A function of the way we operate is, most of the firm's managers will still be reviewing all our associates work either in an in-person scenario, pre-Covid, or in a hybrid working model, so I think we will still on a day-to-day basis be able to track someone's progress on several activities (HR¹F^D)

There is nothing wrong with those tools themselves. They are the sort of thing that will monitor our business and morale, etc. regardless of where people work. So, I think they will all continue as they are (D¹F^D)

Pre-pandemic, there was less oversight. You are given your time; you do your work and then two weeks after there will be just a review on the whole file. Whereas when we moved to remote working, I felt there was a lot more communication between us and he will probably go in the file more often to review sections (A⁵F^C)

At the start of Covid, management very much expected that it would just be a complete disaster, that none of us would be able to work from home. They were afraid they could not keep an eye on and that everything just would not work out. Obviously, the opposite happened. That was a surprise to them. (A⁷F^C)

In the office, if I had a question, I would swing around my chair and I would ask the person behind me, whereas now, at the beginning of Covid, I would have to see if I got get them on a Teams call. It is hard trying to contact people. That is why we now do the virtual audit room. So, it is in the background if anyone has any questions, they just shout away straightaway, just like the office basically. (A⁷F^A)

We asked coaches and managers to check in with people more regularly. A lot of the teams put in daily stand ups. So, everyone came together at the start of the day to talk about what they were working on and where they had blockers or where the needed support (HR¹F^A)

We might have more regular catchups throughout the audits with managers just to make sure that the audit is moving (A⁴F^C)

Obviously, revenue and profitability are key like any business. Outside of that then, within assurance we have a risk and quality score card. So that is a set of criteria that I am assessed against making sure I am doing my day-to-day job right. Then we do our global people survey which is a global initiative. I have not witnessed any major change in these things (D¹F^D)

To be fair, I think you were still judging off the same categories, the same skills. That has not changed. You are always going to look at, did they get the job done, how well did they get the job done there? Their actual accounting knowledge, their ability, etc. (D¹F^A)

Once a week they help bring the team together so that then would have played a part in terms of performance appraisals. You would have recognised a team member's effort to help bring connectivity or connection within their own teams so that would have been something that would have been new in the context of Covid that we would not have had before (HR¹F^D)

I do not think there would be any issues with promotions if you are virtual because you are still in contact with everyone anyway. But maybe there might be a bit of an element of out of sight, out of mind, but I do not think so, but I guess it remains to be seen (A⁶F^D)

I think connectivity was a big buzz word as well in terms of the first-year associates now who have onboarded completely remotely. So that's a bit part of the hybrid working as well, to make sure that people are conscious that you do want to get people to meet up and you do want to be able to connect appropriately and kind of get to know these people, make sure they have a smooth onboarding process (D¹F^A)

Obviously, there are other types of learning where it's much better in person. Onboarding type activity and connecting people with teams, that's another one. There's a whole framework that we've set out (HR¹F^A)

A mix is good, especially for the kind of work we do, because it is a training firm, those two days in the office will be very beneficial to the training. Bouncing questions off each other, being able to go up to them with the laptop, show them in person. The work will remain the same but in terms of training members, I think there will be an improvement by even just getting those two days in the office. Just to train them properly because it is tough trying to do it over Zoom, and training people you never met in person, it is very tough (A⁷F^C)

Everything mobilised very quickly and the supports department even from an IT infrastructure perspective, just enabled people to be able to continue as normal. We provided people with more resources and equipment (HR¹F^C)

Home equipment was a big one, employees got ergonomics assessment completed and to make sure that their home set up was appropriate. Other than that, it is just working with our teams so allow them the flexibility to do what is right for them (HR¹F^B)

The message we are getting now is that we will never go back to five days a week in the office. There has been a big investment in technology, there seems to be a strong commitment to it from the firm (D¹F^C)

People attribute success to what got them there. So, if I think of the partnership, they were in the office five days, they worked x number of hours, and they were successful, and the firm has been successful. And therefore, we should apply that same, that belief carries with us. And we are a training firm and there is a huge amount of on-the-job learning, 70/20/10. Also think nobody really asked for it, because it had not been done, so people did not think it was an option they just assumed it would not be an option (HR¹F^C)

It is that flux of being in the office and not being in the office. There will be an unconscious bias. Hybrid will not be a huge issue for us in terms of someone who is performing. I think the challenge will be for someone who is not performing, and they are primarily at home. I just wonder if that will create an unconscious bias, oh they checked out and are working from home. It will probably be a little less controversial on account of someone who is performing well and meets expectations (HR¹F^D)

The director was saying that it would be good to bring everyone in for a day. They thought it would be easier if we were altogether and I said, I do not mind, I can travel up if you want, but I was reluctant. Then the manager told me the next day, there was no need and I just dialled into the call while they were all in the same room in the office (A³F^A)