DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/1513081
December 2023 » thefivestar.com 55 December 2023 T H E P O I N T utilize a lot of them during the return to the office. And as I noted before, when we invest in our people it translates into better results all around, which is why we have continued to see our already best-in-class numbers continue to rise. Q: One area we've heard servicers suggest there is room to innovate is in the mobile experience. Is that a focus area for Servbank as well, or are there other tech or innovation areas that are being prioritized right now? Servbank has always been on the cutting-edge of technology, and we haven't stopped. We are tireless in the efforts we put into these endeavors. We are always looking for ways to best meet the customer where they are at, or rather, where they want us to be. We con- tinue to expand the ways we can provide for customers to self-service, and not only is that a positive for us resource-wise and timewise, but most of the customers, quite frankly, prefer to communicate with us in this manner. Anything that we can offer our customers to make their lives easier, to help them communicate in a way they feel comfortable with—whether that be text messages, email, notifications on our customer website, or our mobile app—we want to make sure that the customer is communicated with in a way that they feel most comfortable with. I must confess, I am that customer. I do not like talking on the phone outside of work. I cherish that time to spend with my family, so if there is something I can jump onto a mobile app or website to handle, I am going that route. Q: You mentioned your focus on developing leaders. What does that look like? What are the programs or practices that you are leveraging to empower that goal? One of our four core values at Servbank is "Inspiring Leadership." It's infused in our DNA and critical to what we do and what we want to achieve. Every leader within Servbank is empowered and given the latitude to have a strong focus on developing the next line of leaders. We host unique events like our Women's Leadership Forum that meets monthly to discuss various topics unique to our women's leaders. The Forum includes members that are both from the company's leadership, as well as non-leadership. Everyone has a voice and participates. Obviously, I'm not invited to those. [laughs] (as I reference before, we are always investing in our people). As you know, having quality future leaders starts with the way that you hire. As such, we hire team members who live our core values first and foremost. We hire for character and train for skill. When you hire that way, we find that most of our peo- ple strive for more, to be the best version of themselves, that they desire to elevate. It is not uncommon to hear our approach and come to us directly and say "I live these core values. I live inspiring leadership. I want to develop myself into that next level of leadership." That part is on our current leaders to pour back into them. Just from a super- visor level, to give you an example, my expectation is that they spend the majority of their day doing coaching or some type of coaching activity. That can be anything from doing one-on-ones to just meeting and mentoring people on their team, but it is the emphasis on coaching from every level. For myself, for the managers, and for the people whom I report to, time is put into every level of development for everybody. When that effort is put in on all levels, we get the results I outlined above. Our clients get a level of collaboration and service that is outstanding. And the key to this is that it starts with and is reinforced from the top. That is why our Chief Servicing Officer, Jason Kwasny, personally holds both companywide and department-based development forums. He also holds direct development one-on- ones. This consistent investment in leader- ship trickles down from there. I hold them with my managers and supervisors, and so on. It is just part of the fabric of what we do, because if we value our investment in our team members, you not only get your next wave of leaders, but have happy team members. We know that happy, engaged, and caring team members translates into happy customers and an unmatched overall experience.