A CASE STUDY
GRANT THORNTON: STRENGTHENING CULTURAL CAPABILITY FOR GLOBAL GROWTH.
Grant Thornton is a global professional services organisation operating across more than 150 international markets, supporting clients with audit, tax and advisory work.
THE CHALLENGE
With increasingly multicultural teams and global customer engagement, the organisation recognised the need to strengthen its cultural capability to support effective collaboration and commercial growth.
Despite pockets of strong DEI practice, there was a clear opportunity to embed a consistent and measurable approach to cultural effectiveness, particularly across leadership and audit teams working cross‑border.
GRANT THORNTON
73,000+ Employees
150 Markets
SPECIFIC ISSUES AND STRATEGIC AIMS
Need for a scalable, evidence‑based framework to embed cultural effectiveness across teams.
Desire to increase confidence and capability in collaborating with multicultural colleagues and global customers.
Requirement for a structured approach to support global alignment between UK‑based and India-based audit teams.
Introduce Cultural Intelligence (CQ) as a foundational capability across leadership and key teams.
Strengthen cross‑cultural collaboration within global audit teams. Build internal capability through Train‑the‑Trainer (TTT) certification.
Demonstrate a clear link between CQ, commercial outcomes and ways of working across global markets.
01 RATIONALE FOR CQ
Commercial Benefit: A clear, research-backed link exists between CQ and return on investment (ROI).
Global Integration: As a global organisation, CQ provides a practical and measurable framework for improving how colleagues and customers interact across different markets.
02 INTERVENTIONS
A half‑day Cultural Intelligence workshop delivered to Grant Thornton’s top 20 leaders.
CQ sessions delivered to the UK audit team, with in‑person facilitation for the India audit team to ensure global cohesion.
Train‑the‑Trainer (TTT) certification for the internal lead, which included observing live sessions and being assessed while delivering. Internal scalable rollout of CQ workshops facilitated by the lead, with more than 150 internal participants trained.
03 OUTCOMES
250+ participants trained across multiple locations through external and internal delivery.
Increased confidence and capability in collaborating with multicultural colleagues.
Enhanced ability to engage effectively with international customers.
Scalable model now embedded, enabling continued internal delivery.
Strengthened global ways of working across UK and India audit teams.
04 DELIVERY APPROACH
Experiential: Practical application using realworld scenarios from the audit context.
Reflective: Encouraged self-awareness around cultural values, assumptions and behaviours.
Non-judgmental: Created psychological safety for honest discussion around global collaboration.
By partnering with Prabhaav and making Cultural Intelligence a core capability; including internal facilitation, firmwide rollout and our inaugural Cultural Awareness Week. We are strengthening our ability to work effectively across global cultures for better outcomes for our people, clients and firms.”
Grant Thornton
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
Continue developing internal facilitators to support long-term sustainability.
Provide CQ onboarding for new starters in global and customer-facing roles.
Embed CQ principles into global project planning, client engagement and leadership development.
Continue strengthening cross-cultural collaboration across all global offices.
Partnering with Grant Thornton was a privilege. From day one, senior leadership's commitment set the tone — with a clear, strategic vision to scale this work cohesively across borders and equip everyone with the tools and shared language to carry it forward. The results speak for themselves: measurable gains in collaboration, productivity, and lasting organisational impact.
Ritika Wadhwa
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