Even if you are adequately staffed, these should be part or your playbook

In our most recent Staff Benchmarking Survey, we asked a simple question that we hadn't asked the last time we did this survey four years ago:

Do you feel your staffing is adequate?

Surprisingly, three out of four respondents told us that they are adequately staffed.

We say "surprisingly" because we know for a fact that the credit profession as a whole is busier than ever and we often hear about how everyone's been cut to the bone and beyond.

On the other hand, that still means one out of four believe they are not being given the human resources to get their jobs done properly. That's pretty significant.

Our follow-up question in the survey asked what strategies respondents are using to cope if they are understaffed.

We compared the results of that question to other data generated by the survey and came up with the following best practices for getting the most out of your human resources when managing credit, collections, and A/R.

Also, it's very important to note that even if you do feel you have adequate resources to get your job done properly, it's absolutely critical to always look for ways to be more efficient. And these five strategies are as good a template as you'll find for that goal.

1. Evaluate where you are allocating your staff's efforts

2. Give special attention to transaction processing -- external service providers or automation tools can free up your staff to make better use of their skills

3. Leverage your staff's abilities by providing them with clerical support

4. Work with the other departments involved in the order-to-cash process to streamline order and account management duties

5. But most of all, don't just accept the status quo. Tough times provide an opportunity to prove your value to your organization. Do an outstanding job now, and you may be surprised at the rewards that you may realize when things improve.

Now, you might think these are simple. And really, in a way they are.

But actually implementing these on a consistent basis is harder than it looks, even for those humming along smoothly today.