The CIBA Vision: credit department story.(member news)

After joining CIBA Vision almost two years ago as North America Credit Manager, I realized the team needed refresher courses in credit, collections and general accounting principles. CIBA Vision's corporate policy supports training for all of its employees, and requires each Finance Division employee to complete annually 30 hours of training, as part of their Key Performance Objectives. As a result of my interest in seeking formalized training for the staff and the corporate training requirement, I approached my manager, Jacqueline Hillman, and explained my goals for the team. She immediately agreed to support the initiative because the training would serve two purposes:

1) provide formalized training for the team, and

2) satisfy the Corporate KPI goals.

In order to encourage participation the classroom, training had to be convenient and flexible for everyone. I contacted NACM-SE regarding the development of an in-house program. NACM-SE supported our efforts and agreed to look for an instructor that was willing to come to our office. After contacting our assigned instructor, Fred Mansky, and learning that he was flexible and willing to work within everyone's schedule, we opted to bring the classes to CIBA Vision's corporate site on Tuesday evening from 6-9pm.

Our goal was to have all 14 credit analysts complete the program in order to sit for the CBA Exam. We started the first course, Principles of Business Credit, with 19 ...