In many different industries, there are certain job positions that high higher rates of turnover than average. Typically, when we think of such positions, we may think of hourly, minimum wage jobs such as food service or front line retail work. However, there certainly are more "professional" level positions that have high rates of turnover. In many fields, salespeople tend to come and go rather frequently. In the mortgage industry, we have that problem with our own salespeople: loan originators.
I am often perplexed as to why there is such a high level of turnover among loan originators. I believe that the mortgage industry can be a rewarding place to work—why do so many give up on it? Well, there could be a large number of reasons.
The mortgage industry may be a rewarding place to work, but it is also a challenging place to work. Loan originators face high levels of stress, so it makes sense that it may be too much pressure for many to take. As leaders in the mortgage industry, though, the important question to ask is this: how are we contributing to the high levels of turnover? In other words, what could we do differently to make sure we keep people? As always, it all starts with leadership. What are you doing to ensure that your employees actually want to stay on your team?
David Lykken, a 43-year veteran of the mortgage industry, is president of Transformational Mortgage Solutions (TMS), a management consulting firm that provides transformative business strategies to owners and “C-Level” executives via consulting, executive coaching and various communications strategies. He is a frequent guest on FOX Business News and hosts his own weekly podcast called “Lykken On Lending” heard Monday’s at 1:00 p.m. ET at LykkenOnLending.com. David’s phone number is (512) 759-0999 and his e-mail is [email protected].
