Grant Thornton Indonesia is the Indonesian subsidiary of Grant Thornton, one of the leading independent audit, tax, and advisory firms globally with over 68,000 employees in more than 130 countries. Founded in 1992, Grant Thornton Indonesia transformed in 2011 intending to become the leading accounting and advisory firm in the country. The company grew rapidly, reaching a team of over 500 professionals and attracting prominent clients along the way.
Grant Thornton Indonesia provides a wide range of services, including audit & assurance, tax, advisory, and more. Like other leading companies, Grant Thornton Indonesia had to transform and transition toward a hybrid workforce to continue moving forward in its industry.
The challenge: Managing a hybrid workforce
In response to the pandemic, Grant Thornton Indonesia, began offering its employees a work-from-home (WFH) option. Initially, the company was forced to transition to a fully remote work model. However, they have since adopted a hybrid work policy with a split of 3 days WFH and 2 days work-from-office (WFO). This flexible arrangement allows staff members (with manager approval) to choose their specific WFH and office days.
Initially, the WFH model appeared to function smoothly. However, challenges emerged later. Team coordination began hurting team engagement. As Human Capital Director Emme Tarigan recalls, “The biggest concern was ensuring employees remained productive while working remotely—The new hires especially were not taken care of as expected, they didn’t get the support they needed in doing their job correctly.”
To address these issues, Grant Thornton Indonesia implemented various solutions, including establishing clear policies outlining expectations and appropriate work practices. However, the effectiveness of these policies hinged on manager involvement, “if the team’s manager is not really on their toes to check on their team, it won’t work well,” Emme emphasises. Her proactive approach to building infrastructure for effective hybrid work demonstrates her strong belief in an effective employee retention program.
While a fully remote work model proved unsustainable, their existing solution for hot desking –a manual spreadsheet system– was unreliable and inefficient. Manual entries were prone to errors, and optimising office space for a hybrid environment became increasingly difficult.
These limitations underscored the need for a more robust and automated solution to manage their hybrid work environment. Employees required a user-friendly system to book desks based on their assigned WFO days and available space. Additionally, managers needed a way to track employee WFH and WFO schedules to ensure adequate department coverage and facilitate team engagement.
The solution: Creating an effective infrastructure to support hybrid work model
Hybrid work platforms are essential tools for organisations transitioning to or already operating on a hybrid work model. These platforms provide a structured, efficient means of creating a flexible working environment, which is crucial for success in today’s landscape.
In its bid to create an effective infrastructure, Grant Thornton Indonesia embarked on a journey to find tools and systems to support its hybrid work model. They discovered Acall’s desk booking system through social media. Upon implementation, they quickly realised how a hybrid work platform like Acall directly addressed their challenges in managing a hybrid workforce.
Optimising workspace availability
Prior to Acall, real-time data on office space utilisation was elusive. Grant Thornton Indonesia couldn’t ensure there were enough desks available for WFO days and employees could arrive at the office only to find no workspace available. Acall’s real-time occupancy data allowed Grant Thornton Indonesia to improve occupancy monitoring by a significant percentage. Besides, this data also granted valuable insights into departmental space preferences. Acall’s analytics allowed Grant Thornton Indonesia to optimise office layout and resource allocation.
The easiest desk-booking system
Acall replaced the cumbersome spreadsheet system, freeing up valuable time previously spent by both employees and managers on desk booking hassles. The user-friendly nature of Acall’s WorkstyleOS platform, available through a mobile app and web portal, simplified the process significantly. Employees can now easily reserve workspaces based on their assigned WFO schedules. Grant Thornton Indonesia particularly appreciates the intuitive interface, which minimises training needs.
