For this month’s Coffee Talk, we’re spotlighting the important work our Training Department does across the entire NTC solution. To get an insider’s take on the role training plays in NTC’s success, we sat down with Vice President of Quality Control Aaron Vause.
1. What role does education and training play in the culture of NTC?
At NTC, we approach training as a never-ending endeavor. It is a core part of our culture and a key part in the overall success of our company. Every associate at NTC goes through an individualized training program that includes reading, drills and practical application when they first join the company. Throughout the training, each course builds on the skills learned in the prior course.
Once the “classroom” training is done, we continue with “apprenticeships,” where associates work on honing the skills they’ve learned until they reach a certain benchmark level of accuracy for their position.
Our training philosophy is that we are helping our team do their jobs to the best of their ability and giving them every resource possible to help them succeed. We encourage our entire organization to learn new skills. Our approach to training is that it never ends.
2. What are some examples of the training programs offered at NTC?
We create our own digital training courses, in which we incorporate gamification, quizzes, and competency check points. We house our training courses in a Learning Management System (LMS) that currently holds more than 170 modules, ranging from administrative tools and manager training to drills for data entry and recognizing documents. This system has many features that enhance the quality of the training, as well as our ability to track, report and see trends in the effectiveness of our training.
Examples of some of the more popular modules:
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- Collateral File Document Recognition – When dealing with collateral files, knowing how to recognize specific documents and the important information on them not only gives you speed in processing, but also the accuracy required by our clients in handling their documents. This course gives you familiarity with the key documents you will be dealing with daily.
- Data Entry – This is especially helpful when it comes to borrower names and county details.
- Inbox Zero – Inbox Zero offers a method for quickly handling your email inbox and organizing it, so you can actually get work done.
We have courses designed for every level of associate and executive. For example, this past December and January, 40 executives from the manager level through the VP level completed a total of 360 courses in our Manager Training Program. That program consisted of the following courses:
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- A Guide to Managing Remote Teams
- Becoming the Boss: A Guide for New Managers
- How to Effectively Manage Managers
- Leadership Styles that Influence a Team
- Managing Change as a Leader
- Performance Management – Giving Effective Feedback
- Professional Communication Skills – A Guide on Written Communication
- Setting Goals that Actually Work
- The Four Stages of Team Development
On average, there are at least 55 people in a training program per week, whether they are new to their position, cross training or advancing their skills.
3. What is so unique about NTC’s approach to training?
Aside from just new hires, every NTC associate also dedicates one hour out of their workday to training, and we pay them to do that. We’ve created modules that cover all aspects of the mortgage industry, as well as self-betterment courses such as stress management, how to work with others, learning new software, etc. The idea behind this is to provide education in every way we can to help with the overall development of our employees, not just in their professional lives but in their personal lives, as well. Through these training programs, our employees have earned several certifications including Project Management Certification, Certified Scrum Project Owner Certification and Business Analysis Certification.
In addition, our employees include training as part of their goals for the year, and our Training Department does anything they can to help them with whatever they need to achieve those goals. The Training Department is constantly creating new content and improving upon the old to equip each employee with the tools and resources they need to excel. Last year our team completed 3,322 training sessions that equated to 15,000 hours.
