Turnover in the mortgage industry is high, which leads to a variety of issues for both the employer and mortgage originators. Whether you are working for a large
national or international bank or a small local mortgage company, people and relationships are vital to
business success, which means a high turnover rate
can be a drag on growth.
If the mortgage industry wants to stem rampant
turnover and continue to expand, change must first
come at the company level. In this current climate,
especially as recruiting efforts are at an all-time high
with a strong focus on attracting young originators
from the ranks of the millennials, a seismic shift needs
to happen to respond to the changing expectations
of employees.
The mortgage industry is a behemoth, with U.S.
home mortgage debt totaling in excess of $10 trillion.
Competition for borrowers and talent alike is fierce,
however. Determining what really works when it
comes to attracting and retaining top talent, then, is
a challenge that must be met, if a mortgage company
hopes to compete effectively.
Don’t disappoint
The performance of a mortgage company’s loan originators is often a main determining factor of whether
borrowers will come back to the company again and
again for their borrowing needs. Consequently, recruiting top originators is a goal everyone in the industry is focused on.
The common recruitment techniques normally involve promising originators big checks, written upfront, with the objective of getting those originators
to move their business to the mortgage company
doing the recruiting. Along with that big check normally come promises of better back-end service and
career-growth opportunities.
Nearly everyone recruiting originators says the same
things, and it all sounds fantastic. So, why is there so
much turnover? The problem is that even though the
same promises are echoed by many companies in the
recruiting phase, in a lot of instances, those promises
are never kept after a hire is made.
Some originators, for example, move their entire book
of business and staff to a new company based on prom-
ises of greater marketing assistance and support only to
find that they are given the same set of tools every other
mortgage originator has at their disposal, and then they
are expected to achieve within that limited framework.
To go from autonomy and a position of respect for
being a top producer in one shop to being forced
into a system where you became just another number doesn’t feel right and, ultimately, that disappointment leads to more turnover. From existing top
performers to lower-producing originators that still
show great potential, if mortgage companies hope to
attract and retain that talent, it is important for them
to understand what creates the ideal work environment for originators.
Amy Tierce is vice president of sales and marketing
at Mortgage Equity Partners and a 30-year real estate
industry veteran. In 2005, she opened the first branch in
the Northeast for Fairway Independent Mortgage. As a
regional vice president at Fairway, Tierce was able to brand
and grow the regional operations to over a billion dollars
in production. She then moved to Wintrust Mortgage to
serve as a regional vice president before becoming vice
president of sales and marketing at Mortgage Equity
Partners in June of 2017. Reach Tierce at (781) 776-3024 or
atierce@meploans.com.
Recruiting the Best
Requires Commitment
Top originators want companies to keep their promises and to reward good work
By Amy Tierce
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