It is no longer a secret.

Over the past few years, the push for "workplace diversity" has emerged as a business imperative. Business leaders have recognized that inclusion is not merely a moral issue, but is the "necessary thing to do", if they plan to maximize their potential (and successes) in an increasingly complex business environment.

Shannon King Nash is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law. She is a CPA and currently works as a senior tax attorney. Wayne Hamilton graduated from North Carolina Central University School of Law and holds an LLM from the University of Florida. He is a corporate tax counsel. ... TaxTalent.com, with over 12,000 registered members, is the largest tax-oriented community on the internet. TaxTalent.com provides career development tools to its members and consultation services to employers; including salary benchmarking and interim and temporary staffing.

Inclusion of diverse backgrounds and opinions provides companies with a broader set of opinions and experiences; thus allowing companies to get the right answers to tough, complex business questions in a rapidly changing business environment. More importantly, it allows each of us an opportunity to enrich our own lives.

Many organizations have taken concrete steps to ensure a diverse workplace. However, there still appears to be a lack of diversity among tax professionals and in many tax departments. To address this shortcoming, we would like to share with you our ideas on how to tackle this problem head-on.

This is the first of a three part series. In Part-1 we offer some practical suggestions on how to attract minority tax professionals. In Part-2 we will discuss how to develop minority tax professionals, and in Part-3 we will offer some steps you can take to retain minority tax professionals.¹

Attracting a Minority Tax Professional

Attracting minorities to your organization must start with a commitment from the top of the organization to modify the hiring process. Many organizations have implemented what would be considered "best practices" in recruiting and hiring qualified candidates. We have taken a number of the best practices and fine-tuned them with respect to hiring minority candidates. What follows is a non-exhaustive list of questions that every organization that is trying to really diversify their tax professionals (departments) must address.

1. Evaluate Our Demographics -- What are the current and historical demographics of our workforce and how has it changed over the last 10 years?

The commitment to diversity begins with taking a group "snapshot" of the people who work and have worked in your organization over the last 5-10 years. True change can only begin with accepting where you are and where you have been.

2. Evaluate Our Hiring Practices -- What have been our hiring practices with respect to minorities?

Before an organization can begin to develop a plan on how to attract minority tax professionals, it must address its past candidly.

Attracting minorities to your organization must start with a commitment from the top...

Many organizations publicly embrace a corporate commitment of a diverse workforce; but, the "numbers" simply don't bear this out. Behind the walls of the organization there are no minorities in key positions to be found or the numbers have not significantly changed over the past few years.

Minorities need to see the genuineness of your statements. If you haven't achieved your corporate objective or you are having problem achieving it, don't hide from it.

This will build credibility with minority candidates. Click to proceed to page 2.

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