A focus on your fellow accountancy firms – headline numbers and what we’ve learned so far…

Now let’s dig a bit deeper.

Three accountancy firms making progress on team engagement

• A two-office firm with 38 team members improved its percentile ranking from 24 to 56 in 12 months. 

• A single-office firm with 95 team members improved its percentile ranking from 9 to 20 in 12 months.

• A single-office firm with 28 team members improved a very low overall Gallup Q12 score by 10x in 2 years.

What are they doing?

All three firms committed to bi-annual team engagement assessments using the Gallup Q12 process.

They all took their results seriously and implemented new processes with their teams to help improve those results.   Each firm changed the way it worked within its teams every week.

The three firms are transforming the ‘feeling’ of working in their firm, making their firms more appealing to their existing team members and future recruits.  

Two firms setting a team engagement standard.

• A two-office firm with 22 team members improved its percentile ranking from 72 to 76 in 18 months.  

• A single-office firm with 16 team members improved its percentile ranking from 76 to 82 in 18 months.

What are they doing?

They committed to a team-first, purpose-led approach.  

The teams created clear values and behavioural standards and took them seriously.

Eight firms smash it on clarity of expectation.

As Gallup has discovered globally, we’ve found that Question 1 – ‘I know what is expected of me at work.’ – often acts as a foundation for improving overall team engagement.  When expectations are well communicated, everything else becomes easier. 

Of the 29 firms in our dataset, 8 firms score 4.5 or more out of 5 for Q1.  Scoring above 4.5 on the Gallup Q12 signals a highly engaged workforce and a culture that consistently drives performance.

What are they doing?

They are setting clear priorities and success measures, with regular, practical communication from managers.  Expectations are reinforced consistently through feedback, goal setting, and day-to-day conversations, rather than left implicit or assumed.

There’s always more to do to improve this score, and it should consistently be considered when action planning from your firm’s results.  Often, something as simple as regular and clear communication at an early stage can improve a low score.

If you want to discover some of the insights from firms that have got it right, then please listen to Paul/Doug for just 2 minutes.