Case studies · Accountancy · Growth
Armstrong Watson: 2.5× growth. Each team in view.
An accountancy and advisory firm that grew its headcount 2.5× over more than five years, organically and by acquisition. Tensense showed its leaders what each office was experiencing as the firm grew.
The situation
Growing fast, adding layers.
As headcount grew, so did the layers of management, and each layer added distance between senior leaders and day-to-day work. Each new office and acquisition also brought teams with their own history and ways of working. The annual engagement survey gives a meaningful snapshot, but only once a year.
What Tensense gives them
The whole firm, and each part of it.
Armstrong Watson runs Tensense monthly. Senior leaders see the pattern across the firm, and each office and service line sees its own results. Issues surface early, and leaders can check whether their actions are working.
What they saw, and what they did
How each acquired office was integrating.
Where an office needed more support, leaders stepped in early.
How an office felt the loss of a partner.
Leaders supported it through the transition, using each cycle’s results to track and guide its recovery.
Part of how the firm runs
In the boardroom
The board reviews it alongside the financial KPIs, acts on the two together, and takes on themes shared across offices.
In each office and service line
Each lead resolves the themes unique to their area, with support available where needed.
In their words
Straight from the source.
From the Chief Executive
“It is not for the faint hearted, as it surfaces some issues that are ‘hard to hear’.”
From the Head of People
“Tensense has shifted engagement from a retrospective measure to a forward-looking management tool.”