The above graph details the variance in salaries for key credit positions over the last 3 years.
What is particularly clear is that salaries are increasing as the demand for strong credit candidates continues to far exceed supply.
While always regarded as an important part of any company’s structure, the advent of the GFC at the end of 2008 brought a new perspective on just how integral a strong credit control system is for any businesses success.
As the economy retracted, and the majority of companies put a complete freeze on hiring across most disciplines, the demand for credit candidates actually increased! Cash flow became king. Many businesses became concerned about simply surviving, let alone making profit, and as a result collecting outstanding debts became a paramount focus.
Candidates who had the ability to ensure that their company’s invoices were paid were suddenly in high demand.
The perception of a credit team focusing solely on ringing clients and demanding money has long gone. There is a much greater sophistication involved in ensuring a credit process is working well. In an environment where cash flow is essential and companies have many bills to pay, building relationships with key stakeholders is an absolutely huge part of the Credit Officer’s role to ensure your invoices are the ones addressed. As a result strong interpersonal and communication skills have become prevalent when seeking such candidates. This in turn has also played a part in the increase in salaries at officer level.
Outside of simply collecting debt, and as the economy slowly began to come out of a slump, there became a greater awareness about ensuring credit systems and processes were working at an optimum. This is reflected in the increasing demand, and associated salaries, for people at a management level over the last few years. Companies have turned to experienced, talented leaders who can not only manage their staff and provide them with the necessary training and development, but who can also ensure the credit process is one that leaves the company with the minimal level of risk when dealing with their customers.
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