Personnel Controls and Learning in Hybrid Work: The Co-Construction of Control

SYNOPSIS

Hybrid work disrupts the controls accounting firms traditionally use to ensure learning and develop professional expertise. Drawing on 42 semistructured interviews with managers and associates in Big 4 firms during the transition from remote to hybrid work, we examine how personnel controls function under these conditions. We contribute to management control research by showing that personnel controls are no longer solely firm-operated mechanisms but co-constructed by firms and associates, reshaping how they produce their intended outcomes. Further, we show that this co-construction redistributes responsibility for learning, requiring more deliberate and effortful engagement from associates. Although personnel controls continue to improve communication and clarify expectations, they become less effective in developing professional expertise, with managers and associates experiencing these outcomes differently. We conclude that personnel controls should not be assumed to simultaneously sustain performance and ensure learning, highlighting the need for employee engagement in the co-construction of control.

Data Availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available upon request. The data are not publicly available since they contain information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

JEL Classifications: M12.