Our companies and the educated professional: "the challenge to succeed and excel in our profession is ours. I encourage each of us to constantly seek new ways to improve, and to make sure that our companies are aware of--and interested in--those improvements.".(member viewpoint)

As we enter the New Year, it is always a good time for reflection. We can reflect on our continuing growth as a credit professional, but we can also reflect on the way businesses are reacting to that growth. In today's ever-changing business environment still active with downsizing and layoffs, it is important for us to consider how our employers are viewing us and what we are doing to further our value to them. Companies seem to be more aware of the importance in getting and keeping qualified employees. Cal Byle, CCE once remarked, "The only thing worse than training your people and losing them is not training them and keeping them." I am in complete agreement with that astute observation and businesses are becoming more attuned to how true a statement it is.

When I began my career as a credit professional, many employers were not actively interested in helping us to learn more about our profession. It was up to us to seek out seminars and workshops to aid us in our growth. Fortunately, NACM and CFDD were there and willing to be of assistance. It was NACM that began to offer to its members the CBA and CBF designations over 50 years ago, followed by the CCE designation over 30 years ago. Now, over 4,500 of our fellow credit professionals hold these prestigious designations.

What does earning one mean to us? To me, it denotes someone who is interested in their profession and in mastering its many complex issues. It speaks of someone who is both motivated and accomplished. It demonstrates someone who is staying current with the expanding knowledge of credit management skills. It identifies an individual who is actively working to maintain the highest standards possible in the credit field. Everyone should be interested in these goals and in becoming the best that they can be in their profession.

If you are not currently working on a professional designation, now is a perfect time to reflect on why not. If you have a CBA, are you now attending the classes necessary to sit for the CBF? If you have the CBF designation, when is your projected date to sit for the CCE? The world is rapidly changing around us, and we must be ready to meet the new challenges. Continuing education should be a constant in our lives. As CFDD National Chairman, I chose as my theme The Journey Toward ...