Unlocking team potential with strategic annual talent assessments is crucial for tax departments aiming to leverage their human capital effectively. This insightful article by Tony Santiago in TaxNotes emphasizes the importance of regular talent assessments for aligning with company goals and fostering a culture of development and retention. Key takeaways include:
- Importance of Human Capital: While tax departments excel at strategic KPIs, they often overlook the alignment of retention, development, and staffing objectives.
- Three Critical Components: The strategic annual talent assessment focuses on retention, development, and staffing.
- Retention Strategies: Identifying top performers (20% who contribute 80% of results) and addressing their concerns is crucial for retention.
- Development Planning: Focus on top performers, succession candidates, and underperformers, creating tailored plans for each group.
- Staffing Considerations: Address new work demands and external influences like retirements or underperformance.
- Advocacy: Effectively communicating the department's needs to senior leadership is vital for gaining support and driving changes.
- Practical Implementation: The article suggests using interim staffing solutions and regular career evaluation discussions to support retention and development efforts.
- Data-Driven Approach: Leveraging current tax market data is essential for making informed decisions in a challenging talent landscape.
The article emphasizes that these assessments are crucial for nurturing excellence, minimizing disruptions, and strengthening the overall tax department. It encourages tax leaders to focus on what truly drives success - their people - to gain a competitive edge in managing their tax teams effectively.
