Building complex layers of reporting to measure everything from customer touch points during the lead process through loan level profitability is becoming a passion and a science across the mortgage industry. Managers have mounds of data to watch every unit, every step along the loan manufacturing process. Real time, comprehensive dashboards show the time it took to complete critical steps, the error rates, and the types of errors, diced up into every imaginable category, down to the associate level. So what should managers do with all of this data? Follow these simple steps to ensure the data is moving toward the corporate financial goals.
1) Move it to the front line
Performance metrics need to be taken to the team responsible, at a scheduled time, on a regular basis. For example, data that reveals processing turn times are slower than expectations shouldn’t be an alarm sounded to senior management until the whole story is pulled together.
2) Talk about it
Numbers can be wrong but when they are right, they don’t include emotion or personnel issues. This is a plus and a minus that can change career paths for someone who doesn’t manage it well. Reviewing results in a calm, factual approach with each team member can reveal when reports have picked up incorrect data after a programming change. Once the numbers are confirmed accurate, the associate’s story needs to get folded in. More on the people side of this later…
3) Adjust it
Teamwork is key in mortgage banking. Adjust the way the data is measured and the expectations, based on the overall group’s capabilities. Look at data over a period of 3, 6, and 12 months, and fiscal YTD, to identify cycles.
4) Roll it Up
Now is the time to communicate to senior management, when you have the answers and can stand behind an action plan.
5) Roll it Back
With an approved action plan in hand, take the information back to the team. Complete this cycle with every report. If the reporting cycle is too frequent for a proper communication cycle, then make adjustments to add a weekly or monthly version to facilitate this process. Rolling feedback, done well, can produce quick improvement.