Addition by Subtraction Ski Swiatkowski

Addition by Subtraction

By Ski Swiatkowski

I’m going to bring up an idea that might not be very popular with mortgage company management in the current environment. And it won’t be the first time people have thought that I’m crazy. But, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be carefully considered as a viable people strategy within the mortgage industry.

Despite health, social, political, and economic upheaval, the mortgage world recently experienced a record-setting year for revenue and profit. This was true for the vast majority of individual loan officers as well. I believe we know this was a major windfall and had little to do with good management or good origination strategy, but that is a separate discussion.

In the process of achieving this record volume, companies were falling all over themselves to find additional operational staff and loan officers, loading up to handle the massive demand and maximize the opportunity. Seems to make good sense, right?

Unfortunately, by trying to “make hay while the sun shines”, many companies were bringing on anyone and everyone in their mad dash to profits. Worse yet, many of these hires were the wrong people. I don’t just mean people who were not completely qualified for the position. I’m referring to individuals who were a bad fit for the company culture. Warning: If you are a company owner, corporate executive, or manager who is only focused on origination volume and doesn’t give much value to company culture, the remainder of this article is probably not going to resonate with you.

Several years ago, I had read about an idea Jeff Bezos introduced in the annual letter to the Amazon shareholders. His insights described an approach they were adopting which would offer employees between $2,000 and $5,000 to leave the company if they didn’t want to work there anymore. He also restated his belief in long-term market leadership and developing the right culture rather than short-term profitability. “A word about corporate cultures: For better or for worse, they are enduring, stable, hard to change,” he wrote. “They can be a source of advantage or disadvantage. You can write down your corporate culture, but when you do so, you’re discovering it, uncovering it — not creating it. It is created slowly over time by the people and by events — by the stories of past success and failure that become a deep part of the company lore.” Am I suggesting that mortgage companies should pay employees to leave? Well, ....yes.

Think about it. Right now, companies should be flush with cash. Offering a bonus for unhappy, disgruntled employees to leave would provide several benefits.

I know it was difficult to stick to your hiring standards when processing time continued to increase because of volume and your existing staff was overworked and stressed to the max. But this type of decision-making often becomes the foundation for future company problems. 12 NAMB.ORG | SPRING 2021 First, it would do the right thing for the employees. If we brought people on board during our hiring frenzy who were not a good fit and are dissatisfied with us (for whatever reason), we can now incentivize them to take the opportunity to go into the marketplace to find a

company for whom they are better suited. That’s very fair. Second, it would affirm to those who choose to stay that we expect them to actively participate in becoming part of the culture we want to create or re-shape. If we chose to tolerate those unhappy campers and let them stay, it would send a message to the remaining members of the team that we are not serious about creating the right environment.

Third, if the market situation calls for us to replace those individuals who took the offer, it allows us to go out and find the best people for the position and the culture. Regardless of the current state of our company culture, today is the best time to start upgrading our teams. Keep in mind, this will go a long way to preparing our companies for the next downturn. (Oh yeah, there’s one coming).

A few final comments. For those in ownership or management who think that their company is too small to be concerned about the culture, I say, please think again. If you haven’t already experienced it, one wrong person on a small team can have devastating consequences.

And for those individual team members (loan officers or operations staff) who are reading this piece, let me share this thought. The door works both ways. If through the recruiting mania of 2020, you find yourself in a company with a toxic culture, remember, life is too short to tolerate being miserable on the job. There are good companies out there who would love to hire another person with a good attitude. Your job is to make sure you fit the description.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on company culture and this approach to it. Reach out to me at Ski@ RadicalPerformance.net.

Ski Swiatkowski is the co-author of “Create the Change You Want to See: Key Strategies to Fuel Your Success” and co-host for the “One Idea A Day” video series: OneIdeaADay.com. Leveraging his 37-years of experience in the mortgage industry, he consults and coaches at the intersection of strategic thinking, performance improvement, and profitable leadership.

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