Hiring competent and dedicated talent in the collections and ARM industry is going through a significant change – with more companies trying to attract and hire diverse candidates and a new generation entering the workforce – GenZ. However, the way that companies hire and retain talent now must undergo a significant overhaul as the younger workforce values one aspect above everything else – work-life balance. GenZ collectors and employees are geared towards agencies and like to work for companies that understand the need to be productive with a balance between their professional and personal lives. Hiring managers need to know how to employ a generation of GenZ workers while maintaining this employment standard.
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According to a study by Gallup, 31% of millennials and Gen Z workers are actively engaged with their work. However, a more exciting statistic that needs to be considered is that most Gen Z people like to work in an environment where they do not have to settle for anything. With a new workforce entering the debt collection and ARM industry, collection managers must ensure that GenZ workers feel valued and appreciated at their jobs. People need to focus on their personal goals before they can sit in and dial one hundred calls. More GenZ workers are likely to stay in their line of work if it enables them to maintain their work-life balance.
In addition, Genz workers don’t merely want to come to a job and punch in meaningless numbers; they are motivated to go to work if they can find community within their workspace and a cause to work towards, says James Taylor of RGS Financial. The question remains: Are hiring managers changing their company culture and valuing someone’s talent more than their ability to withstand long working hours, which are more about performance than productivity? If not, debt collection companies will soon become another assembly line of workers who accomplish less and waste more of their energy. Gen Z is compassionate about their work and wants to invest their time where their input can make a change.
Re-Orienting Company Goals in Debt Collection
Gen Z workers are motivated to work in an environment where they can change people’s lives. Suppose debt collection agencies are not capitalizing on the empathetic nature of their workforce. In that case, they are missing a significant asset that can transform their collection strategies and reverse some of the damage to the reputation of the debt collection. Suppose collection agencies can re-orient their company objectives to helping businesses reclaim their lost revenue. In that case, this reflects meaning for GenZ debt collectors to invest their time and energy into recovering debt for their clients.
Making empathetic collections a part of your business goals is a sure-shot way of encouraging Gen Z collectors to contribute meaningfully to their roles. This generation values compassion and understanding more than higher promotions. It would be more likely to stay in a job that could change people’s lives rather than raking in profits and making cash. Debt collection is a success-based industry where profits grow with successful and empathetic collection strategies that value consumers and clients. Collection agencies need to train their new collectors on collecting empathetically, listening to the consumers to figure out unique solutions to their financial problems, and devising payment options that cater to all kinds of consumers.
Balance is Key – Flexibility is the Way for It
Hiring a new generation of people entering the workforce means that old ways of hiring and retaining employees must change. Gen Z workers value opportunities where they have greater control over their work hours and can prioritize their personal lives alongside their professional ones. Post-pandemic, almost 73% of workers in the United States would like to work remotely or have more flexible working hours. More people in the U.S. now prefer to have the option to work remotely as it allows them to maintain a balance between their professional and personal lives.
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Almost 57% of remote workers reported higher job satisfaction than in-house workers. Collection managers can use this statistic to shift their work strategies to incorporate innovative ways of managing collections remotely by enforcing better data security protocols and electronic communication tools that allow more people to work remotely or at least adopt a hybrid work model. Collection agencies need to figure out ways to train remote employees and provide them the tools they need to succeed in their remote work as well as in-house with properly thought-out policies for Remote employee management.
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While debt collection is not a traditionally remote-work-friendly job, there are still steps that collection managers can take to ensure that their younger workforce feels valued and adequately compensated for the work that they put in. Providing sick leave, mental health days, adequate paid time off, and maternal and paternal leave are ways companies can balance work and personal lives for Gen Z workers.
Younger workers seldom stay at a job that rewards burnout and overworking, and they prefer to be in a company with excellent project management and a tiered chain of command so that work can be done productively without burning the candle at both ends. Most company owners often consider Gen Z workers unreliable because they refuse to stretch themselves thin. However, that attitude indicates that companies need to change their policies around their work culture and incorporate balanced, healthier practices that allow younger workers to excel at their jobs without compromising the work-life balance.
Training and Professional Development Initiatives
Another way that collection managers can prioritize the growth of their younger workforce is to allow them to grow in their roles and jobs. Gen Z will be nearly 30% of the workforce by 2025. With a large chunk of your workforce comprised of young workers, collection agencies must create value for debt collectors who aspire to do more than dial calls and recover debt. Genz collectors are more likely to stick to their jobs if they know management is committed to their professional development and growth.
Implementing training and re-skilling programs can benefit employees, especially debt collectors who need insights into connecting with consumers and devising helpful and effective collection strategies. Providing regular compliance training, negotiation training, and soft skills training allows debt collectors to hone their skills and excel as compassionate and effective workers in debt collection and recovery.
Another aspect of employee training is to allow people with all kinds of educational qualifications to be eligible for work and grow their careers alongside their work. Currently, most businesses have a four-year college degree requirement, which excludes talented people from the workforce because they need the necessary college degree. But now more than 100 US companies, including IBM, have pledged to do higher-wage jobs with the promise of a stable career path more accessible for people without a bachelor’s degree as well so they can enter the workforce and show their potential without having to fulfill a requirement that may not make any difference to their actual competency.
Companies need to provide opportunities to their employees to grow within their roles, especially if they have the necessary skills without having the quintessential degree to back up their skills. In debt collection, most people learn on the job and hone their skills as they go on; relying on the qualifications of someone’s degree means that many people with the potential to be great collectors are left out of the pool. Gen Z appreciates the ability to learn on the job and increase their expertise and would be more drawn to debt collection opportunities where they can learn and have good mentorship.
Providing Remote Work opportunities to Gen Z Workers
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When looking for the best people to hire for your company, you must understand that retaining them requires you to develop some organizational strategies. There needs to be a more inclusive effort to accommodate all kinds of employees, including the newest generation, to enter the workforce. With nearly 30% of the workforce comprising Gen Z, debt collection agencies and other companies need to be mindful of strategies that will help retain them and keep them satisfied at their jobs. Combining all the above techniques can help maintain a more diverse, young, and energetic workforce that will be excited to work with you. In the coming years, Gen Z will be the primary workforce, and hiring managers need to ensure that they can provide adequate work-life balance, work flexibility, and sufficient inclusivity and meaning to continue building a diverse and dynamic workforce. Hiring Gen Z workers in the field of debt collection and other sectors means that the rise of remote work will be inevitable, and companies will have to devise strategies to accommodate remote work systems that can offer more flexibility. As more freelancers like to have more flexibility in their work schedules, hiring remote talent will become an ultimate need soon as well.
Remote Scouts understands that finding the best team players is an ongoing struggle for many companies that may need help understanding how to find the ideal debt collectors for their companies. But we know what it takes to find, train, and integrate top talent into your company without an external bias influencing your decisions. Skill and talent are above everything else when hiring GenZ; they are the most tech-savvy generation, open to innovation and progress. Suppose collection managers can understand how to harness their capabilities. In that case, they may be looking at a fresh new population of debt collectors that can transform the debt collection industry to become profitable and life-changing for its clients and consumers. Trust Remote Scouts to find talented young people who will add value to your business if you know how to engage them and give them meaning in working with you. The future of the debt collection workforce is bright, when will you be jumping into finding the right fit for your business with Remote Scouts?
