MBA Education, Movement Mortgage Provide Template for Training, Learning
A partnership between Movement Mortgage LLC, Charlotte, N.C. and MBA Education is helping put a new generation of professionals through training and into mortgage industry employment.
Movement University, an initiative of Movement Mortgage, targets young professionals who might be considering a career in mortgage finance. The University launched on Sept. 14 with an initial class of nearly 60 recent college graduates.
Chris Allen, chief talent officer for Movement Mortgage who oversees human resources, education and training, said the program has received “overwhelming” interest from applicants, particularly those in the desirable Millennial demographic.
“The response has been awesome,” Allen said.
Movement Mortgage originally planned to develop its own curriculum. But as the program came together–in less than 10 weeks–Movement Mortgage, a new member of the Mortgage Bankers Association, turned to MBA Education for assistance. In turn, MBA Education provided its popular Mortgage Banking Primer–a 12-15 hour online course–and worked with Movement Mortgage to provide input on a nine-week course.
“We are very excited to partner with Movement Mortgage,” said MBA Education Vice President Jeffrey Schummer. “We have numerous programs and curricula that can be used by our members for internal training and education.”
Allen said for Movement Mortgage, time was of the essence. “With our rapid growth, we came to the conclusion that to fulfill needs on an operational level, our best avenue was to train new people,” he said. “Industry data show the average age of a mortgage professional is 54 years old. Our challenge was to determine how to get younger talent in the mortgage industry. There are so many talented young professionals out there. So we decided to go forward with a training program.”
After getting the go-ahead to develop a training program this past summer, Movement Mortgage initially developed its own materials, but turned to MBA Education for supplemental material and guidance. Upon publicizing the program, more than 500 people applied for the first class, which began in September; 56 people were accepted into the first class.
Allen said the initial program goes through the MBA Education Mortgage Banking Primer and includes team-building exercises, leadership principles and even a “Career Day,” in which class participants can learn about the entire mortgage industry experience.
“One of the issues with beginning the university with young professionals is that many didn’t know what they want to do,” Allen said. “We anticipate that most of them will become mortgage processors; however, we have needs across all lines of business. So we have introduced them to every aspect of our operations and we have the ability to identify those who are interested in other aspects of the business.”
Additionally, Allen said, Movement Mortgage wanted to make sure Movement University didn’t just train candidates in company skills, but soft skills as well. “So we’ve done team building; we’ve introduced them to the company’s co-founders and executive team; and we are going through leadership principles, using books and professionals with experience in conflict resolution, how to be successful in the workplace,” he said.
Allen said the MBA Mortgage Banking Primer and other materials supplied by MBA Education have been very useful. “The feedback has been fantastic,” he said. “[Class members] tell us it’s really helped them get a good overview of the mortgage industry. It’s given them a broader perspective.”
Schummer said the partnership to build out curriculum with Movement University illustrates MBA Education’s ability to effectively consult with members. “We are looking for ways to collaborate and build programs for their growing needs,” he said. “We can do this for any of our members.”
Allen said letting other MBA companies know how to supplement education materials is critical. A lot of companies are looking at how to supplement their own education,” he said. “Having those materials from MBA, which are updated to reflect current regulations, is where we see the value.”
Movement University’s initial training program will last about nine weeks. Allen said a second class was originally scheduled for January, but demand has pushed that class to November. That demand, he said, is coming from a broad cross-section of candidates.
“The November program will target people who are looking for a career change, not necessarily recent college grads,” Allen said. And as far as collaborating with MBA Education, “We’ve only begun to scratch the surface on what we can use,” Allen said. “We started with the Primer, but there are some other materials we can use for training.”
Which suits Schummer just fine. “We want Movement University and other MBA members to look at us not only as a content provider but as a trusted partner,” he said.
For more information about MBA Education, click www.mbaeducation.org.
