In an industry where a fair percentage of workers are paid all or partially on a commission basis, lower volumes
Compared with other measures of employee satisfaction — such as role satisfaction, work environment, training, corporate culture and communication, all approved by 90% or more of employees at the best companies — views on compensation were somewhat less positive. Still, results were strong overall: 83% of employees at ranked companies said they feel fairly compensated.
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Company size made little difference. Positive responses came from 84% of employees at large firms, 83% at midsize mortgage companies and 85% at small ones.
Other benefits received somewhat lower marks. Across all companies on the list, 77% of respondents said they were satisfied with the amount of healthcare coverage paid for, while 72% gave a positive response for tuition reimbursement.
Recognizing loyal employees for hard work
UNMB Home Loans, headquartered in Levittown, New York, ranked fourth among small employers. The negative perception around compensation traces back to the pandemic-driven origination boom, said Don Giorgio, president and CEO.
Industry-wide, people worked very hard during this period, and many bonuses were handed out.
"For the people that are loyal to the core, it's a challenge of how to get them back to that place, personally and as a company, so they can get those rewards that they enjoyed," Giorgio said. "Because of the volume that we handled, everybody amazed themselves, and they made good money doing it."
The goal, he said,
UNMB is exploring several approaches, tailored to each individual.
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It might be additional time off or a more flexible work schedule. It could even take the form of training outside of UNMB.
"What's going to help them feel good about their journey — How can I help you be the best version of you?" Giorgio said. "Not just static as far as money, but we're looking at many different ways to make people feel good about their job and their accomplishments."
Benchmarking compensation with the industry
At Homeowners Financial Group, management looks to balance financial responsibility without losing its "great people" during the process, said Bill Rogers, president and CEO of the Scottsdale, Arizona company.
The company ranked No. 2 among
To accomplish this, "we consistently benchmark compensation with the industry and our benefits to ensure that we remain in the top tier of the market," Rogers said.
While some companies have pulled back on bonuses and other financial incentives, Homeowners has taken a different approach.
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"We continue to rely heavily on performance-based incentives," said Rogers. "As volume and profitability improve, our bonus programs are designed to scale with success, ensuring that the team directly benefits from the growth that they help create."
Realizing inflation has affected many areas for its employees, Homeowners made the decision to absorb, most, if not all, of
"It's our belief that even in a slower market, protecting take home pay to our teammates, we call them 'homies,' is a priority for us," Rogers said.
Compensation trends are normalizing
During the pandemic and resulting origination boom, the industry was throwing money at workers, no matter what their title: loan officer, processor and/or underwriter, said Andrina Valdes, CEO of Alta Home Lending, headquartered in Houston.
But now, all aspects of the housing market are stabilizing from those go-go days.
"While it feels like maybe compensation isn't as aligned, I think it's trying to normalize past that big bubble that we had during the pandemic," Valdes said.
Alta ranked 14th among the mid-sized companies. Valdes
The company now evaluates compensation based on merit and metrics rather than solely for retention, she said.
Over the last few years, a lot of mortgage bankers were not making money, and compensation, "obviously, is also tied to the profitability of an organization, "she noted. "Those companies that weren't able to generate profits had a more difficult time incentivizing operations and sales accordingly."
Alta is still doing incentives, still doing raises, and those are metric- and merit-based.
Valdes compared the general malaise with what consumers are feeling in a market which is now closer to 6% rates versus 2% and 3% not so long ago.
"It's similar for loan officers and processors, somebody that would make $5,000 to $10,000 in in a boom year, may only be making $4,000 or $5,000," Valdes said. "What you remember is the peak, not the trough, and I think at this point we're kind of in a valley that's recovering and becoming more normalized from a compensation standpoint."
