Professional skills and values

Objectives and strategy

The firm’s overall aim is to retain and continually enhance its position as a sustainable, profitable, innovative and entrepreneurial professional financial

services business, which upholds the highest professional and ethical standards and excels in its chosen market sectors by:

• attracting and retaining quality people at all levels who are proud to be part of the firm
• bringing a depth of industry and technical expertise
• drawing on the strength of member firms throughout Grant Thornton International to bring a global perspective to all we do
• striving to be Number One for client satisfaction – attracting and retaining a high quality client base through our ability to deliver issues-led solutions.

Doing so will enable us to continue to build the reputation of the firm for leadership and excellence in all that we do.

Attracting and retaining quality people

We have created an environment where all of our people can make a difference – to themselves and their career, to their teams and to the success of our firm and our clients. The principles of the Audit Firm Governance Code with respect to professionalism, openness and risk management are embedded into our culture.

Our strategy and priorities are shared with everyone in our firm. Each person has clarity on how they fit into the delivery of our strategy and their personal responsibility for delivery.

At recruitment stage we consider the skills and competencies required for the role int eh context of the wider team and we brief agencies with whom we work so that we can attract people with an attitude of mind that is aligned to our values. We select people through a combination of interview, testing and presentations working against a defined role description. Quality and professionalism are key requirements of anyone joining the firm. References are sought as part of our recruitment process. Through clear role descriptions, objective setting, regular feedback and formal annual appraisals there is an expectation of a commitment to excellence and continual improvement in all our people. Each person has a clear personal development plan that incorporates ongoing enhancement of their technical skills. We also regularly engage with elected representatives from our employees – to inform, consult and seek feedback on decisions impacting on them and our firm. The strength that comes from being part of a global organisation with over 30,000 people worldwide enables us to provide challenging opportunities for our people to develop a global mindset to bring to our clients. Our CLEARR recognition scheme provides the opportunity for anyone in the firm to nominate a colleague for recognition for living our values - which reinforces that values are to be lived not just words on a piece of paper. Quarterly awards are made to the best examples and these are shared with the firm on the intranet.

We take pride in acting as a responsible corporate citizen which recognises the impact of our actions beyond the workplace – this influences our policies in respect of the environment, the workplace, our suppliers and the communities in which we live.

We attract and retain some of the very best talent in the profession and regularly exceed national averages in professional examination results. Our people are drawn from diverse backgrounds and experiences; they bring complementary skills to our team ensure that as a team we are stronger than as a group of individuals. Our focus is on what we deliver rather than time put in – all our people are entitled to request flexible working and we empower them to put forward what works for them, their team and above all our clients.

We are also committed to ensuring all our people are well rewarded. It’s not just about financial reward: it’s effective inductions, high quality appraisals and excellent learning and development opportunities, including secondments within the UK and overseas. It’s about engaging with our people at all levels and providing a truly flexible range of working options and employment benefits. We support everyone at Grant Thornton to achieve their best. Our people thrive on working with some of the market’s most interesting organisations on challenging and professionally rewarding assignments.