HousingWire: How the myth of loan officer productivity is costing lenders

iEmergent COO Bernard Nossuli wrote an editori in HousingWire called, "Eye on the wrong prize: How the myth of loan officer productivity is costing lenders."

Here's an excerpt: 

Few phrases surface more often in mortgage boardrooms than “loan officer productivity.” Leaders understandably want more loans per originator, more dollar volume per head and greater efficiency across the sales force. The metric feels clean and controllable, offering a simple way to measure performance and signal accountability.

Gradually, that focus can harden into the assumption that productivity is primarily an individual trait. Conversations drift toward hiring more “productive” people, intensifying training or pressing teams to close more. Yet, output reflects far more than personal drive. Organizational structure, territory design, competitive density and operational support all shape results. 

Viewing productivity as something that resides solely with a single loan officer obscures the broader organizational design that makes production possible in the first place. It can also obscure where much of the industry’s most practical growth opportunity lies—not necessarily in recruiting the best of the best, but in how effectively institutions identify, position and develop originators who align with the markets they want to grow.

Read the full article on HousingWire.