What was it about

Transitioning to a modern revenue service requires an extensive modern skill set and urgently calls for the establishment of sound corporate governance as this is crucial for an effective and efficient application of modern ways of working within the tax authorities. In this context, the principles concerning governance in tax administration are essential. Attracting and retaining staff of sufficient caliber, making an analysis of a situation including stakeholder and power analysis, creating a professional work environment that discourages tax officials from engaging in corrupt practices, understanding team dynamics, developing a change plan along with implementing the necessary change strategies and managing the resistance to change are some of the key tasks managers in tax administrations will need to manage to successfully lead reform processes in a climate of ongoing change, economic challenges and uncertainty.

In this interactive course participants learnt about and explored various ways of coping with organizational changes. It offered an opportunity to discuss different change strategies and problem solving practices. These were supported by experiences and lessons learned from the Dutch and Irish tax administration.

The course addressed in greater detail the following topics:

• Developing a reorganization plan
• Designing new organizational structures
• Building an effective engagement and communication plan in support of change
• Handling of the implementation of change process
• Finding appropriate levels of employee participation
• Coping with consequences for clients and employees

What were the benefits

This learning initiative included a combination of presentations by subject-matter experts, group work activities followed by answer and question sessions.

An important feature of this event was the valuable exchange of experiences of tax authorities across SEE supported with examples of efficient practices of how they manage change within their organizations.

By the end of the course, participants:

• Gained insights into what factors need to be considered in order to effectively manage changes when reforming tax administrations
• Discussed common challenges pertaining to transitioning to a modern revenue service and ways to overcome them
• Learned about the importance of leadership to manage effectively modern tax agency
• Discussed different strategies to influence colleagues to engage in change plan that is in support of set reform programs
• Learned by exchange of experiences from other countries

 

FACULTY

This course was delivered in co-operation with colleagues from the Dutch Ministry of finance and CEF Associate Fellow, Norman Gillanders.

Partners

This learning initiative was supported by: