How Do Collection Industry Employees Feel About their Employers?

In the summer of 2009, companies from across the country entered a rigorous survey process to determine the Best Places to Work in Collections. Based on the results, we are able to identify some of the keys to what makes a company an employer of choice.  Additionally, this year we were able to compare satisfaction rates within the collections industry to those of a broader, nationwide group of employees.  The differences are enlightening, especially in the area of compensation.

The Results – Small Companies Continue to Fare Best

Companies selected as Best Places to Work received twice as many “A’s” than the participant group as a whole.  The difference is even more pronounced when looking separately at the medium and large company categories.

As they did in 2008, small companies received by far the most “A” ratings of all of the entrants, among both winners and non-winners.  There were 23 A’s (versus 35 in 2008) among the best small companies compared to 14 among large companies (15 in 2008) and 13 among medium (10 in 2008).

The areas of greatest difference among all small companies and those that were selected as winners include the number of positive responses to these questions:

• The leaders of this organization are open to input from employees
• This organization treats me like a person, not a number
• I feel I am part of a team working toward a shared goal
• My supervisor handles my work-related issues satisfactorily
• My supervisor is open to hearing my opinion or feedback
• My supervisor helps me to develop to my fullest potential
• I trust that if I do good work, my company may increase my pay
• There is room for me to advance at this organization

At firms of all sizes, employees are least satisfied in the areas of pay and benefits (no “A’s”, average 63% positive rating) and training & development (no “A’s”, average 67% positive rating).  Winning companies averaged about ten points higher in both categories.

Overall, there were fewer “A” grades in 2009 than in 2008.  This most likely reflects the realities of layoffs and the difficult conditions that plagued the economy — and as a result, the collections industry — for all of last year.

Work Environment Receives Highest Marks; Pay and Benefits the Lowest

Among participants of all sizes, both winners and non-winners, work environment gained the highest marks; with an average 85.5% satisfaction rating.  This is consistent with firms in the national pool, which also rated work environment the highest (average rating of 91%).  The difference-maker between the collections and non-collections environment seems to be in the area of noise control.  This is not surprising, given that the nature of the collections workplace requires open space with most employees on the phone at the same time.

Also consistent with firms in the national pool, the area of least satisfaction for collections employees is pay and benefits.  The average satisfaction rating among all collections participants was 63%; the average among winners was 72% — a clear differentiator.  However the more significant story is that although firms nationally also graded pay and benefits lowest, the average satisfaction rating was still 17 points higher than in the collections industry (averaging 80% among all firms and 85% among winners nationally).  See more details about the differences between collection firms and companies nationally by attending insideARM.com’s EXPO 3.0 (available until 5/16/2010).  There are informative charts and graphs already in your EXPO “Briefcase” (free registration required; when you enter the EXPO, click the tab at the top labeled “My Briefcase” and then click on the Files tab).

The Process is Rigorous

Participating employers first provided answers to a questionnaire covering their workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics (your EXPO briefcase also contains a chart with policy and practice benchmarks for the collections industry). Next, their staff was surveyed to measure the employee experience. (Read more details about the survey process.) The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking. Best Companies Group – not in any way affiliated with Kaulkin Ginsberg or insideARM – managed the overall registration, survey and analysis process and determined the final rankings.

The 25 top-ranking companies are now highlighted on insideARM.com.  Since company dynamics and resources change significantly with company size, the Best Places were categorized as small (15-74 employees), medium (76-249 employees) or large (250+ employees).

To preserve confidentiality, Kaulkin Ginsberg did not have access to individual employee responses; however, we received a significant amount of aggregated data from the survey that reveals some interesting trends among the Best Companies.  This year we also received information that allowed us to compare firms in the Collections industry to those in a general “nationwide” pool.  The nationwide pool included participants in Best Places to Work programs by geography (Alaska, Atlantic Canada, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Vermont) and by industry (Accounting, Collections, Insurance).

Employees were asked to rank approximately 70 statements on a five point agreement scale (i.e. Strongly Disagree – Strongly Agree). The results were analyzed and categorized according to 8 Core Focus Areas:

1. Leadership and planning
2. Corporate culture and communications
3. Role satisfaction
4. Work environment
5. Relationship with supervisor
6. Training and development
7. Pay and benefits
8. Overall employee engagement

In order to apply a simple method of comparison, I have identified the number of “A” grades received based on the percentage of positive responses (meaning “Agree Somewhat” or “Agree Strongly”) to the 70 statements.  90% or better earns an “A”.

The Difference Between Best Companies and the Rest of the Pack

Within the collections industry, these are the areas that made the biggest difference (at least 12% higher satisfaction) between the winners and non winners:

• The leaders of this organization care about employees well being
• There is adequate planning of corporate objectives
• There is adequate follow-through of corporate objectives
• The leaders of this organization are open to input from employees
• I have a good understanding of how this organization is doing financially
• I can trust what this organization tells me
• This organization treats me like a person, not a number
• This organization gives enough recognition for work that is well done
• Staffing levels are adequate to provide quality products/services
• I believe there is a spirit of cooperation at this organization
• I trust what the company tells me it takes to advance my career
• I trust that if I do good work, my company may increase my pay
• My pay is fair for the work I perform
• My company provides a 401k or 403b plan
• My company provides tuition reimbursement benefits

Blueprint for Improving Employee Engagement

Turnover is extremely costly in terms of time and profitability. Just like clients, it’s a lot easier and less expensive to keep current ones happy than it is to find new ones. Participation in this program can offer invaluable, detailed information about the engagement and satisfaction level of your current employees.

Although the program does require time and effort, this is an extremely cost-effective way to gather employee opinion through a third party.  This helps to ensure that the response will be candid, which is essential to giving you accurate information.

Kaulkin Ginsberg participated in a similar program in our local, Washington, D.C. area; we took the results very seriously and make regular efforts to improve based on the response we received. This is what gave me the idea to run this program for our industry.

Registration for our 2010 program will begin in late spring, and we welcome your participation. For more information and to be notified when the details for the 2010 survey are available, please visit: http://www.insidearm.com/go/best-places-to-work.

Stephanie Eidelman is the publisher of insideARM.com and also oversees all operations for Kaulkin Ginsberg. She has more than twenty years of experience in operations management and consulting, both for start-ups and large established firms. She can be reached at 240-499-3806 or by email.