Working Trendz: Commercially Taxing

THE taxman is quite easily the most unpopular person in any society and the commercial tax department has had to consistently face the ire of industry, business and the general public. The fault can be ascribed to the natural, almost inborn distrust of the authorities by the public, a distrust born of the feeling that nothing constructive appears to have been done with the taxes that have been paid, however grudgingly.

The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, government of Andhra Pradesh is set to change this dismal view. A high-level, professional think-tank chaired by the commissioner and his IIM- educated JD devised an HR intervention aimed at making the department into a well-oiled, caring, time-conscious and stress- free force, with added skills of customer relationship management so that industry, commerce and the public would have a more encouraging interaction with the department.

Under the disguising blanket of VAT (Value Added Tax) familiarisation the commissioner's task force introduced the concept of a management development programme that would expose the commercial tax officers of Andhra to concepts that they would probably only have read of with disinterest if not with total disregard. The massive exercise covered all the commercial tax officers of the state and every VAT orientation programme was preceded by a three-hour session by a well-known speaker who instilled in the minds of the participants the importance of time- management, stress management, man-management and customer- relationship management. The presentation was interspersed with anecdotes to which the participants could easily relate. Observers from the commissioner's office were present to seed the discussion with questions that encouraged a whole- hearted involvement by normally reticent officers. Experiences were freely shared and the observers were able to discover concerns that had hitherto remained under the surface.

The department found it served their purpose to have the same speaker to deliver inputs to all the participants at all five locations across the state since they did not want any tax circle to feel that they were any less important than the other. One of the biggest tasks was to find a speaker who had corporate experience as well as experience in working for the Government. Having succeeded in this respect, they were able to initiate a train of thought that had hitherto bypassed the officers who were surprised to find that simple management techniques would and could be of such use to them in their work. To these inputs were added some topical case studies, which generated considerable pro-active interest and discussion.

The most significant departure was the module on customer relationship management, an area that has been wholly neglected by virtually every government department with the notable exception of the CMs public relations office.

It was demonstrated clearly to the officers how better customer relations would lead to better realisation of revenue. Which in turn, allowed them to meet their collection targets, which contributed to better management of time leading ultimately to reduction in the levels of stress and burnout.

There can be no doubt that, for the first time, a government department has taken such a proactive step to enhance the productivity of their officers through management techniques. What was most rewarding to the initiators of the programme was the receptivity of the participants to such inputs that led almost instantly to positive change within the organisation both laterally as well as vertically. Best practices are common in the corporate world; it is most unusual in the government. This initiative has demonstrated the need for more such initiatives across departments, and across hierarchies so that the benefit can accrue both to the department as well as to the members of the general public.

ABHIMANYU ACHARYA

abhimanyu@india.com