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56 A CERTAIN SET OF SKILLS Servicers and lenders are looking for a combination of personal characteristics and skills when hiring. "We hire talented mortgage professionals who are making a difference in our client's businesses and in people's lives," said Eric Torigian, Chief Human Resources Officer at SitusAMC. "We focus on going and finding the best candidates who we can turn into highly engaged employees." "You have to be creative; you have to be energetic; you have to have that ambition to go the extra mile," added Michael Kittyle, CIO and EVP of Technology for BSI Financial Services. So-called "people skills" are first and foremost, said Hetzel, a sentiment that many other industry executives shared. "When I first entered the industry, my mentor told me, 'I can teach you anything in a book, but I can't teach you about people,'" Hetzel said. "You can pluck a waitress with great people skills out of a restaurant and train her to be one of the top performers in the mortgage industry. You can't teach people how to be a good person, how to concentrate on the borrower, and so on. I look for candidates who are good with people. en you have a raw piece of artwork you can turn into a masterpiece." Closely related to people skills are communication skills, which several experts cited. "We want people who can easily articulate themselves and have some defined career goals coming in," Allgood said. "ey should be looking at this as a career move and not just as a job. ey have to be clear and concise on what they want to do and where they want to go. at builds enthusiasm." ough employees will usually be part of teams, they need to have an entrepreneurial spirit as well, Cummings said. "We look for people who are motivated and run their desk like it's their own business. We want people who can work independently. We want to hire people who have that success mentality." Computer skills are essential as well. Regardless of the position, an employee will need to have knowledge of basic Microsoft programs and other computer basics so IT doesn't need to get involved in minor technical issues. ose skills became even more important during the pandemic because IT wasn't as readily available as it was in an office setting, Cummings said. "We do a lot of video interviews now," Cummings added. "If they're not navigating that well in the interview, they're probably not going to be very successful doing an eight- hour training online." DRIVERS OF SUCCESS Attracting and hiring the right people with the right skills is only part of the equation when it comes to building a successful organization. Servicers need to go further to help move performance from average to above-average, and from above- average to excellent. For SitusAMC, that process starts before the employee clocks in on his or her first day, Torigian says. "We have a whole process. Once someone signs an offer letter, they are no longer a candidate, but they are still three weeks away from Day One." e company sets in motion several processes to enable the employee to feel part of the SitusAMC community and hit the ground running. Emails, calendars, etc. are active immediately upon hire. e next day, the new hire has an assignment book, study materials, and a schedule of meetings to become acclimated to the organization, specific team, etc. e welcome team sets up a 15-minute conversation with an HR coordinator, who walks the new employee through a survey that covers the recruiting process. e feedback helps the company fine-tune its process. HR will also ask for references from the new employee to help expand its recruitment pool. A few days later, the new hire receives an email from the HR business partner overseeing the new hire's department (i.e., residential real estate), explaining the onboarding process, and introducing the team. ere might be a follow-up meeting at a coffee shop to help the new hire feel part of the team before his or her first day of work. ere will be additional one-one-one meetings on the first day. Follow-ups will occur at the end of the first week, month, quarter, and year. Cherry Creek Mortgage employs a "culture index" that has served as a good predictor of success, said Katy Uhl, Chief Human Resources Officer. Cherry Creek's culture index helps the lender see pre- "You have to be creative; you have to be energetic; you have to have that ambition to go the extra mile." —Michael Kittyle, CIO and EVP of Technology, BSI Financial Services Cover Story By: Phil Britt

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