Have The Right HR

Right Human Relations (HR) department will get the right people. The right people can make the right company. After all, what could be more important than people in the service industry and especially in the financial service industry?

In finance business, any wrong decision could put the company 3 years backwards, because the average term of any loan is about three years. To clean up any bad loan will take an average term of 5 years, given more attention to the problems consistently and continuously.

Bad decision is possible by even good people; wrong people can only take wrong decisions.

There was a company which wanted to get into truck finance business after achieving a leadership position in car finance market ( it is different story that the company had lent at an interest rate lower than its weighted cost of funds, to achieve the coveted position). HR was asked to hire people from the leader in truck finance (located in South India). HR was forced to quicken the process. They finally managed to get about 4 manager type people. They brought another set of people to which HR gave a free hand. All are from the same company. The company had to face huge losses from this portfolio because of bad policy and fraudulent transactions; culture of previous company may have to be probably blamed.

Moral is that the company can force HR to recruit quickly, but not insist on recruiting from one company. People who leave a good company are the ones who could not match the speed of the company or are misfit to its culture. HR needs to be careful when a group of people from a single company approach for employment.

HR people need to be highly knowledgeable about the business of the company. At least, they must have an attitude to learn quickly. I had a business relationship with a product head (from IIM) in a finance company and I was surprised to see him as an HR head a few years later in another finance company which had a Singapore partner in the recent past. I was too happy to find a line manager in HR. I have heard that he is doing a good job in terms of recruiting the right people and retaining good talent. Hope the company does better in near future.

HR people really set the culture for the company by doing the right kind of induction. Many a time, the very people were found to be with questionable integrity. They must not only be good but appear to be good.

Selection only based on telephone interview may have to stop; detailed personal interviews will only reveal the level of knowledge, skills and more importantly attitude. Additionally, more specialized, internet based,  professional skill and attitude tests may be conducted for mangers, to ensure the right fit.

My experience with another HR person is bothering; he has been honest with very high integrity. Over the years, I have seen this person turning flexible and today he is at ease with people with questionable integrity.

"Who is perfect?”, he asks.

If the current corporate culture can spoil such a regid and perfect person in about a decade, I have a reason to believe strongly that the culture and ethos in corporate world is getting worse at increasing rate.

Who will stem the rot but HR?

Tips To Make Your Contact Successful

PREPARE:

Review the paperwork, number of days past due and contact history on the debtor before making the call. Know the history of the account, credit record, and the promises kept/broken. Have all records in front of you, ready for reference.

ATTITUDE:

Adopt a straight, professional business-like attitude. You have a contract, money is owed, payment is overdue and you have a right to expect payment. Never let it become personal. Don't yell or raise your voice; and never swear. Don't threaten; legal action is your recourse.

CONTACT:

Make sure you're talking to the right person. Don't let the individual brush you off with "You'll have to talk to the accountant" Identify the person who will pay the installments. If you can't get through after several calls, tell the secretary that you know your calls are being screened. Indicate the purpose of your call and if necessary give timelines.

CONTROL:

Control the conversation. Keep it focused on the debt and on the repayment schedule. Don't let the customer sidetrack you with personal history, excuses, etc. Remember, the object of your call is to collect money, or get a commitment, not to become friendly with the customer or win arguments.

FLEXIBLE:

Be ready to adjust to the situation. Think about the kind of customer you're dealing with and adapt to meet the circumstances. Be prepared to accept a reasonable payment schedule, and a willingness to deal with a customer's circumstances.

NOTES/ CONTACT/ INTERACTIVE HISTORY:

Keep detailed, accurate notes of every contact with the customer. Probe for further information on the customer through field executives. Notes of these contacts will help you in subsequent phone calls, and may be invaluable in litigation. Good notes will also help in further credit decisions, or in cases where skip tracing may be needed.

PRODUCTIVE:

Keep contact brief and to the point. This is a business call, not a social one. View your efforts on a ratio of time expended to results achieved. Long conversations probably mean the customer is stalling you, or trapping you in the buddy syndrome.

PRECISE:

Never leave a contact open ended, such as "I will call you soon," or "I'll send what I can." Every contact should result in a commitment to payment or Promise-To-Pay (PTP), of a specific amount, by a specific date and the mode.

 TIME:

The longer an account is held, the less likely it is that it will be recovered. If payment or a payout is not arranged within 90 days, place the claim with a repossessing agency and/or start legal proceedings.

PLACEMENT:

Use only an agency that has an experience and practices Fair practices advised by RBI. This will insure that you're dealing with ethical professionals who are fully bonded to guarantee your remittance.