The job market is competitive, which means keeping employees on staff and motivated comes with an extra challenge. Here’s how you can refine your company’s strategies.
9/9/2019 14:00
Keeping employees engaged and retaining staff can be a challenge, especially in the accounts receivable management industry where expectations to meet consumers’ and clients’ needs are high; but there are best practices available to keep morale in check and motivate your staff to stay.
Melissa Cossairt, director of human resources at DCM Services LLC in Minneapolis, said in an article on the ACA International member company’s website that using digital innovation is one way to achieve proactive recruitment.
“As communication generally becomes more fragmented and casual in nature, DCMS has recognized the need to connect with potential candidates in a myriad of less traditional channels. Implementing a suite of technology applications has proven successful in nearly every stage of the recruitment process,” Cossairt said.
Using job posting websites such as LinkedIn or Indeed can be a helpful tool to recruit staff, she explained.
“These sites also provide transparency by leveraging real reviews from both past and present employees, which helps set expectations for prospective new hires,” Cossairt said.
Retention and recruitment are also challenging in light of the low U.S. unemployment rate. CNN reports the unemployment rate in July was 3.7% and that the rate has been at or below 4% for more than a year.
This competitive employment environment may be amplified for collection agencies given the pressure of meeting daily and weekly goals, reports Tim Dressen, a communications consultant for ACA, in the June issue of Collector magazine.
Minnesota recently hit a record-low unemployment rate of nearly 3.4%, according to Cossairt. DCM Services is using a holistic human resources strategy to retain staff and boost morale, including a focus on empowering employees to grow and develop in their work.
“In fact, DCMS promoted more than 50 employees since the beginning of 2019 alone. Much of this professional development is facilitated by our training team through programs such as Cross-Training and Corporate Coaching. The DCMS Cross-Training program provides the opportunity for any employee to converse with subject matter experts from each of our departments to learn about their role in-depth, and how they impact the organization,” according to Cossairt.
Engaging staff in projects outside of the office, such as volunteering, can help as well. Cossairt adds in her article that using feedback from the company’s annual surveys is important to maintaining its company’s culture.
Here are some additional tips for recruitment and retention, according to Dressen's Collector magazine article:
- Employee engagement requires ongoing effort that goes beyond collection contests and training.
- Continually reminding employees how their overall jobs relate to the company’s mission helps build a sense that they are part of something larger.
- Capitalizing on employees’ personal goals and strengths can benefit the company and inspire other employees to achieve.
Subscriptions to the Collector magazine digital edition and email notifications for each new issue are available for ACA International members by logging in to ACA International’s website here. Members and nonmembers can also purchase a print subscription. Nonmembers can create a guest profile on ACA’s website to subscribe to available publications.