Diversity and Inclusion in the Tax Industry: A growing commitment to a policy with clear-cut business benefits.

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Workforce diversity is a concern in every industry, and tax is no exception. But what issues are currently relevant, and is there a business rationale for increasing diversity? To explore this topic further, Tax Executive convened a roundtable discussion group composed of diversity leaders in the industry, including Margie Dhunjishah, U.S. tax diversity leader at PwC; Pamela Downs, partner and chief inclusion officer at Deloitte Tax LLP; Lisa Fitzpatrick, vice president and general manager at Bloomberg Tax; and Kim Goings, national tax talent leader at Ernst & Young. Tax Executive Senior Editor Michael Levin-Epstein moderated the discussion.

Levin-Epstein: Why is diversity and inclusion an important issue?

Dhunjishah: In today's business world, it's a complex environment. At PwC, we believe that to address complex issues and solve important problems, the best solutions and the best ideas come from diverse points of view. People with different experiences, people with different backgrounds will contribute to a greater variety of solutions; we understand that non-diverse groups may not reach the same conclusions. If we're going to solve the world's most important problems in a complex environment, diversity of ideas will help us achieve that aim. Within organizations, our populations in the United States are becoming more diverse, necessitating an organizational culture where a wide variety of people can grow and succeed. We aim to create an environment where diversity and inclusion can grow and flourish, so the best and brightest that the country has to offer can be contributing members of our firms.

Goings: I would echo that exactly. It clearly is a business imperative. We see that our overall engagement scores increase when there is a focus on D&I [diversity and inclusion], which ultimately increases our overall revenue. So, clearly it does become a business imperative, especially as our world changes; we're more complex, we're more global. The changing workforce is reshaping business, so if we're not really laser-focused and walking the talk on D&I, not only are we going to lose a large population of people who are in the workforce or soon to be in the workforce, it also will have an impact on our ability to work with clients and ultimately increase revenue.

Fitzpatrick: For us at Bloomberg Tax and the greater Bloomberg organization, it's also a business imperative. We have found that the more diverse our staff is, the stronger the results are. Diverse staff bring different perspectives to solving problems, different experiences from their backgrounds, and that just makes us stronger as an information provider. I also think having a diverse staff is key, because we're a global organization, and as we increase our footprint globally, it's important that the makeup of our staff and our talent is also representative of our clients and their different backgrounds.

Downs: At Deloitte, we know that inclusion unleashes the power of our diversity. Our business is built on providing clients our professionals' knowledge and unique perspectives. Inclusion is critical: it enables us to leverage all that makes us who we are--talents, beliefs, experiences, and backgrounds--which helps us deliver valuable perspectives for our clients and engaging experiences for our colleagues. Additionally, we know that an inclusive culture is an essential component for attracting and retaining talent for our organization and for our clients as well. From our recent pulse survey, we discovered that eighty percent of respondents said inclusion was an important factor in choosing an employer. Seventy-two percent of respondents would leave or may consider leaving an organization for a more inclusive one. In fact, twenty-three percent of respondents surveyed said they have already left a job for a more inclusive culture at another organization. These findings demonstrate the incredible value today's talent pool places on the presence of an inclusive culture in their organizations.

Levin-Epstein: How is the tax industry doing on the diversity issue, say, compared to ten years ago?

Dhunjishah: We're making progress. I don't think there's any organization out there that has all the answers. But I do think that the trend is that many more companies are recognizing the value diversity and inclusion can bring to their organizations. There's been a refocusing and redoubling of efforts; companies are taking concrete steps to make sure that their organizations are places where people with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences can come, contribute, and succeed. They recognize there's a true value, inherently, in diverse points of view and diverse experiences. So, whether it's revenue, coming up with better solutions, coming up with more creative ideas, broadening the pool of candidates that you can choose from to fill important...

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