PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC, formed in 1998 as a result of a merger between Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. It’s one of the world’s largest professional services networks, employing over 40,000 people in the US alone, and over 180,000 people in 157 countries around the globe. In 2014 it was the fifth-largest privately owned organization in the US.

PwC’s areas of expertise include assurance (including financial and regulatory reporting), tax advisory, financial advisory, actuarial, and legal services. It’s one of the Big Four firms in auditing (along with Deloitte, EY, and KPMG).

Around 2008, PwC noticed that its new Millennial hires were behaving in ways that, to management, appeared inexplicable. PwC’s Anne Donovan responded in 2011 by helping create NextGen, the largest (44,000 people) generational study in history. Donovan found companies are primarily managed by Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1979), whose attitude she described to us as, “If I’m controlling my world, if…I’m learning, and I’m getting paid well, then I’m pretty happy.” More important to Millennials, though, is “how their team works together, how much support and appreciation they feel, and whether they have enough flexibility to (enjoy) a full life.” Bridging the gap between those worldviews is challenging, but doable…as evidenced by PwC’s global workforce now being over 75% Millennials.

Donovan discusses this, and much more, in the following interview.