Good Ideas
How do you keep credit departments staffers alert and motivated? Consider following this four-point list:

1. SET GOALS.
Sit down with each employee at least once a year to assess his or her performance over the previous 12 months and to set goals for the upcoming year. Target areas that will help them overcome their weaknesses. Try to get them out of their comfort zones and to challenge them constantly.

2. PROVIDE INDUSTRY TRAINING
              AND EDUCATION.
This can range anywhere from conferences, workshops and seminars to simply funneling article to them from industry publications. Education pays off when employees are able to understand problems inherent to their industry and to be able to discuss these issues and problems with your customers.

3. BUILD AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
              IN THE DEPARTMENT.
Rather than allowing employees to be "Jacks of all trades and masters of none," try to develop technical specialists (e.g. one employee for government collections, one for bankruptcies, one for litigation, etc) Each specialist should be encouraged to keep fully updated on the latest developments and strategies in his or her specific area. Consider asking each specialist to identify formal projects in his or her area and then arrange regular reviews.

4. REORGANIZE, SHIFTING PEOPLE TO
              DIFFERENT RESPONSIBILITIES.
This helps to make sure no one gets too comfortable in a routine. It is not the worst thing to know that anytime they begin to feel comfortable, they can expect some change. Will all employees thrive in such an environment? Probably not. But most will in fact, the ones who do the best end up being the top performers. Those with less motivation, lower goals or other interests, usually find other lines of work. And if you find that someone is not suited either to credit and collections or to this type of challenging environment you can try to help them develop skills to move into other jobs. What remains, then, will be a department full of employees with a high degree of internal motivation and dedicated to improvement.

E-mail:mmcallister@bkofficesolutions.com
Voice:770-391-8522
400 Perimeter Center North, Suite 900
Atlanta, GA 30346
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