Nine in 10 Grant Thornton staff want to continue working from home
Staff at Grant Thornton want to spend fewer days in the office than they did pre-pandemic, believing a more flexible approach to working would have a positive effect on them.
Nearly nine in 10 (88%) employees at Grant Thornton want to work from home for at least half of the time after coronavirus restrictions ease, an internal survey of staff at the challenger audit firm found.
An overwhelming majority (94%) of Grant Thornton employees said having a mix of remote and office working would have a positive impact them, and a similar number (95%) felt trusted by their managers to do their job effectively, regardless of where they work.
A spokesperson for Grant Thornton said it would use the data to “build a new way of working.”
“As Covid restrictions start to ease, we’re building a longer-term framework that will help us decide how, where and when we work in a time when we have more choice and control, i.e after 21 June,” they said.
“We developing this framework based on what our people tell us about how and where they want to work, along with how and where our clients need us.”
The UK is gently easing coronavirus restrictions, having been in lockdown for the duration of 2021 so far. Last month the ‘stay at home’ guidance was eased.
There has been much talk about which working models will be adopted post-Covid. Audit giant and Grant Thornton competitor PwC has already said it will grant staff more flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.
Covid bonus
Grant Thornton’s 2020 annual results today showed net income at the firm had dropped 2.5 per cent to £471m during the 12 months to 31 December 2020
Despite the loss in income, the firm was able to improve its profitability for the year by 14 per cent.
Grant Thornton said it recently awarded all employees a minimum of £750 in bonuses for their 2020 contributions, along with other benefits like two ‘wellbeing days’ over and above their normal holiday entitlement for all of its 4,500 people.
Dave Dunckley, CEO of Grant Thornton, said: “We started 2020 with strong foundations and despite the pandemic we entered 2021 in an even stronger position.
“We are confident that the momentum we’ve generated over recent years will continue to take us from strength to strength in the future.”