Retaining Good Employees and Motivating Staff in Tough Economic Times

The collections industry has certainly seen easier times than the current economic and fiscal climate.  With escalating consumer debt and an economic recession still keeping many debtors unwilling or unable to pay their bills, employees of the collections industry face difficult and demanding shifts dealing with people who are both stressed and distressed.  So in the midst of all that stress, how do you motivate your employees to stay in the industry without running away as fast as they can? 

With incentives that work, you will be able to increase the morale and loyalty of your staff members while helping them achieve greater productivity in a challenging work environment.  Although monetary rewards are usually the best incentive for employee retention and boosting morale, there are several non-monetary incentive schemes that can be used, as well, to increase your staff’s commitment to the job.  Better working conditions, better communication with management, time off and contests are always great ways to provide non-monetary incentive to your employees who perform well. 

One way to measure employee performance is “promises to pay per hour,” which involves calculating the percentages in which your employees are able to reach successful negotiations with debtors with a promise for payment.  Additional performance measures can be assessed when contractual payments are upheld by debtors, and payments are made based on a promise to pay that the employee initiated through his or her contact with the debtor.   

However, one of the best ways to provide non-monetary incentive is through greater recognition of high performance.  Publicly recognizing employees for a job well done can be one of the most effective methods to encourage employee retention and maintain positive employee motivation.  The desire to be “top dog” in a work environment will lead many employees to put their best effort toward successful collections.  Such recognition usually suggests future advancement in the company and increased wages with that advancement, so employees will look at it as a type of future monetary reward.