Talking to a colleague today, we were discussing a large agency that not only makes the collectors pay the fees for their provincial licenses, but also has them pay for their headsets as well. I think that’s crazy, cheap, and short sighted, and frustrates me beyond end. It’s like making the accountant in your company pay for his pencils, or telling your administrative staff to go buy their own reams of paper.
Let’s look
at what it costs to license a collector across Canada -- even if Ontario wasn’t
fazing out the collector license, the biggest provincial costs are $72 per year
for the Alberta collector license, $190 every 2 years for the Ontario license,
and $208 per year for the BC agent license … so rolling in the other, smaller
provincial fees, you are probably looking at $600 per year for a collector
licensed across Canada. That’s $50 per
month. After January 1st, when
Ontario no longer requires individual collectors to be licensed, it goes down
to $510 per year or $42.50 per month.
If a
collector is licensed nationally, and breaks a headset every three months, at worst
you are looking at the cost being under $1000 a year. Compared to a modest salary, that’s 3% on top
of their salary expenses. If they are a
successful collector consistently earning a commission, it may be even less
than 1%. Why would you potentially alienate
your staff, not create a supportive environment, and nickel and dime your
workforce to save such a small amount?
Giving a staff
member the tools they need to succeed is the employer’s responsibility – that means
paying for licenses, headsets, decent computers, ergonomic chairs, and if they
want or need them, footrests, standing keyboards, coffee and tea, snack trays, company
parking spots, training allowances, health benefits, pensions, and any other
perk you can think of. It’s not only ethically
responsible, it shows you are investing in your team, that you care about their
wellbeing, and that the employer and employee are working together towards a
mutual goal.
Imagine you
have a staff member making $2600 a month and being forced to pay for their
licenses and headsets, and a staff member making $2500 a month and not having
to – who is going to feel more supported?
Who is going to stay with the company, and who is going to leave when a
better job comes along? Is it worth
saving $2 a day in costs per employee? What
value does the employer put on staff morale or company culture?
This is the
environment in some collection agencies in Ontario now … now imagine what is
going to happen January 1st, when Ontario’s minimum wage goes from
$11.60 to $14.00 an hour? Employers are going to be paying $3.40 an hour
or an additional $27 per day (more like $32 after you add in source deduction
contributions from the employer). Is saving
$2 a day by making collectors paying for licenses and headsets going to make
any difference to the bottom line? Or
will it become even more egregious as employers attempt to make staff bring
their own pencils and pay $60 per month for their parking spot and $1 per
coffee in an attempt to defray the cost of people working for them.
First and
foremost, I’ve been a collector, and I’ve worked in some stressful environments
over the years – I’ve been forced to pay for coffee and parking, and I’ve seen
hard working collectors been taken advantage of because the employer sees them
as an expendable resource – someone else is always looking to be hired to fill
empty seats because people don’t stay. In
those environments, the collection staff had a rotating door with new staff
members constantly coming and going. And
across the building, I’ve seen IT managers that were overpaid and underworked,
in another department there were too many administrative staff, back on the collection
floor in corner offices there were supervisors reviewing notelines without
contributing to the bottom line, telephone costs were in the thousands every
month, and collection software was costing hundreds or thousands of dollars
every month in licensing and support. As
a collector, I think you could improve efficiencies on a far greater scale by
looking at software, administration, sales, and technology, and making smart
business decisions. Collectors drive a
collection agency, generate the revenue that is needed to operate, and they are
the nucleus of a successful agency – if you don’t appreciate them, and make
them feel wanted and supported, at least as much as the other departments in
your company, you are cutting off your own nose to spite your face. Looking at the ‘collectors pay for their
licenses’ environment example above, I’m betting at this same company the IT
staff are not charged for the software licenses, and the sales staff are not
forced to pay for Salesforce or their business cards.
Businesses
should be smart about costs – they are easily controlled. But smart doesn’t mean stingy, vindictive,
mean, or short-sighted. Sometimes investing
in your staff is the best thing you can do.
Buying nice chairs might mean less sick days, paying health benefits
might mean your employee turnover might be reduced by 5%, giving flex time or paid
time off might mean staff put in some extra time in the evening or on a Saturday
when you don’t ask them to.
Here are
some interesting articles on company culture that touch on cost and benefit,
and name top Canadian employers and what they do for their employees:
https://hbr.org/2017/03/why-do-employees-stay-a-clear-career-path-and-good-pay-for-starters
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-one-office-perk-you-must-splurge-on-2011-3
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/top-employers/canadas-top-100-employers-make-their-workplaces-exceptional/article21427767/
If you have a horror story to share, or a support tool that you pay for your employees, I’m always interested to hear it – if we talk, we make our industry better, not just for the collectors, but our companies as a whole …
Thanks very
kindly,
Blair
DeMarco-Wettlaufer
KINGSTON
Data & CreditCambridge, Ontario
226-946-1730
bwettlaufer@kingstondc.com
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