SAN DIEGO—Company culture is the most important element in recruiting, developing and retaining talent that will move brokerages forward, said speakers at MBA's Independent Mortgage Brokers Conference here this week. A firm's culture can mean the difference between success and failure and can be used as a selling point for recruiting and retaining strong employees.

During the session “Recruiting, Developing and Retaining Talent to Move Your Company Forward,” moderator Bill Emerson, 2015 MBA chairman-elect and CEO of Quicken Loans Inc., pointed out the difficulty of finding young talent interested in the independent mortgage brokerage business, since the average age of a mortgage broker is 54. “Where will this new group of brokers come from?” He asked panelists how they get started in the mortgage industry, and all three said the industry really found them instead of vice-versa. Most, in fact, said they had stumbled into it.

Hiring loan originators has changed over the past decade, the panelists also said. Tony Thompson, regional manager for Guaranteed Rate Inc., said that 10 years ago, “you were great because of who you knew and what you could deliver. You were comfortable with the platform, and that was enough. Now, a guy or girl 10 years into the industry is wondering if they can still be a top originator.” He pointed out that soft skills such as critical thinking are important for today's crop of originators.

Thompson added that operations people have become more important, so the ability to manage relationships is important. “The core key to success is the operations skillset.”

Susan Meitner, president and CEO of Centennial Lending Group LLC, agreed with Thompson, adding, “As soon as originators embrace technology, it will be easier for them to get along. Some of these older dogs need to do that. We need to educate the originators and the general public.”

Julie Piepho, president, national operations, for Cornerstone Home Lending Inc., said teams are more important now than in the past. “I see almost a doctor approach, what the customer contacts us through the website, we call the customer; then, the production partner goes over all the basics with the customer like a nurse would. Then, the loan officer comes in and goes over the product.” She added that she sees bigger teams vs. solo ventures as the field progresses.

When Emerson asked the panelists who is being hired—the same group of employees or a new group—and why new employees might want to be originators, Piepho said, “I'm excited about today's loan officers. They're 20- or 30-somethings who fell into it,” but want to advance. They're entrepreneurial, but they also need the relationship skills to be successful, so they're “playing baseball, softball and soccer” with customers. It's more social, and it's easier for them because it's their friends.” She also points out the importance of mentoring young talent even before they get their license.

Thompson said most brokerage firms would prefer to have a $100-million producer today rather than waiting five years for that producer to develop his skills, so there's a lack of patience at the hiring level. “Everyone is looking to grow revenue, so they hire people who have been successful in the past, but that may not be the case” in their new environment. It takes a lot of energy to get the level of production you're looking for from an employee. There will only be so many good producers five years from now, so we need to find new places to find originators.”

Meitner recommends getting creative, saying she partnered a Spanish-speaking loan processor with a seasoned originator who needed that language skill. “Trying things people haven't done before is good. If somebody hadn't taken a risk on me, where would I be today? Youth can be a good thing.”

The question of hiring from a bank or a non-bank background was raised, and Piepho said it's more common to look for an IMB with a book of business already done. A bank originator probably doesn't have the strong, outside-the-box experience necessary to be successful in the independent's environment.

“You have to understand the culture of the company and whether they're building for the long or short term,” said Thompson. “You have to understand the platform going in. If you're hiring someone from a bank, they have to have a high degree of independent business; they must be an entrepreneur and have a book of business that's time tested.”

Meitner said culture is hugely important when dealing with talent. Her firm inadvertently got testimonials from its employees on what makes its culture so special and even put a book together with those testimonials.

When considering how people want their work experience to be, Thompson said most employees today want synergy. “If I'm good, I want to go to great. Every good person wants to improve.” He added that it's important to create a positive, non-threatening, energetic environment to show new hires how you do things at your firm vs. what they may be used to doing at another firm. “You need to tell them, 'Forget everything and trust my system. If you follow this process, you will be much better than you are today.' ”