The Tax Intelligence Report May 2005

"All men by nature desire knowledge" -Aristotle

Issue 2 May 2005

Welcome To The Tax Intelligence Report!

We appreciate the many kind and supportive words we received on our premier issue of The Tax Intelligence Report. Our goal is to provide you with information and intelligence that will assist you in the development of your tax career. In this issue, we will highlight another distingushed career, Lisa Peschcke-Koedt, VP of Global Tax at Aligent Technologies, Inc. in Palo Alto, California. She currently manages a team that consists of more that 70 tax professionals worldwide.

Respectfully,
Kathleen Jennings
President, ET Search, Inc.

IN THIS ISSUE

	"A Leader in the Tax Profession" Lisa Peschcke-Koedt, VP Global Tax, Agilent Technologies - Palo Alto, CA
	Retention Strategies
	Verbal Intelligence

RETENTION STRATEGIES

A major challenge all employers face is attracting talent and then keeping them. What retention strategies will you utilize to keep your most talented tax professionals?

Your retention strategy has never been more important than it is now. You will want to focus on retaining your highly trained tax executives because they will become even more valuable as fewer people enter the tax profession. Due to the continued complexity of tax rules and regulations; Sarbanes- Oxley compliance;impressions left in the wake of the collapse of Arthur Andersen and the investigation of numerous U.S. multinational corporations, there are fewer people interested in entering or staying in the tax profession. An effective retention strategy and communication strategy will assist you in retaining your highly trained tax professionals. We would like to share with you strategies you can utilize in the retention of those you value in your organization.

1. You Have To Train To Retain!

Everyone wants to hire someone who can "hit the ground running!" The problem with hiring this type of employee is that there is very little room for challenge and growth, therefore placing this employee on a short retention expectancy. Training and retaining your tax professionals will provide you and your organization with a competitive edge. Investing in the training and career development of your people will help you build a sense of loyalty with your employees. A sense of accomplishment and satisfaction is a key driver in employee retention. You will need to know what motivates your tax professionals. The way to accomplish this task is to merely ask them. By posing this question, you show you care about what is important to them! Many times this key driver may even outweigh salary. It's important to understand that new opportunities for challenge and growth are essential in keeping employees interested in their positions. Every manager who is concerned with employee retention should ask themselves: What am I doing that is directly impacting the development of my best people? You must continually be aware of what you can do to develop employees, build teams and grow your business!

2. A Sense of Belonging!

Communicate your vision in a compelling way! Show everyone the importance of their role and their contribution to the organization. Create opportunities for people to connect with each other for support and this will improve communication throughout your organization. Treat your employees like you treat your most valuable relationships with respect. It is easy to ask your colleagues for their input and involve them in the decision making process. For example, you may want to consider asking your tax colleagues these types of questions; What do you like about working here? What would you like changed? The U.S. department of Labor estimates that 46% of people leave their jobs because they feel unappreciated and disconnected from their organization.

3. Mutual Loyalty!

Today's employees want more information from management. The past several years have created multiple uncertainties. Employees are concerned about the wavering economy, downsizings and the faster pace of change in organizations and in the marketplace. What steps can you take to improve loyalty? It makes sense to recognize that loyalty from an employer will result in loyalty from the employee. In order to portray this to your top tax talent you need to show a genuine concern for that person's growth and development. Encourage team projects and activities both within and outside the office. Take them out for lunch on their birthdays. Take the time to get to know your people and show a genuine interest in their lives. Ask for their opinions and input and above all remind them that they are important to the organization. This will go a long way in forming loyalty and retaining your best tax professionals. By continually building employee loyalty, organizations will see results in their bottom- line profitability.

4. Appropriate Compensation!

If a fair and competitive compensation is maintained, as Stephen Covey would say, you have a win-win situation. If those you value are being offered more compensation for the same responsibilities with another organization, you will need to do your homework. You will want to do your research and strive for what is fair and appropriate compensation for your tax team. Know what other organizations are willing to pay for their tax executives. The tax professionals you employ will be fully engaged only when they are compensated in line with what they understand to be equitable. When people feel they are being compensated fairly they will tailor their daily actions to effectively support the organizations key strategies and initiatives! Work at developing a compensation system that is fair, equitable and competitive in the market.

If you understand and utilize these retention strategies you will not only see the results in your organizations productivity, but you will also retain the most talented and motivated tax professionals in your organization!

Written By:
Kathleen Jennings : kitty@etsearch.com

VERBAL INTELLIGENCE

Word of the day : JUDICIOUS

1. Wise and careful, having or showing sound judgement.
2. Sensible, levelheaded.

The Tax Intelligence Report is published by ET Search, Inc. We are an internationally recognized search firm that specializes in the placement of tax professionals with multinational corporations, law firms and public accounting firms. For more than 20 years, our organization has been retained by U.S. multi-nationals to locate tax professionals in most major cities around the world. For more information on our global tax recruitment firm, you may email us at ets@etsearch.com or visit our website at http://www.etsearch.com .

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A Leader In The Tax Profession:
Lisa Peschcke-Kodet

Lisa Peschcke-Koedt, VP Global Tax at Agilent Technologies in Palo Alto, CA oversees this 7 Billion dollar US multinationals' corporate tax department. She currently has responsibility for more than seventy tax professionals spread out primarily over ten countries around the world. Lisa earned her BA degree from Stanford University, Stanford, CA in 1978 and her JD degree from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY in 1983(Editor of Cornell Law Review, Member, Order of the Coif). She is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and California.

Lisa Peschcke-Koedt formerly worked at the law firms of Miller & Chevalier; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and Ware & Freidenrich. She was also Law Clerk to Judge Samuel Conti, US District Court, Northern District of California. In 1987, Lisa took the role of Senior Tax Attorney at Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto, CA. She was promoted to the role of International Tax Counsel in Palo Alto, CA and promoted again to Manager of Tax & Licensing for Hewlett Packard in Geneva, Switzerland. At the time, she had full leadership and management responsibility for more than one hundred people in the region. During this time, she also led the formation of the European Tax Executives Institute Chapter.

In November 1999, Agilent Technologies, Inc spun off from Hewlett Packard and Lisa became the Vice President, Global Tax & Trade for the organization. During this time, she was responsible leading a global vertical team of 450 individuals with worldwide responsibility. Lisa is currently responsible for a team of 70 tax professionals worldwide.

We asked Lisa Peschcke-Koedt about her Retention Strategies and we would like to share these responses with you. She feels that building and maintaining excellent global relationships; developing the team and a strategic vision with the global team; good communication with the team as well as good leadership are all important ingredients for success.

Communication is very important and this includes communication about the company, the different businesses, the challenges they are faced with as a global organization and team specific challenges. She engages her global tax team through consistent "Global E-Coffee Talks" which include E- Coffee Telephonic Discussions and Emails.

Lisa also feels that development and career growth for each individual is key because she understands people are motivated by new opportunities. Tactics she utilizes include actively driving new opportunities for people to move up in the organization; monthly internal training sessions (both soft skills and technical); identifying new opportunities within teams for rotations and other growth opportunities globally.

In addition, she feels it is important to utilize her resources to ensure that her global team supports each other around the world. Tactics she utilizes to make her tax group feel part of the global team include in- person meetings with the group; cross- geographic projects and team to create more interface within the group which in turn improves the communication globally. Each individual contributor is valued and respected for their contribution to the organization and the goals and commitments to the team.

Compensation is also important and she does her research to ensure that her tax organization is compensated fairly according to market standards. This is an ongoing process that needs to be addressed.

Of course, Lisa also likes to let her team know that she is interested in their development and she is proud and fortunate to have a world class tax department in progress She is proud that her tax team consistently delivers results beyond the global tax groups annual commitments and this is why they are viewed within the organization as a value-added function. Having said all of this, Lisa told us that she feels it is a real mistake to take retention for granted at any time and that one must work hard to ensure that their key performers feel appreciated, valued and respected.

Thank you, Lisa! We appreciate you sharing your time and tax department management and retention strategies with us at the Tax Intelligence Report.

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