Top Mortgage Employers reveal their recruitment and retention strategies
The once red-hot housing market is now in a recession. Anxiety runs high across all levels of organizations as companies either prune their workforce or halt their hiring efforts to survive this downturn. Managing remaining employees and keeping them engaged during these stressful times has become more imperative than ever. So, what should employers do to ensure employee satisfaction?
To answer this burning question, Mortgage Professional America asked representatives of some of the country’s top mortgage employers: Erica LaCentra, chief marketing officer at RCN Capital, Chelsea Balak, VP of operations at Wemlo, and Paul Buege, CEO and president of Inlata Mortgage.
“It sounds really small of a tip, but keep your employees engaged,” Balak said. “And I know it can be tough, especially in a remote environment and having to keep things fresh and starting to just figuring that out, and how to do it with your organization. But we implement frequent opportunities for our processors to share insight from the field, which is super helpful for them. It helps them stay engaged.
“They’re making changes within our technology, and then they get to see the implementations of the growth of the technology through input that they had brought forth. So just keep them engaged, figure out what that special part is for your organization, and I promise you you won’t lose your good talent because they’ll be so invested in the organization and its growth.”
One of the things Inlanta Mortgage does to retain top talent, according to Buege, is conduct employee surveys and interviews.
“Everyone has a list,” he said. “It’s maybe five points in that list - one is always benefits. Compensation too, and other ones that are always big is my relationship with my direct manager. Are they present? Are they going to help me? And most certainly, the peer group that you work with: do I work in a company where people are supportive and helpful to each other? But the one we see, and it’s the leader on that short list that we see repeatedly over and over, is receiving genuine appreciation for the work that one does.
Read more: Revealed: MPA’s Top Mortgage Employers 2022
“There are so many things that companies can do, and it works - robotic ways of showing things to employees, birthday cards annually, things like that. It’s all a part of it. But by receiving genuine appreciation in the act of doing greatness, that’s the one that we see over and over. That’s what keeps me at Inlanta. The fact that I’m never taken for granted, I’m truly appreciated. And that’s what we think is the big differentiator.”
In addition to keeping open the lines of communication with their employees, LaCentra advises organizations to be transparent.
“Create an environment where their hard work is recognized and allow employees to see the impact that they are actually having on the organization so that they’re engaged, and they feel like they’re actually making a contribution as opposed to just another cog in the machine,” LaCentra said. “And I think when it comes to keeping lines of communication open as well, companies need to be able to adapt to employee needs. Companies need to be able to adapt to what their employees want and make sure that they’re staying happy with their time at their organization.”
You can watch the full power panel interview here and check out the Top Mortgage Employers 2022 list here for free.
