Servicing Staff Size: How Do I Stack Up?
Written by: Heather Papows, Senior Loan Servicing and Secondary Market Consultant
A rather unique department found within a financial institution is that of the loan servicing operations. You could say that the strain on these staff members fluctuates depending on new loan volume, but you must remember that much of this area is very independent of it as well. Regardless of the new loans to service (or lack thereof), there always remains the responsibility of managing the existing portfolio. And whether you have 500 or 5,000 or more loans, the task-load can be deceivingly heavy.
Most commonly, we see the following roles within a loan servicing operations team:
Manager
Assistant Manager
Residential Loan Servicer
Consumer Loan Servicer
Commercial Loan Servicer
Quality Control Specialist
Insurance Servicer
Tax Escrow Servicer
General Ledger Specialist
Loan Collector
Secondary Market Coordinator
Loan Operations Technology Manager
Loan Operations Administrative Assistant
Now, it’s up to each institution how you divide and split these roles; some may require full time staff whereas others could be part timers. In some cases, roles can be combined together to make a single full time position. There is not one right answer to how many FTE or PT employees belong in a loan servicing operation. Factors such as asset size (loan volume and count), concentration levels (mix of residential, commercial, and consumer loans), and the presence of successfully implemented automations (interfaces, third party vendor utilization, etc) all play a role in that determination.
Also, much of that decisioning relies upon the makeup of the specific team members. Their experience level, efficiency and work pace, performance and skill all play a role in allocating these tasks appropriately. Employees who demonstrate strong attention to detail are better suited in a role that requires in depth analysis, like looking at the general ledger balancing or completing quality control reviews. Others may not shine in the details but instead possess strong interpersonal skills, where it would be more advantageous to have them answering customer inquiries or assisting other team members with more clerical responsibilities.
The bottom line is that the loan servicing team can only succeed if each individual is set up for success as well. And all it takes is one poor placement to break the entire team down. One person underperforming. One person underutilized. One person set up to fail because their role does not cater to their strengths. But all of this can be adjusted, with proper management and a trained set of eyes to provide guidance on breaking things down and building it back up the right way. The result? Stronger individual contributors who collectively support the foundation of a more successful department.
Your employees and their morale, their loyalty, and their dedication to your institution is not something to undervalue. Your successful and satisfied loan servicing operations team members are directly correlated with maintaining a fully satisfied customer base. So, the key to retaining happy customers is to create a sustainable work environment that supports and fosters each individual’s strengths at work.
Spillane Consulting Associates operates successfully because of their seasoned staff with the expert knowledge needed to provide an unbiased assessment of employee performance and role allocation within your loan servicing operations department. For more information on how SCA can support your team in this process, please contact Bill Dolan, Director, at WDolan@scapartnering.com or by phone at (617) 694-2617.
