Read the full memo PwC Chairman Tim Ryan sent to employees advising them to 'focus on what we can co
- PwC Chairman Tim Ryan advised employees in a memo Wednesday to "focus on what we can control" as the US presidential election is still undecided.
- "We have been engaging our clients and planning for the elections for the past month — and we are prepared for this scenario," Ryan said, according to the memo obtained by Business Insider.
- As of Thursday morning, no clear winner had emerged in the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The US is still waiting for a definitive outcome to this year's presidential election, and PwC's senior partner and Chairman Tim Ryan advised colleagues in a memo Wednesday to "focus on what we can control" and remember that the firm has prepared for all possible scenarios.
"Waking up this morning to an unresolved election, I want to ask all of us to remember what has enabled our successes of the past year — and that is to focus on what we can control," Ryan said in the memo, which was reviewed by Business Insider. "And, what we can control is serving our clients, meeting their needs and taking care of each other."
On Thursday morning, there was still no clear winner in the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, with the swing states Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona still undecided. Both candidates could still earn the 270 electoral college votes required to win.
Ryan's memo also directed PwC's staff to a number of internal resources on how to handle clients' questions, as well as its public communication policy for "reminders of what we should — and shouldn't — do to protect our firm's independence, objectivity and integrity whether communicating with our teams, our clients or on social media."
The presidential election, which takes place against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and a renewed racial-justice crisis, has evoked strong feelings across corporate America. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon also released a memo to staff on Wednesday asking them to have "patience" as they awaited a result.
Here's the full memo Ryan sent to PwC staff Wednesday:
Team,
As we are seeing and hearing in the news, it will take some more time before we know the outcome of the election.
Waking up this morning to an unresolved election, I want to ask all of us to remember what has enabled our successes of the past year — and that is to focus on what we can control. And, what we can control is serving our clients, meeting their needs, and taking care of each other. My ask is that we do our best to pull together as a team and stay focused on these as the election results continue to come in.
As we go about our day, let's also remember that everyone has a lot on their mind in addition to work — whether that is the election, the pandemic or other things happening in their lives. This is a time to take extra care with each other and to remember that we are stronger together. We are all feeling the stresses of this time — please remember that we have many resources to help us care for ourselves and we also have guidance to help us talk to each other about challenging issues.
We have been engaging our clients and planning for the elections for the past month — and we are prepared for this scenario. We have been working across all of our sectors and the lines to formulate points of view for key business issues, across any possible scenarios. And we have created a central Election 2020 page on HQ so we can access all of our thought leadership and resources related to the elections in one place.
- Right now on our HQ page you will find a conversation starter designed to help us engage our clients on policy trends and business impacts in key areas including tax, trade, workforce and healthcare. While the situation plays out, we want to equip you with all of these resources as well as discussion points for each of the possible scenarios, including President Trump's re-election or a Biden win, as well as potential considerations while the outcome is unclear. While the result is undetermined, these resources are for internal use only.
- The HQ page also includes a sample client communication, links to Policy on Demand and other resources. We'll continue to update the page as we have additional resources to share.
- For now, our external site will only be populated with considerations as we are still waiting for an outcome.
- While we want to be in the market with a point of view, the HQ site also includes our public communication policy. This policy has important reminders of what we should — and shouldn't — do to protect our firm's independence, objectivity and integrity whether communicating with our teams, our clients or on social media.
We are at our best when we work as a team. All of us should spend time reading, talking in our teams and making a plan for how we go to our clients — in ways that are appropriate for our audit and non-audit relationships. Then we should move quickly to engage our clients and help them focus on what they can control during this time of uncertainty.
Team, I believe most of us are here at PwC because we want to make a difference and we love working with other talented people on important problems. Our clients need us now more than ever — and I'm proud and excited to see what we'll accomplish together.
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