Career Planning and Cross Training

Every successful career has a written plan that generally doesn't happen by circumstance, but instead it is driven by a series of deliberate and steps.

The critical component in any career plan is providing the resources that will allow the professional to get to the next step. At a minimum, this should include continuing education, opportunities to work in different areas, "cross training", time lines for achievements and next level positions and finally measurement tools.

Employers need to have a greater sensitivity that diverse employees may develop a belief that they are being pigeon holed; that they are just there to do the work and not an integral part of the organization. A long term career plan and cross training would reinforce the message that management does not view the minority as just another sprocket in the overall machine.

Providing opportunities outside the tax department can be extremely beneficial...

Providing opportunities outside the tax department can be extremely beneficial in developing the minority tax professional. Opportunities in related business functions - finance, treasury, legal, operations, for example - can enhance the minority tax professionals understanding of the company and industry.

Some companies have realized this and have formal rotation programs. Even if your company has not done this, it might consider an informal "loan program" that gives broad exposure to the business and the people who run it.

In our example, let us assume Jane was hired to do domestic planning but has a strong interest in international planning.

After three years of domestic planning she has mastered that position. Without a career plan that includes helping her reach a position in international planning or something comparable, Jane is likely to leave the organization, and all the skills the organization has invested in her will be lost.

Jane's manager should have worked with her in developing a career plan and reviewing the plan at least annually. If an opportunity in international planning was not available, the manager should have been up-front, and try to come up with other areas that might be of interest or suitable to Jane's development.

Development of "Soft" Skills

"Soft" skills (or people skills) could be generally described as skills, which are beneficial and necessary in effectively interacting in both business and social settings.

For tax professionals, this is perhaps one of the hardest skills to acquire because we tend to be very technical. But as one moves further up the business structure (whether at a corporation, law firm, accounting firm or government), less emphasis is put on technical expertise and more emphasis is put on people skills.

Most people inherently feel a greater connection to people they share a similar background with. Thus, an employee may feel especially intimidated presenting to an executive team that does not come from their ethnic background.

Repeated exposure, both as presenter and a participant, will provide the employee with a certain level of comfort and provide them with an opportunity to develop/modify their own presentation style. This helps to reduce the anxiety associated with addressing senior management.

Soft skills can be more daunting for minorities, particularly in social settings, since they are often the only one or one of a few attending an event.

That is why it is imperative to develop these soft skills early...

That is why it is imperative to develop these soft skills early on in the minority's professional career.

Soft skills can be developed through taking courses on presentation - many companies have Toastmasters clubs that provide employees opportunities to practice their public speaking.

Allowing professionals the opportunity to make presentations inside the company to executives, and outside the organization to other practitioners in industry seminars (see continuing education below) is a good vehicle for developing soft skills.

In our example, Jane worked on important and complex tax projects for the company, but she's never had the opportunity to present to management. She was active in her local professional association, but her company was not supportive of her participating in substantive panels. Jane was not developing soft skills.

Continuing Education

Involvement with professional organizations through continuing education activities is essential to developing technical skills, but even more beneficial as a tool in the overall development of the minority professional.

Through professional organizations, not only are technical skills gleaned and enhanced, but critical relationships, industry knowledge and soft skills (as defined above in this article) are fostered and acquired. It is the combination of both technical and soft skills that is crucial to developing the minority tax professional.

As mentioned above, Jane was active with her local professional organization, but she was not given the ability to further develop her technical skills by fully participating in panels and presentations.

Conclusion

Complete development of minority professionals is not only critical to that professional's individual growth, but also important for the company in retaining the investment they have made in that professional.

Part three of this series will focus on retention issues.

¹ Diversity differs in substance and form. For the purposes of this article, and for the sake of simplicity, the word "minority" includes gender, race, sexual orientation or any combination thereof.

Part Three: How to Retain Minority tax Professionals

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