Rising woman: How multitasking is now the norm

Dar es Salaam. Agatha Tlaatlaa, Audit manager at KPMG, says multitasking and indirect mentorship are what have guided her to consistently work intelligently in her field.

She explains that her journey to the managerial level was an unpredictable move, even though she knew her work would be related to the finance field.

“To be in audit, you must be an accountant because, in this field, you are assessing if the accountants are doing their work well - and you must have a common character with your field because a lot of things change in a very short time,” says Ms Tlaatlaa.

She says her promotion came with exposure to top individuals in the market because her department led her to interact with people from different fields. She started meeting clients from different sectors such as Utility, Consumer and the Industrial market.

“I graduated at Mzumbe University with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance. This degree secured me a position at KPMG as an audit associate: the lowest level in the Audit Department,” she says.

While at KPMG, Ms Tlaatlaa worked at many levels, before being promoted to audit manager, which is the position she is serving in today.

She says throughout her entire journey, when she became a mother, a wife and an audit manager all at once, it became hard to juggle her work and family responsibilities around.

“There are expectations that align with all these responsibilities. For stance, my son does not understand that I have work to do, or board meetings to attend. He just wants to have me around.

“At work, the expectations are also high, especially when you have moved up the rank - as I was,” she says.

Ms Tlaatlaa recalls that it was in 2018 when she gave birth to her son. That was also when things got tough, as she could not handle all the new responsibilities. This made her scared.

“Despite KPMG’S policy that ‘Family comes first,’ where there is room of understanding that sometimes family responsibilities can take over ‘office’ responsibilities, I knew I had to learn juggling skills,” she explains.

Ms Tlaatlaa is of the view that the majority of women in Finance are belittled because of how they position themselves before other people.

“A woman in any field must showcase her capabilities; this helps in being taken more seriously and credibly,” she says.

Ms Tlaatlaa reveals that her leadership style is the result of KPMG’S culture which instils the framework that ‘everyone is a leader.’ Where everyone at every position is expected to be a leader, this enhances collective responsibility, a theme which is guided by inclusiveness.

She talks about ‘indirect mentorship,’ whereas she has been looking up to female leaders - and how they tackle difficulties on their career journey.

“I have women I look up to, and admire their achievements; the paths they have gone through: what they have conquered - and how they did it! I am actually picking up guidelines under which to build my own path, “says Ms Tlaatlaa.

Despite not been mentored herself, Ms Sanga highly recommends both formal and informal mentors. She says mentorship can be used as the most accurate, thoughtful and intelligent teacher rolled-in-one.

She questions the lack of popularity in mentorship, because she says it deserves the spotlight as it unlocks individuals’ potentials.

“Had I known the crucial importance of mentorship, I could have either enrolled in a programme or requested different people for guidance. This is the reason I have women like Brenda Msangi, Chief Executive Officerof the Comprehensive Community-Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT),” Ms Tlaatlaa says.

She reveals that, in the future, she will want to mentor girls because she understands the importance of such encouragements: how they can push a person to succeed.

“You do not get to find stories of successful people in the public domain: from when they started the journey to top public positions. But, being another person’s mentor helps in normalizing situations,” says Ms Tlaatlaa.

At the position she currently holds, Ms Tlaatlaa says she looks at self-determination and commitment of a person before considering them to be under her wing, as mentees.

“When you want to mentor a person, the two traits have to act as starters for the mentoring sessions that are to be conducted,” she says.

Ms Tlaatlaa comments on formal training for leadership positions where she reveals that they can be a part of a person’s leadership journey. But they do not fully define a good leader.

As she addresses the lack of diversity between men and women in top leadership positions, Ms Tlaatlaa appraises the changes of societal mindsets on the female figure.

“At the moment, the society is at least looking at women with a positive eye, as they are striking a balance between men and women. There are campaigns, organizations and the government involved in the fight for the girl child to access career opportunities for her life’s betterment,” she avers.

She says the progress may be slow because the fight for women’s rights starts with women themselves addressing the issues involved.

“Women should stand firm as they advocate for the career posts they want. Society, the government and different organisations can support her whole-heartedly. But this cannot happen if the woman is not making her own changes,” Ms Tlaatlaa notes - adding that women empowerment initiatives deserve to be sustained, as they entail gender balance for future generations.

“There have to be commitments from two sides: the starters of the initiative and the people whom the initiative is about. This will persuade both sides to invest in the initiatives,” she says.