Kat Jennings

Recently, I read a quote that caught my attention and it was “The two things in life you are in control of is your attitude and your effort”. January is the perfect time for refreshing the minds of your tax organization that each of us is in control of our attitude and effort.  This is the opportune time to help your team get on track with their goals for the year. The best strategy to employ for getting your team on track is to identify what will motivate every unique person in your tax organization.

People are extremely motivated to achieve if this means they can get what they want and need! After asking thousands of tax professionals what motivated them to stay and succeed with a tax organization or conversely leave a tax organization, I identified  triggers for motivation. The most important thing to remember is people in your organization have different needs. In 1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow was  best known for creating a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs: self-actualization needs; self-esteem needs; belonging needs; security needs; and physiological needs. I am going to break down the 5  needs people in a tax organization display according to Maslow’s theory and my experience.  When you identify the individual needs of your tax team and work with them fulfilling their desires,  the result is increased motivation and productivity in your tax organization.

 

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Anyone leading a tax organization or even a group within the tax department will benefit from what I learned about managing the treasure within a tax team. You see, everyone has treasure in their tax organization and the treasure is the people. The treasure is in the knowledge and skills of your people. While you are busy responding to managements never ending list of requests that require twice the team you currently have to produce; you also have these untapped jewels around you. As a leader in a tax organization, you have the ability to turn on the passion of the tax team and increase their productivity.

One of the most important things tax leaders must be mindful of is people want to enjoy their work experience. When people enjoy what they are doing, the passion surfaces and the treasure is bountiful. For example, imagine you have two Tax Managers gathering Read More