Best Places to Work in Collections:Survey Trends from 2008-2013

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Best Places to Work in Collections Page | 1 © 2014 insideARM.com Survey Trends From 2008-2013

Copyright © 2014 insideARM.com. All rights reserved.

NOTICE:

This is not a free whitepaper. This report is offered for sale by insideARM.com. Purchase of this report

entitles the buyer to share this information only within the purchaser’s single company entity.

insideARM.com

Phone: 240.499.3834

E-mail: editor@insideARM.com | Website: www.insideARM.com

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Best Places to Work in Collections Page | 2 © 2014 insideARM.com Survey Trends From 2008-2013

Table of Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................3

About the Employee Benchmark Survey .............................................................................................4

Employee Benchmark Survey: Small Company Takeaways ..................................................................5

Employee Benchmark Survey: Medium Company Takeaways ..............................................................7

Employee Benchmark Survey: Large Company Takeaways ..................................................................9

Leadership and Planning .................................................................................................................. 10

Corporate Culture and Communications ........................................................................................... 13

Work Environment ........................................................................................................................... 18

Relationship with Supervisor ............................................................................................................ 20

Training and Development ............................................................................................................... 22

Pay and Benefits .............................................................................................................................. 25

Overall Employee Engagement ......................................................................................................... 28

About the Employer Benchmark Survey ............................................................................................ 30

Top 10 Benefits ................................................................................................................................ 31

Healthcare ....................................................................................................................................... 32

Tuition Reimbursement ................................................................................................................... 33

Bonuses/Incentives .......................................................................................................................... 34

Retirement Savings: 401(k)/403(b) Offerings .................................................................................... 35

Telecommuting ................................................................................................................................ 36

Compressed Work Week .................................................................................................................. 36

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) ................................................................................................. 37

On-Site Wellness Facilities ................................................................................................................ 38

On-Site Fitness/Wellness Program .................................................................................................... 38

Cafeteria/Meal Subsidies, Free Snacks/Drinks .................................................................................. 39

Domestic Partner Benefits ................................................................................................................ 40

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) ..................................................................................................... 40

Appendix A: Text Answers ................................................................................................................ 42

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Best Places to Work in Collections Page | 3 © 2014 insideARM.com Survey Trends From 2008-2013

Introduction

Best Places to Work in Collections started in 2008 as a collaborative project between insideARM.com

and Best Companies Group to highlight excellent workplace practices in the debt collection industry.

When the survey was first conducted, 25 companies made the cut. But as the program has grown and

evolved, more companies have proven themselves as exemplary workplaces; in 2013, 35 small, medium

and large ARM companies made the cut.

Best Places to Work in Collections is a two-part survey program. First, employers provide information on

workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics (Employer Benchmark Survey).

Then, employees complete a survey that measures the employee experience (Employee Benchmark

Survey). The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking. Any number of

companies can make the overall list of Best Places to Work in Collections, but there is only one “winner”

per category.

To be eligible, companies must:

Be a for-profit or not-for-profit business

Be a publicly or privately held business

Have a facility in the United States

Have at least 15 employees in the United States

Must be in business a minimum of 1 year

Must be a collection agency/collection law firm to participate

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25

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35

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Best Places to Work Winners

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Best Places to Work in Collections Page | 4 © 2014 insideARM.com Survey Trends From 2008-2013

Best Companies Group measured company size by the number of employees. Small companies

employed between 15 and 75 people, medium companies had anywhere from 50-249 employees, and

large companies employed more than 250 people.

In the Employer and Employee Benchmark Surveys, Best Companies Group focused on the employees

who said they agreed “somewhat” or “strongly” with the question prompts. These answers will be

referred to as “positive” responses.

The goal of this report is to explore the specific benefits and policies that are prioritized by employees

and employers, and how they impact a company’s odds of being named one of the Best Places to Work

in Collections.

About the Employee Benchmark Survey

Best Companies Group used the same Employee Benchmark Survey from 2008-2013. Employees

responded to a series of prompts in eight different categories. These responses were then used to

calculate an average score for each category, as well as an average score for the whole survey. The

categories were:

Leadership and Planning

Corporate Culture and Communications

Role Satisfaction

Work Environment

Relationship with Supervisor

Training and Development

Pay and Benefits

Overall Employee Engagement

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2013-12-best-places-report-cover20140207 BPTW Report20140207 BPTW Text Answers