Trust

The link that connects

Trust is the link that connects people, organisations, clients, stakeholders and the world. You earn trust through every interaction you engage in, through every experience you share, through every relationship you establish, and through every solution you come up with. The high quality of PwC’s work serves as the firm foundation of our contribution to public trust.

Collaborating and connecting with clients and society

Talking to our clients and stakeholders also makes clear that organisations are increasingly being judged by whether they achieve sustainable results. It’s important for companies to build trust at a time when that’s getting harder to do. They also need to be accountable to the society in which they operate and from which they derive their relevance and success.

Looking for the real question

It is not always immediately clear exactly how we can help. We need to be good listeners in order to really understand the challenges faced by our clients and their stakeholders, and discover what society expects from us. It’s important to be curious, to ask questions, and to find out what our clients and stakeholders need in the long term, and the same applies to societal expectations. The real question or the underlying issue will then become apparent and we’ll know which perspectives and competencies should be included in our services.

PwC also focuses on themes that are relevant to society, our clients and ourselves, and within which we can make a difference: ESG, risk and regulation, future of work, future of finance and value creation. We connect our know-how by bringing together people from different areas of expertise and collaborating with our clients and within ecosystems. This allows us to be more than the sum of our parts and make full use of each other's capabilities. For these themes we approach the market as a single unified PwC, contribute to long-term value creation, and help generate sustainable progress.

Effective cooperation requires trust

Effective cooperation sometimes requires a different mindset and approach. In practice, it’s increasingly apparent that collaboration between teams and organisations and within ecosystems and value chains is more likely to lead to sustainable results.

We have more than 100 business partners within specific sectors. Our focus with them is on how to play a meaningful role as a knowledge and expertise partner. Among other things, we help our partners respond to their societal challenges.

Effective cooperation requires a high degree of trust between all those involved. People who feel safe connect with one another. As not everyone finds that easy, learning and experimenting are necessary components of the process.

Working on an inclusive mindset

The same applies to our internal cooperation. To further enhance this PwC continues to work on an inclusive mindset and corresponding behaviour. We strive for a culture with empathy and understanding of one another's perspectives. If we listen to each other as part of an ongoing dialogue and continue to share what we find important, we can strengthen mutual relationships and our contact with clients and society. This in turn leads to increased collaboration and co-creation.

A conversation with Rients Abma, director of investor organisation Eumedion

Rients Abma, director of Eumedion – an interest group representing institutional investors – calls for external auditors to take a more active role in identifying and assessing the impact of climate risks. In conversation with Wytse van der Molen, member of the executive board and chair of PwC's Assurance practice, he discusses developments in the area of sustainability reporting, the changing role of the external auditor and the expectations of institutional investors.