Firm Management
Go For It!
As we have learned in the past, the trends set by the Big Four always move downward to the rest of the profession and with this, we have all been given permission to follow PWC’s lead and finally acknowledge that remote work is here to stay.
Oct. 08, 2021
We can all relate to the stress of trying to decide between two different choices, unable to make a decision. Aristotle first wrote about this challenge way back in 350BC. Aristotle said that a man equally hungry and thirsty placed equally between water and food, would remained fixed in the middle unable to decide to go for the water or the food. Aristotle’s wisdom is still seen today as we are all faced with decisions we simply cannot make.
Today, one of those decisions revolves around if we should revert back to being full-time in the office or commit to our move to virtual offices we all took part in over the past eighteen months. Luckily for all of us, we can stop being stuck in the middle, taking the example of PWC, which recently announced (https://tinyurl.com/s4f2mf4) that it will allow all of its client facing employees to work virtually going forward.
As we have learned in the past, the trends set by the Big Four always move downward to the rest of the profession and with this, we have all been given permission to follow PWC’s lead and finally acknowledge that remote work is here to stay. Frankly this acknowledgement is long overdue and I am excited that the profession can move forward in the right direction.
PWC’s press release stated a major driving force behind this move was to attract and retain talent. We are all well aware that before we ever heard the term “Covid” that attracting and retaining talent was a major hurdle our industry faced from firms large and small. As this change in policy by PWC shows the drive for talent is making a major impact on our profession. No longer can firms afford to wait to make changes, to move forward, to innovate. No, the harsh realization is that if they don’t make these changes now, they may not have enough people to get the work done has come crashing down on firms.
In an industry where we often struggle to change, we should take a moment and acknowledge for that most of us, we did an amazing job making remarkable change as we shifted to deal with Covid and the chaos it brought. We found that when forced, we could adapt, learn, grow, and still survive. This is a large accomplishment for an industry where many would still be using rotary phones if they could.
Take a moment now while reading this and then take a moment inside your organization to acknowledge what has been accomplished, it is impressive and deserves to be recognized and celebrated. We love to cling to the past more than most, but when we faced immediate challenges we were able to rise to the occasion.
Our success in dealing with Covid, should give all of us the confidence we need to move forward and commit to remote work. Because despite all the chaos in the past 18 months, one thing that didn’t happen was firms failing to complete tax returns because they worked remotely.
That is right, many organization leaders feared that if they went remote the office would come to a halt. But guess what things still got done and we were given a glimpse into the future. After all, remote work is no longer a scary word that we cannot imagine how it could be done. We have done it and lived it and now it is time embrace it.
After all, we now have permission. The decision has been made for us.
We are no longer that desperate man Aristotle wrote about stuck between food and water paralyzed to pick one over the other. Remote work is the path forward, it is time for you to commit. The good thing about that is that this magazine alone has published countless amazing articles that can guide you on this journey. You are not starting from scratch. The methods, tips, and tricks are all known at this point, we are just waiting on you to start.