Credit Management magazine October 2017

EDUCATION
Creating the A-Team
Does your team have a unique identity? Are you making the most of
your CICM membership? Debbie Tuckwood, CICM Head of Education
and Professional Development, challenges you to look critically at your
team’s human resource management and gives tips about how CICM
can help transform your team’s skills and profile.
WITH threats of interest
rate increases and
Brexit deadlines
looming, the role of
credit management
and collections has
never been more critical in supporting
profitable sales and maximising cashflow.
Debbie questions however the extent
that credit management teams get the
recognition they deserve: “Too often I meet
credit managers who feel undervalued.
Some may argue that managers should
manage stakeholders better to showcase
the role of credit management and put
in place reporting which highlights the
responsibilities of other departments to
keep queries and DSO down.
“From a team perspective though, credit
managers often have little HR support,
limited training budget and are faced
with reduced headcount. At best, they are
offered with general finance, or customer
service training which although useful,
does not build core credit management
knowledge and skills. Under resourced
and with little time for strategic thinking,
success rests often solely on a manager’s
determination and ability to motivate and
inspire the team.’’
Debbie believes that by simply taking a
short time out to engage with CICM would
pay dividends. “You need to establish a credit
and collections focus in all aspects of your
HR management. Your CICM membership
gives access to a wealth of advice and
support which could transform your
credit and collections operation and more
importantly raise the profile of your team,
regardless of your budget and experience
in this area. As the saying goes, ‘It is not
what you do, but the way that you do it’.
Concentrating energy on HR management,
even if temporarily to establish the
basics, would build skills and establish
that credit management focus needed in
your team’s HR management and
relationships with other departments. In
my opinion, this is the best way to create
an A-team and raise the profile of credit
management.”
Do these issues apply to you? Rate your
HR arrangements against the criteria below
to measure how near you are to being an
A-team. Note any gaps and see the tips and
advice below about how CICM can help you
address these.
A. Job roles mapped clearly to credit controller/collector industry
recognised standards, qualifications and CICM membership,
including detailed job descriptions and personal specifications.
The new Credit Controller/Collector Apprenticeship Standards
are based on the job descriptions of some of the best credit
management and debt collection operations in the UK.
B. Job descriptions for managers and senior roles include activity
that encourages cross organisational responsibility for cashflow
management.
Place credit management at the centre of operations.
CICM membership gives access to an array of best practice
examples, many from managers of CICMQ accredited
operations
C. New starter induction programmes combine company
CICM A-Team criteria
briefings with credit and collections and role specific training.
Too often training in credit and collections teams is ‘sitting next
to Nellie’. Search the CICM Training Directory for examples
of credit management/collections specific training and
lunch time webinars. Look out next year for new online
learning for CICM members to help build specialised
knowledge.
D. New credit controller/collectors have the support of a
more experienced colleague or trainer over an initial period
who phases in more complex work as skills and experience
grow.
E. New credit controller/collectors complete an assessment of
their knowledge and skills before involvement in more critical
or customer-facing work.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / October 2017 / PAGE 14