To all our stakeholders,
When our 2021 fiscal year (FY21) began in August of 2020, prospects for the coming year were uncertain. We were six months into the COVID-19 pandemic and experiencing the virus’s second major wave. The economy had contracted sharply in response to the pandemic, and no one knew when vaccines would be available to slow the spread of the virus and create an opportunity for the economy to bounce back and begin to recover.
At Grant Thornton, we adopted three clear priorities for our firm at the outbreak of the pandemic:
- To take care of our people;
- To be there for our clients; and,
- To keep our business strong.
We were succeeding on each front, and many of our teammates and clients were still working on adapting to the new fully remote work environment. We began the fiscal year in a state of almost constant change and innovation, as we brainstormed new programs and initiatives that would enable us to build on our success for all our stakeholders.
Twelve months later, at the end of our fiscal year in July 2021, we had achieved some remarkable results. Our net revenue for the year was $1.97 billion, more than ever before. Our client satisfaction scores rose on all five of our key performance indicators (KPIs) – resulting in our highest overall score in more than five years. We brought numerous new innovative solutions to our clients through alyxTM, our proprietary platform for solving business problems. Our latest quality inspection results once again put us among the leaders in our profession. In May, we began offering integrated environmental, social and governance (ESG) services to our clients, for which we see great client demand in the coming years. We reported diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) data publicly for the first time, and significantly increased our commitment to DE&I progress within our firm and our profession.
These would be remarkable achievements in any year – and FY21 was certainly not just any year. We faced the professional challenge of our lives – and delivered the best performance of our careers on many fronts.
In this letter, I will share some of our key areas of focus over the past year, the challenges we took on and the results we achieved. Each topic will include links to more detailed information on our website, www.grantthornton.com, if you would like to learn more. I appreciate your interest in our firm, and invite you to read on.
Taking care of one another
There were three major areas in which we worked to take care of one another in FY21. We created new programs and benefits to help support our colleagues throughout the pandemic; we shifted permanently to a flex work model; and we accelerated our work toward even greater diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in our firm and our communities.
Throughout the pandemic, it was clear that all of us were challenged in different ways at different times adjusting to our new environment. We responded by listening to our people, and creating programs and resources that matter the most at times that mean the most.
These included access to enhanced benefits related to psychological wellness, childcare and tutoring; Grub Hub stipends and paid memberships to DinnerTime to help with home meal preparation; additional firmwide holidays and amplification of our flexible time off (FTO) and flexible work arrangement policies to give colleagues greater autonomy in balancing their days; and new approaches to professional growth and development opportunities and recognition programs. We also were able to provide meaningful increases in average annual bonuses, salary adjustments at fiscal year-end and various relief payments. All of these activities were grounded in our firm’s commitment to our people, and helped us maintain our workforce through the pandemic and recession.
There were three major areas in which we worked to take care of one another in FY21. We created new programs and benefits to help support our colleagues throughout the pandemic; we shifted permanently to a flex work model; and we accelerated our work toward even greater diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in our firm and our communities.
Throughout the pandemic, it was clear that all of us were challenged in different ways at different times adjusting to our new environment. We responded by listening to our people, and creating programs and resources that matter the most at times that mean the most.
These included access to enhanced benefits related to psychological wellness, childcare and tutoring; Grub Hub stipends and paid memberships to DinnerTime to help with home meal preparation; additional firmwide holidays and amplification of our flexible time off (FTO) and flexible work arrangement policies to give colleagues greater autonomy in balancing their days; and new approaches to professional growth and development opportunities and recognition programs. We also were able to provide meaningful increases in average annual bonuses, salary adjustments at fiscal year-end and various relief payments. All of these activities were grounded in our firm’s commitment to our people, and helped us maintain our workforce through the pandemic and recession.
Being there for our clients
There were three major areas in which we worked to take care of one another in FY21. We created new programs and benefits to help support our colleagues throughout the pandemic; we shifted permanently to a flex work model; and we accelerated our work toward even greater diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in our firm and our communities.
Throughout the pandemic, it was clear that all of us were challenged in different ways at different times adjusting to our new environment. We responded by listening to our people, and creating programs and resources that matter the most at times that mean the most.
These included access to enhanced benefits related to psychological wellness, childcare and tutoring; Grub Hub stipends and paid memberships to DinnerTime to help with home meal preparation; additional firmwide holidays and amplification of our flexible time off (FTO) and flexible work arrangement policies to give colleagues greater autonomy in balancing their days; and new approaches to professional growth and development opportunities and recognition programs. We also were able to provide meaningful increases in average annual bonuses, salary adjustments at fiscal year-end and various relief payments. All of these activities were grounded in our firm’s commitment to our people, and helped us maintain our workforce through the pandemic and recession.
Being there for our clients
Being there for our clients
There were three major areas in which we worked to take care of one another in FY21. We created new programs and benefits to help support our colleagues throughout the pandemic; we shifted permanently to a flex work model; and we accelerated our work toward even greater diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in our firm and our communities.
Throughout the pandemic, it was clear that all of us were challenged in different ways at different times adjusting to our new environment. We responded by listening to our people, and creating programs and resources that matter the most at times that mean the most.
These included access to enhanced benefits related to psychological wellness, childcare and tutoring; Grub Hub stipends and paid memberships to DinnerTime to help with home meal preparation; additional firmwide holidays and amplification of our flexible time off (FTO) and flexible work arrangement policies to give colleagues greater autonomy in balancing their days; and new approaches to professional growth and development opportunities and recognition programs. We also were able to provide meaningful increases in average annual bonuses, salary adjustments at fiscal year-end and various relief payments. All of these activities were grounded in our firm’s commitment to our people, and helped us maintain our workforce through the pandemic and recession.