How to Attract Minority Tax Professionals (page 2)

3. Identify Where Minorities Are in our Organization -- Where are they in the organization? Where did their career with the organization begin? And for those who are no longer with the organization, why did they leave?

You can learn a lot about what would attract minorities to your organization from those currently within your organization - and even from those who have left.

However, note that not all minorities in a particular group share the same values or have the same needs. To assume otherwise is a common stereotype that has it's own implications.

Part-3 of this series will focus more on the retention issues, but it is important to realize if you have a retention problem on the front-end of your hiring efforts.

4. Assess Our Attractiveness to Minorities -- How many minority candidates have submitted applications? How many have interviewed? To how many have extended offers and how many have accepted the offer?

By evaluating the number of minority candidates who have applied for positions, you will be able to see how many minorities have been attracted to your organization in the past.

High numbers may show that you have been very attractive to minority candidates, but for some reason they have not made it through your interview process.

Low numbers can be an indication that minorities are not aware of opportunities at your organization. (See points 7 and 8 below about locating and advertising to minority candidates.) It is important to evaluate how many minority candidates were extended offers and how many accepted. Again, these numbers may be able to shed light on how attractive your organization is to minorities.

5. Define Our Target "Pool" -- What minority pool are we targeting - gender, race, sexual orientation? Do we know what would and would not be attractive to that target pool?

Defining the pool is crucial before you can begin attracting minority tax professionals.

You may be targeting one pool - by gender, race and sexual orientation - or several pools at once. Once you have narrowed down your pool or pools, you will need to determine what is attractive to your target pool. A one size fits all approach will not work for these target pools. For example if you are targeting women, a position that requires a lot of travel and non-flexible work hours may not be attractive for a parent.

6. Identify the "Personality" -- What type of personality are we looking for? A trailblazer, builder or sustainer?

A "trailblazer" is someone who will break the ice and pave the way for other minorities. A "builder" is someone who can follow behind the trailblazer and raise the expectations even further as to what minority candidates can accomplish in your department. A "sustainer" is someone who keeps it together. Sustainers don't raise the bar but also they don't fall behind. They are very hard workers and they meet expectations (like 50% of your workforce).

If you hire a trailblazer and treat her like a "builder" (or even worse a "sustainer") she will leave very quickly.

It is crucial that you make it clear what type of personality you are hiring. Click to proceed to page 3.