PricewaterhouseCoopers and Schoonover Associates, Inc. have forged a strategic alliance that combines PwC's full range of management consulting and human resource consulting service offerings, including organizational strategy, sales force effectiveness, compensation, and strategic human resource consulting, with development.

Dr. Stephen Schoonover is an acknowledged leader in strategic human resource consulting and was a pioneer in the effort to develop competency-based applications. His competency framework has been developed through a consistent, reliable research process over the past twenty years, incorporating the results of over two hundred studies, more than five thousand behavioral event interviews, in excess of one thousand focus groups, and numerous on-line validation surveys. Together, the PwC/Schoonover alliance offers the best of complementary consulting models, PwC's breadth of experience and Schoonover's focus on competency-based management.

PwC and Schoonover work together in a seamless alliance. Schoonover consultants, led by Dr. Stephen Schoonover himself, support PwC projects from the conception phase through delivery. Dr. Schoonover functions as a Subject Matter Expert, works directly with clients, and works along side PwC consultants as competency-based systems are implemented.

Schoonover Associates brings over twenty years of intellectual property, including over five hundred validated competency models, associated development plans, technology tools such as Web portals and on-line toolkits, and a collection of frameworks and guides for implementing the various sessions needed to create, fine tune, and implement competencies throughout an organization. In addition, the PwC/Schoonover alliance takes advantage of a state-of-the-art technology tool (Voyager), a web-based software solution for assessing individuals based on competencies and creating development plans to address the gaps revealed by assessments.

Together, PwC and Schoonover have worked together to create people strategies, design and implement HR processes and applications, create competency models and skills profiles, and conduct organizational assessments (e.g. 360 degree feedback, role person matching, talent pipelining, and career pathing). Other work includes the creation of development learning processes (e.g. HR portals, development directories, and development planning for individuals).