Drivers of change - be one of them

There are undoubtedly many happy to fulfil roles comfortably ensconced in roles narrowed simply to risk and cash management or collection; indeed for many businesses, these remain critical elements and so they should be.

Technology drives business thought and pattern and the explosion witnessed since the arrival of the web in the late nineties has accelerated tenfold. Consumerisation and global markets are now readily accepted and the way in which a company goes about its business today is radically different to that seen prior to the arrival of mobile communications, the internet and social networks.

As companies change the way they do business so the composite elements that make up a company should consider new ways of delivering more of what they do, more cheaply, more efficiently and above all with greater value-add and delivery to business growth and profitability.

Successful companies are those that encourage and nurture an attitude in which every employee is a direct contributor to business growth and profit. This has never been more relevant and traditional roles, many of them threatened by the relentless march of technology itself, need to diversify and look at broadening the range of services they offer.

Thinking there ‘will always be a place for risk and collection’ and nothing else will eventually render the role of the Credit Manager obsolescent given the speed at which change has accelerated in the last decade. Indeed in recent years we have witnessed a gradual move away from recognized finance delivery and a progression to process delivery, more closely associated with information technology and automated systems and programs.

To remain pivotal and retain value, the credit manager of the future will need to extend the boundaries they work within even at the risk of losing the ‘credit’ tag.