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74 PUTTING TOGETHER THE RIGHT TEAM Many of those employees joined the company just in the last year—about 200, according to Scott Myers, EVP of operations. In fact, now that BSI is on its feet and growing, it keeps recruiters on staff whose sole duty is to bring on qualified candidates to interview. Recently, the firm has also seen some success through its internship program. rough its branch office in Titusville, Pennsylvania, BSI works with the local University of Pittsburgh campus to recruit new additions for the team. (Partly thanks to that program, BSI is one of the largest employers in rural Pennsylvania.) Many of those hires turn out to be "rock stars," as Myers described them. "ey tend to be younger, and given the opportunity, they end up flourishing," he said. "You try to build your mousetrap to let those people flourish." No matter how new employees are brought on, the first step is to get them trained on policies and procedures, a task now accomplished through comprehensive e-learning tools like Articulate. rough the software, BSI is able to train and re-train workers as new developments arise in the servicing arena, ensuring everyone is on the same page. Of course, steps are also taken to get new hires acquainted to the company's culture, including its core values. WINNING WITH HUMILITY Shortly after starting at BSI, new additions receive a wallet-sized card—almost like a credit card or driver's license—printed with their name and the date they started at the company. On the back of every card is BSI's list of core values, a sort of top-down guide for how the business and its employees are expected to act. "It's another way for us to help brand our image and set the direction that we want," Myers explained. BSI's core values largely emphasize the importance of integrity, including such tenets as "always do the right thing" and "deliver on expectations." ere is one standout, however: "win with humility." It's that modest quality, a kind of quiet confidence, that runs throughout many of the high-level conversations in the office. "In the marketplace, we're being humble. We don't make too much noise; we just kind of get on with it," Sharma said. "But when we are working, we are as aggressive as the next guy in doing our work." e mantra also applies to reflections on BSI's growth over the last decade. "I think a lot of companies get arrogant after they get successful," Sharma said. "Part of the reason why I get humble is because it's easy to say, 'Wow, you've come so far,' but the other aspect is we are so tiny in the bigger scheme of things. … No one should be thinking, 'I've arrived,' and start getting arrogant about it." On the other side of that coin is discipline. Whereas some servicers have rushed to expand as quickly as possible (often at their own peril) in recent years, BSI emphasizes a more thoughtful approach in its decision making. While that means new initiatives take longer to execute, they also come with fewer liabilities than more aggressive growth measures. "e approach has been to take measured, appropriate risks in the business," Sharma said. "We look at what we call growth initiatives, where we say, 'Here is business we are already doing. What do we need to be doing in 12, 18, 36 months, and to do that, what do we need to be doing today?" Take, for example, the company's recent venture into escrow services, also called Entra Escrow. From the idea's inception to taking the first orders, the process of researching and getting the initiative off the ground was about 20 months. "We could have done an acquisition and been in there the next week, but an acquisition of that type of business has trailing liabilities," Myers explained. "e longer [the acquired business is] open, the more there are, so we decided to do a fresh start." e process of instilling that sense of discipline throughout all levels of the company starts from the top down with comprehensive documentation of all goals and plans starting at the beginning of each fiscal year. For the management staff, performance bonuses are tied directly to goals listed in the annual plan, providing more incentive for everyone to get aligned. "At the end of the day, there has to be a written document. … Before we enter our fiscal year every year, those plans are done and are communicated," Myers said. "Once you get in the habit of documenting a written plan and then getting the execs to buy in on it, then you get collaborative down with the managers and line staff." Aside from humility and patience, BSI's success can be chalked up to three essential qualities, according to Myers: hunger, aggression, and "a healthy dose of paranoia." Sharma echoed that thought. "I find if you look at some of the big business leaders, only the paranoid survive. In our industry, there is constant change," he said. "Every three [or] four years, there is a fairly substantial change that happens. Unless you stay paranoid and focus on trying to anticipate that change, you're dead in this business. at's my view of it." GOING FORWARD As far as future plans go, Sharma and Myers both expect BSI will continue to work in special servicing for the next few years. As the mortgage market continues to grow healthier, however, businesses will need to rethink where their focuses are—and BSI is ready. "We were a performing loan servicer before we got into special servicing, so that's an area that we are now focusing on," Sharma said. Both men held their cards close to the chest on other potential directions for future growth, but they did hint at plans to get involved in more direct servicing of Fannie and Freddie assets and to build a growth initiative around new originations and GSE-type servicing. ey're also closely watching for opportunities with private-label securities, which they expect to expand amid efforts to diminish Fannie and Freddie's presence in the secondary market. Whatever the company decides to do next, Sharma doesn't expect the strategy will be any different. "What we do is relatively simple," he said. "We just need to do it appropriately and consistently." "I find if you look at some of the big business leaders, only the paranoid survive. In our industry, there is constant change. Every three [or] four years, there is a fairly substantial change that happens. Unless you stay paranoid and focus on trying to anticipate that change, you're dead in this business." —Gagan Sharma

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