Work From Home – From Perk to Necessity

Remember when giving employees the ability to occasionally work from home was considered a bonus? Something to award an employee for a job well done? Or just a way to keep employees connected through inclement weather or a child’s sick day? Well, along came COVID, and gone went the idea of allowing working from home as optional.

I’m sure this is not exactly news to you if your institution has had to hire in 2021, as the ability to work from home has become a staple in many potential employment discussions. In fact, according to a study done by the World Economic Forum, 85% of millennials stated they are happier working remotely and are ultimately more productive versus a traditional in-office setup, and 35% of them said they would be willing to leave their current job for one that would allow them to work remotely. Yikes! Basically, if your institution is not willing to entertain at least a hybrid office/home arrangement, you’re already a step behind in recruiting younger talent, and are potentially at risk of losing the talent you already have.

Luckily, one thing the last 18 months has taught us is that productivity does not have to suffer with employees working remotely. This has been proven in several studies conducted, one of which showed employees working from home are 47% more productive overall. One recent study even showed that more employees working from home will provide a 5% boost to the entire U.S. economy post-pandemic.[GM1] So, while the reason behind this seismic shift in the view of working from home was unsavory, sometimes forced change ends up being a good thing in the long run.

This change in practice has not spared the collections world, as many perspective job hunters in the industry are wondering why they shouldn’t be able to work from home as well. Like almost every other job type, the success of the work from home environment in collections comes down to technology. Unfortunately, many of the outdated collection platforms out there just do not make it feasible to allow their agents to work from home efficiently, and it has restricted the ability of the institution to offer this perk…err…necessity to their employees. A work-from-home collections platform needs to allow users all the same functionality on a laptop as they have in the office, while ensuring collection compliance is maintained.

If your current platform is holding your institution (and your employees) back, now is the time to upgrade! Coastal Outsourced Solutions has what you need. Our Collector platform is a web-based system hosted securely in the cloud, meaning agents will have access to all functionality from their company issued laptop or PC. It offers agents the ability to reach out to borrowers through dial, e-mail or SMS capability, as well as offering rule-based and on demand letters to either be printed in the office or through your organizations secure email server. For those still concerned about productivity and results, the platform also allows management to track agent activity and results, ensuring they are staying on-task even when outside of the office. Not only will this technology boost your collection team’s efficiency, but it could also be what you need to both hire and retain the talent that is driving your collections operation.

Contact Coastal Outsourced Solutions today to learn how to get started!

– Richard Fernandes