Credit Matters Blog

Monitoring the Credit or Accounts Receivable Department

Kim Radok 05 July 2011

MONITORING THE CREDIT OR ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE DEPARTENT

When you read an advertisement for a workshop “Monitoring the Credit or Accounts Receivable Department”, have  you ever thought about what actually occurs at these events?

Obviously amongst the objectives of the workshop, there will be the usual focus on reducing costs and motivating credit and accounts receivable employees into doing more with less. There is no doubt that these are worthy and necessary objectives.

However, have you ever seen included in  the stated objectives of the workshop, or in the workshop material itself, the objective of: "... adding extra value to your business?"

Regretfully, based on the material which I have seen, rarely is this objective of adding extra value to your business, one of the stated objectives of the event. Yet, is this not strange when you see in management books and business media, how you must always be looking to "... add extra value to ...?"

There are negative ramifications of this policy when there is nothing about  adding extra value.

Three major negatives come to mind in the program without an "adding to extra value" objective.

1 Without this objective, the presenters can simply prepare a lazy workshop based on standard material, presented elsewhere. There will be no material aimed at motivating the attendee in to thinking through the issues in their business. Without such reflection, there can be no improvements in existing processes or indeed, the motivation of the attendee to do more.

2 It is more than likely the material in these events will offer nothing new for an experienced attendee. Consequently, the attendee "turns off" and may become uninterested in the material presented. Even worse, the attendee may become cyncial about management's objectives in sending them to the workshop in the first place.

3 In the workshop without the value adding objective, there is no understanding for the attendees, of where they fit in to the business process. Without this understanding, employees do not see how important their work is, or even if their work is valued by management. Without such information, employees are not motivated to do more with less.

An effective workshop is one where the value added objectives are stated, in addition to the basics. We know that every workshop will always include the basics of saving costs and doing it better with less.

However, where the basics of reducing costs and doing more, are the sole objectives of the workshop, these objectives will never add value to the attendees or the presenters' customers.

Employees are not stupid, They know the basics already of saving costs and doing more with less. For goodness sake, it has been beaten in to them by all and sundry for decades now. What really motivates employees is to know how their work adds value and that they are valued by management.

May you be paid today rather than tomorrow.

Kim Radok

kim@creditmatters.com.au

www.creditmatters.com.au