. They also better understand the value of our profession and the services we offer to strengthen the Greek economy and the development of young people and entrepreneurship in general.

 

Target Audience

  • The employees and Partners of PwC
  • Startups and social enterprises
  • Students and students
  • NGO
 

Duration

The program started in July 2015, is enriched on an annual basis and has a long-term duration.


Description

Our employees participate in the following ways:

  • They are mentors/coaches and provide voluntary advisory services to the members of start-ups and social enterprises.
  • They conduct educational seminars/presentations to incubators, NGOs and social enterprises.
  • They provide accounting, legal, auditing and consulting services to start-ups and social enterprises.

Before the pandemic and the lockdown, all trainings and mentoring were carried out with the physical presence of our volunteers at the premises of NGOs, startups and other interested parties.

Due to the pandemic, all our activities have become online. The transition was smooth as the entire company was already implementing PwC's global network initiative to develop the digital skills of its employees with training and new digital tools that facilitated real-time online collaboration.

The training and mentoring processes were facilitated by the flexible policy and digital tools that the company provides to employees, as almost all of us now work from home. In this way we are able to reach even more start-ups and social enterprises throughout Greece.

So, completely unexpectedly, with the lockdown our social programs and also the number of volunteers increased. Young workers in particular were enthusiastically asking how they can help and participate in Corporate Responsibility activities.

Specifically, employee participation in social programs is as follows.

1. Support start-ups and social enterprises through incubators and Accelerators

- Start School of Business

Our employees are startup and small business trainers.

The program started in October 2019 and continues in 2021, in collaboration with Found.ation/SocialInnov, Microsoft and under the auspices of the Municipality of Athens. Start School of Business is a free digital and business skills development program aimed at strengthening the viability of small and start-up businesses. It consists of training courses on business topics such as: basic accounting and tax principles, finance, legal issues, internet security, digital professional skills, networking and communication. In addition, as part of our partnership with Found.ation/SocialInnov, our employees have supported Spark Accelerator startups with training and mentoring.

- AFI

The Action Finance Initiative (AFI) is an AMKE with a mission to introduce microcredit in Greece to help unemployed people create their own jobs in sustainable businesses, and to improve the legal and institutional environment of self-employment. For three years now we have been supporting AFI with our volunteers who work for a certain period of time in its offices supporting its operations, either training and providing mentoring to the small and start-up companies that are its members in matters of business and financial management, legal form, marketing and communication. Since September 2020 we have extended our support by providing pro bono audit services of our employees.

- Social Dynamo: For three years now we have been working with Social Dynamo, an award-winning hub, focusing on learning, professional support and networking and aiming at the sustainability of social enterprises and NGOs, enhancing the efficiency and social impact of their work . As part of our collaboration, PwC volunteers train the organizations supported by Social Dynamo in business, legal, communication and financial matters, in Athens and Thessaloniki.

- Actions implemented until 2018 by our volunteers

NBG Business Seeds: Trainings in business and financial matters in Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion.

e.g.g.: Accounting and legal pro bono consulting services and professional training to incubator start-ups.

Orange Grove: Pro bono services in Agreed upon procedures.

2. Participation in initiatives to strengthen Greek entrepreneurship

Since October 2020, we have been participating in the Elevate Greece initiative of the Ministry of Development and Investments, which aims to create the National Register of Young Businesses. Our employees will provide support to startups within 2021.

In the past two years, our volunteers participated in the Reload Greece start-up support initiatives, Antivirus Crowdhackathon by providing training and mentoring, as well as in the Convergence Forum to support entrepreneurship.

3. Synergies with social enterprises

We support AMKE Bloode, which works to increase the number of voluntary blood donors in Greece with financial support for the organization of blood donations for vulnerable social groups and hospitals in immediate need. The support of our volunteers is through participation in blood donations as well as trainings for Bloode staff.

We support AMKE Humane, which is active for the business employment of people with rare diseases and the awareness of society. Our volunteers provided training, mentoring, while PwC provided financial sponsorship for the development of a mobile application to promote Humane's activities.

PwC volunteers participated in a training day while also providing pro bono professional advice to the NGO Women on Top which aims to train unemployed women and reintegrate them into the labor market.

4. Pro bono services

Our employees provide pro bono auditing, consulting and tax services to the following organizations: Hellenic Environmental Society, Borome, MDA Hellas, All Together We Can, Initiative for the Promotion of Cultural Heritage, The Fulbright Foundation.

5. Entrepreneurship training for students

Our employees provide career training, skills and mentoring to students across the state through Tipping Point's digital platform. They also participate in programs and events aimed at strengthening young entrepreneurship with new skills, such as the AIESEC conferences, the Entrepreneurship Panorama, university initiatives throughout Greece, and Thinkbiz for students and graduates. They also participate with trainings and mentoring in the SEN Junior Achievement for the support of eight high schools. The specific programs are described in detail in our initiative in the axis Bravo Society "New world. New skills: Support for education".

Donation of equipment to schools and students: Seven volunteers organized the fundraising and the provision of equipment. They continue to record the needs of the schools for their further support during the year.


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Impact on Society

The results of our programs as recorded in our annual report to the PwC international network as well as in the PwC Greece Sustainability Report are the following.

During the last three years, a total of over 400 volunteers, while from the beginning of the Financial Year 2021 (1/7/20 - 30/6/21) until today we have 69 volunteers.

During the financial years 2018 - 2020 our volunteers carried out trainings and mentoring in:

  • 479 startups
  • 1,939 people
  • 50 NGOs and social enterprises.
  • They provided pro bono services to 6 NGOs. 17 employees participated in pro bono projects in OE 2020, 27 in OE 2019 and 25 in OE 2018.
  • In these programs, our employees dedicated more than 13,700 hours of volunteer work.

PwC volunteers have supported AFI startups with over 1,200 hours of training and mentoring. They also helped AFI in recording its Social Impact Report.

Since the beginning of OE 2021 (1/7/20) to date we have trained 53 social enterprises, 5 start-ups, as well as 248 people



Initiative Location

Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Drama, Agios Eustratios of Dodecanese, Agios Nikolaos of Crete, Athens, Delvinaki of Ioannina, Elefsina, Thermi of Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Kalamata, Kalymnos, Kefalonia, Lasithiou (Chandras) of Crete, Orestiada, Soufli, Halki.


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Working with Organization

Startup incubators/accelerators

  • Found.ation/SocialInnov
  • AFI
  • Social Dynamo

Education - Students - Pupils

  • Schools in the Region (High Schools, High Schools)
  • Moraitis School
  • Piraeus University
  • Greek Universities, Interconnection Centers
  • AIESEC Greece
  • Panorama of Entrepreneurship
  • ThinkBiz
  • The Tipping Point
  • SEN Junior Achievement

NGO/ AMKE

  • The Fulbright Foundation
  • Blood
  • Women on Top
  • Humane

Public administration

  • Ministry of Development & Investments
  • Ministry of Education
  • Municipality of Athens

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Workers Participation

Recognition and reward from the company

We recognize and promote the contribution of our volunteers with a reward. From OE 2021 we are introducing the awarding of our volunteers who distinguished themselves in the corporate Kudos Awards, based on the effectiveness and the work they offered.

The volunteer work is also discussed with the supervisors of each volunteer, so that they have an overall picture for their annual evaluation.

From this month (November 2020) we have introduced the “Volunteer of the month” recognition, both internally in the company and on PwC social media.

Before the pandemic, we organized Speed Dating events to get to know NGOs and social enterprises in our offices, while we made sure that our employees were invited to 'pitching events' and incubator information events.

Since 2018, at the end of each Financial Year we have organized a celebration to honor our volunteers in the presence of the organizations we support.

From now on, we plan to continue the above activities online as long as the pandemic restrictions are in place. At the same time, we implement internal communication campaigns using all printed and electronic social media within PwC.


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Photos

Benefits for Οrganization

With our corporate culture we cultivate volunteerism and encourage our people to participate in actions for the common good. Corporate Responsibility programs help all our employees understand the value of our profession itself and the important contribution we can make to society with our skills. Our success is due to our volunteers who participate enthusiastically despite adverse conditions. This fact strengthens their ties with the company, we share the same values and work together for a social purpose. Volunteering actions give our employees motivation and moral satisfaction.

Information about PwC's social contribution in Greece is also being intensified. Since the implementation of the program, our audience has been gradually and steadily informed. Our volunteer numbers are growing, while our programs have won significant accolades. It sends the message that PwC is a socially responsible company with results-focused values.

At the same time, the image of PwC Greece and of our country is strengthened in the international PwC network. The Start School of Business program has received honors from the PwC network at a European and international level, as a best practice. In addition, through PwC's international network, we generally promote efforts to support social entrepreneurship in Greece.




Connection with Global Goals







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