Professional Development Centre

Competition for top people and rapid market growth has pushed Price Waterhouse into investing in the construction of a US $53m Professional Development Centre, a 23 acre, hi-tech campus training facility in Tampa, Florida.

“Professional consulting firms will have to increase investment in training if they want to keep their people,” said Lew Krulwich, head of PW’s North American Consulting practice.

The centre will accommodate 750 consultants at any one time and the firm’s goal is to train and retain top consultants as the market hots up and firms compete for the best skills. New graduates will be trained in IT and consultancy skills for four months and then go straight out into the consultancy market. Throughout their careers people will go back for a top-up.

“This centre will be a tremendous attraction for top people who want join Price Waterhouse and stay with Price Waterhouse,” he said.

Expenditure on the firm’s global consulting training needs will be over $100m in 1998 – about 7 per cent of its revenue. By the end of the 1998 fiscal year it aims to have trained 3,000 consultants. This represents an annual growth rate of 191 per cent.

“Consultants will not stay with us unless we provide them with learning.

We don’t want our people to come on board and then leave to learn skills elsewhere,” said Krulwich.