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63 and strategies for success. Indeed, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests organizations that prioritize diversity and inclusion perform better than organizations that lack diversity. McKinsey & Company, which has been studying workplace diversity for the past several years, has found that organizations that rank in the top 25% in terms of gender and ethnic diversity typically perform better than companies that ranked in the bottom 25%. In addition, companies that were racially more diverse were 35% more likely to outperform other companies. WHAT SERVICERS SHOULD BE DOING Clearly, the need and the value of diversity in the servicing industry is more evident than ever. e question for many organizations is how they can further improve opportunities for African Americans and other minorities to advance their careers and move up into leadership positions or the C-suite. While there is a growing number of resources available to help women and minority mortgage industry professionals advance their careers, the bottom line is that change needs to start with the organization. Our company founders at BSI Financial, for example, have always believed in the principles of diversity, inclusion, and tolerance, and they are central to how we hire, retain, and develop our people. But in order for these beliefs to mean anything, they need to be put into action. Another obstacle to change is that many organizations look at diversity and inclusion as the same thing, but they're not. Diversity applies to how people are represented in an organization; it's more of a state of being. Inclusion, on the other hand, refers to engaging people in how organizations are run. According to a recent study published in the Harvard Business Review, increasing diversity doesn't necessarily lead to inclusion. Researchers found that few minorities in positions of senior leadership will sponsor lower level employees of the same gender or ethnicity because they fear being perceived as giving special treatment to others or that the people they sponsor won't "make the grade." Organizations can increase inclusion by ensuring that minority employees feel empowered to speak up, knowing that they will be heard. Another way is to empower employees to make decisions, provide constructive feedback, and share the credit when there are successes. According to the Harvard study, 87% of employees who say their leaders exhibit these traits say they feel welcome and included on their teams and feel free to express their opinions, while 74% believed their ideas are heard and recognized. According to the Center for Talent Innovation analysis mentioned earlier, one reason African American professionals were having trouble advancing into leadership positions was a lack of facetime with senior management. One way any organization can improve inclusion is by holding regular conversations with their employees and managers in which their work is recognized and their input on key business decisions is sought. is can be followed up by extending opportunities to all staff to grow beyond their current roles by providing continuing education and mentoring opportunities. While there are variances between different segments of the housing economy, overall, most mortgage servicers are still falling short of their goals when it comes to diversity in the C-suite, particularly when it comes to African American representation. ankfully, there are more strategies and resources available to change this picture. All we need to do is use them. Allen Price is an SVP at BSI Financial, a provider of mortgage servicing and special servicing, loan quality control, REO and asset management services, and life-of-loan performance reporting. Price has 20 years' mortgage servicing experience and has held executive positions at RoundPoint Financial Group, ServiceLink, and NationStar Mortgage. He can be reached at aprice@bsifinancial.com. Another obstacle to change is that many organizations look at diversity and inclusion as the same thing, but they're not.

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