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Special Reports
Recruiting And Training
Cross-Training Helps NYMC's Productivity
By Bonnie Sinnock
It is not too common in this industry to provide any training at all,
according to Laurel Garvey, wholesale operations director, and Angela Rodriguez, director of human resources and
facilities for the wholesale division office of New York Mortgage Co. here.
As a result, Ms. Garvey's training helps Ms. Rodriguez in her recruiting efforts, the two of them agree. And that's
appropriate, because skills and procedures that lead to mutual benefit and interconnectedness between jobs is what
the office's cross-training program is designed to promote.
The two said the office's training provides employees with more in the way of knowledge and tools needed to do
their jobs and also gives them a chance to learn the next job they could be promoted to. Because the company's
business comes in bulk and moves swiftly as a sort of "bulge" through the offices' procedures, cross-training
promotes an understanding of the needs of each successive link in the procedural chain and thus easing the flow
of work as well as giving staff continual opportunities for advancement, Ms. Garvey and Ms. Rodriguez said.
Interestingly, the cross-training at the office is not just a matter of teaching employees the practical skills
needed to do each specific job but also the kind of "soft" skills such as "time management"
or "active listening" that, in general, promote efficient work habits.
So-called soft skills do have their practical side Ms. Rodriguez and Ms. Garvey said, citing as an example one
employee who used active listening to "save" a loan.
Active listening is a skill Ms. Garvey and Ms. Rodriguez described as contrasting the kind of less responsive listening
done by those who respond without really fully focusing on and showing that they understand the content of what
the person telling them is saying.
One of the company's customer service representatives, Brenda Nickel, said she was able to find a way to structure
a $1.2 million deal that previously had been seen as one that would not work or which exceptions would need to
be made for. "I ended up offering alternative solutions without having to get any exceptions," she said
in an e-mail about the experience.
"It is my belief that through active listening I was able to speak with confidence
that I was there to help the broker/borrower even though my solution meant that he would have to pay a little more
out of pocket.
"By focusing on the positives of the solution along with the confidence of
being able to work with the broker, I was able to lock the loan and reassure the broker," Ms. Nickel said.
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