Effective Ways for Selecting the Right Credit Staff
You can't rely on luck, or even resumes and interviews, to select the right people for your department. You need a system for going beyond what they tell you to find out what they actually know and can do--or what they can readily be trained to do. This veteran credit manager has devised just such a system.
The new hire appeared to be "aces." She had two years of experience working at a bank and a sparkling personality. But her performance was a disappointment." Her spreadsheets didn't balance," recalls Credit Manager Deanna Marcroft of Sierra Select. "Then I assigned her a retail tax project which she didn't complete properly. She didn't follow instructions. I discovered that what I'd hired was not what it appeared."
Fortunately, this young lady came in one day to announce that she'd been offered a job elsewhere. Marcroft encouraged her to take it.
Marcroft cites this as one example of the problems that led her to make major revisions in her hiring process. "I realized that I needed to dedicate more time to doing a thorough job at the beginning," she says. "I vowed I wouldn't go through that again." It led her to devise a series of six quizzes now given to all applicants for credit department positions. Samples of two of these appear below.
Problems Inspire Quiz Questions
She explains that she used problems she'd had with actual hires to design the quizzes. "Some people just can't do the math," she says. "You assume that because they worked in accounting or they've done this or that job, they're capable of adding numbers or figuring this out. But I've found that even with this experience, the math may be a very weak skill."
There are, of course, other areas of weakness that are discovered over time. So she periodically revises the quizzes. "It's an evolving process," she says. "Every time you hit a pothole, you try to assess a way that you could have anticipated it. I'll revise or add some new items to try to filter a little better. It's not a guarantee that it will flush everything out, but it sure improves the results."
Under the hiring procedure now followed at Sierra Select, all applicants are interviewed and given the credit test in the HR department. HR makes a determination that applicants' personalities would fit in with the company, but, beyond requiring some accounting abilities, makes no judgment about their fitness for credit or accounts receivable work.
Quiz Results Help to Guide the Job Interview
When Marcroft first meets the applicant for her interview, however, she has the advantage of seeing the quiz scores. This gives her a chance to estimate whether the interviewees can do what they say they can do.
She doesn't necessarily expect stellar results. "You've got to balance out how much coaching you're going to have to do with this person," she says. "How much time will you have to spend? If someone does really poorly on the test, you're not going to want to spend a lot of time bringing them up to where they need to be. It's a way of filtering for that too."
She's particularly interested in whether the tests show the applicants pay attention to details, such as number comparisons and percentages. The Sample Situations quiz shows how their thinking processes go. Are they able to work independently? "I want to know if they're going to be interrupting me for every little thing," she says. Can they do comparisons? Are they using logic? How do they think? Where is their head?
"I've got to see where that person is and what they understand. It helps me decide how much time I'm willing to invest in this person. You can't teach personality. You can't teach certain traits, like logic. If they don't have those basic skills or traits, you're going to have a hard time overcoming that obstacle. You can teach them processes and functions."
Ability to Learn Is Key
Most new hires have things to learn, and, so long as they've demonstrated an ability to learn quickly, that's fine. Many, even those with previous experience, are not familiar with some of the items on the Credit Terminology quiz. But, periodically, when Marcroft pulls this test out and gives it to them again later, they're surprised at how much more they know.
Written Communication Skills Are Important
Along with taking the quizzes, Marcroft has applicants write a sample letter. "There's oral communication and written communication," she notes. "Many people have trouble with writing. For the sample letter, I give them the basic information and leave it up to them to write a letter.
"I might ask them to explain to a customer where a deduction problem occurred. I want the explanation to be clear. I want to see how they phrase things. Long term, that person is going to be communicating with our customers, both orally and in writing. It reflects on the company. That's not to say everyone in the company writes letters well, but you need a certain level. I don't want bad grammar or incomplete sentences."
The lack of letter-writing ability doesn't totally disqualify them. "I may choose someone else to write the letters," she says. "They may be really good at all these other skills. Then you know that you're going to have to direct that part of the activity toward someone else."
Hire in Haste, Repent at Leisure
Somewhat to her chagrin, Marcroft confirmed the wisdom of her cautious approach to hiring with a quick hire from a temporary employment agency. There had been some turnover, and she needed someone quickly. The older woman the agency sent over seemed qualified.
"I gave a brief interview," she says. "I thought she was just mentally processing a little slowly. I'd sometimes explain again and again, but it just didn't work. It was my fault. I coached and gave her the benefit of the doubt too long. Unfortunately, we didn't figure this out before we'd hired her from the agency.
"Because of her age, there were potential discrimination issues, and it took way too long to get rid of her," she says. "After she left, I found year-old credit applications in the back of her desk. I vowed I would never rush to fill a position again."
