PwC’s ‘Gender Equality Employer’ certification renewed

PwC Cyprus was honoured with the renewal of the “Gender Equality Employer” certification at a ceremony held by the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance on December 15, 2023.

The accreditation, awarded to PwC Cyprus for the first time in 2014, aims to strengthen and promote gender equality in the workplace, and is bestowed on organisations that follow the framework of the Cyprus Certification Business Model. This is a recognition that PwC Cyprus implements policies and processes, beyond what is legally required, which promote gender equity and equality in all of our practices, offering equitable opportunities in professional advancement, supporting work-life integration, while fully implementing equal pay between men and women for equal work or work of equivalent value.

At PwC Cyprus, creating a work environment that is inclusive and diverse remains a top business priority. To enable authenticity to thrive, it is not enough to have diverse teams: inclusion is equally important. A psychologically safe environment accompanied by inclusive behaviours are key enablers of authenticity and are strongly linked to a sense of belonging. By achieving this, our people become the best version of themselves, in terms of wellbeing, productivity, innovation and creativity.

In terms of diversity, the percentage of women working at PwC Cyprus stands at 55 per cent and men at 45 per cent. In terms of inclusion, we scored 79 per cent of favourability in the Inclusion Index in our recent people survey conducted in May, highlighting a 2 per cent score higher than the overall PwC Network’s score on the same index.

Over the past 10 years, we have made significant progress in the field of Inclusion & Diversity (I&D), and, through various actions and initiatives, we are proud of the significant progress we have made. Our Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer, Cleo Papadopoulou, is a member of the Management Board, and leads the I&D Strategy and the annual I&D plan, which is intertwined with PwC Cyprus’ overall strategic plan.

Initiatives over the past years include, but are not limited to:

• Unconscious bias workshops for all staff
• Mentoring programmes and support for senior executives at important moments in their careers
• An increase in maternity and paternity leaves to an additional two weeks each
• Mentoring programmes for mothers with newborn/adopted children, giving them the resources to adjust to their new lives while maintaining their career confidence them. At the same time we support our Partners in order to understand what motherhood entails
• Setting targets for equal representation of men and women in Partner nominations

Meanwhile, we have adhered to our ‘Everyday Flexibility’ flexible work framework since 2019.

PwC focuses on the well-being of its people, under six main pillars: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial and social well-being.

“PwC Cyprus invests in the development of its culture to become even more human-centred and inclusive, but also to upgrade the skills of all its people in the context of this development,” noted Papadopoulou, emphasising the company’s commitment to promote equitable opportunities and treatment among all colleagues at all levels, and across all its actions.