The assurance that comes from relationships of care and trust

The power of relationships

I’m lucky to be working in an organisation where relationships are valued and actively nurtured. In 2005, early in my career (I started out with PwC in my hometown, Montreal), I packed my bags and set off for PwC in Switzerland, hoping to discover more about the world. And that’s exactly what happened. Eighteen years later I’m still in Geneva, still married to a man I met at PwC, and now with three wonderful daughters. My relationships, at home and at work, sustain me in both my personal and professional life.

Why do relationships matter in the assurance business? I think the benefits are very clear. Investing in a relationship, whether it’s with a client or with a member of your team, means caring about how they’re doing and really listening to what they have to say. This builds understanding and trust, as well as inspiring and motivating people. The members of your team will go the extra mile for you because they know you and they know you care ‒ about them, and about what you’re trying to do for your client. Your clients will trust you enough to share their concerns with you, knowing that you’ll listen and give honest answers that are in their best interest.

I know from my clients that this makes a difference. They say I’m someone who’s authentic and transparent. I’m not playing a game. I listen to them. As their auditor I’m a business partner and I am going beyond the pure role of “checking boxes” and telling them what they’re doing wrong. If you fail to build a relationship of trust, it’s a missed opportunity for your client.

Adding value with benchmarking

At PwC Switzerland we have over 40 per cent of the bank audit market. This means we have many examples of what went well and what went wrong. The difference at PwC is that we have the market share to benchmark best practices (for example best practices vis-à-vis the regulatory authority FINMA) and use this information to the benefit of our clients. But you can only have these discussions around best practices if there’s a level of trust between you as the auditor and the bank you’re working for. My experience is that when you’ve built a relationship that allows this level of trust, you will have interesting and fruitful exchanges with your clients. 

#That’sAssurance for me?

Getting assurance from people we trust is incredibly important. We need it in our businesses, and we need it in our personal lives. I’ll let you into a secret: Six or seven years ago I was questioning myself about my career path, inside or outside PwC. My husband (we’ve now been together 17 years, so he knows me very well) persuaded me that that PwC was exactly the right place for me because he sees that I am passionate by what I am doing. It was absolutely the right decision. That’s the sort of assurance you can only get from someone with whom you’ve built a foundation of care and trust through all the ups and downs of a relationship. And that’s the sort of assurance I aspire to give my clients.