Strategic Planning can occur in many ways throughout an organization. Your firm’s strategy will vary based upon your business model. In today’s mortgage market environment, how well or poorly you plan, will impact:
· Loan Production Channel Options (Market Reputation)
· Impact to Operational Efficiencies (Cycle Times = Cost per Loan)
· Capital Markets Optimization and Profitability
· Loan Servicing Decisions (Retain or Sell the MSR)
· Loan Quality (Current and Future)
· Staffing Allocation or Reallocation
· Employee and Customer Satisfaction and Retention
Have you thought about how to frame a Strategic Plan for 2023 that has impact? Or have you walked away from starting on a Strategic Plan because the concept itself can be overwhelming? The key is to understand, the more basic your goals are, the road to success is just around the corner!
Remember that the best stories of success come from making sure you have an active level of engagement and participation at all levels of your organization. When a company sets Goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) via the use of multiple “voices” the ability to implement change, the action plan needed to hit the goals, and your ability to succeed with ongoing Strategic Planning becomes a part of your teams culture.
In my experience, KPI and Strategic Planning Stakeholder’s are not always those individuals in leadership. Instead, engage with employees on the front lines who have insight as to how the work is performed. They will provide the best insight on how to succeed and define realistic goals. Since each Strategic Plan and the KPI’s associated can be impacted at many key stages throughout the life of loan cycle – it’ll be wise to let your front-line help define the Strategic Plan and realistic goals for 2023.
By utilizing this approach, employees are then the “instrument of change”, and the successful transfer of leadership and empowerment will occur, making the goals for 2023 much more achievable.
To summarize, here are the basic steps to that can be followed for 2023 Strategic Planning, regardless of the size of your organization.
· First, have a diverse team involved
· Define the goal with total clarity
· Make sure the goal is measurable (ambiguity doesn’t work)
· Design process changes as needed
· Implement steps and action plans to achieve the goal
· Implement the goal
· Monitor success
· Lastly, celebrate success
At the end of the day, organizations that follow these basics will be energized by the process of change. Regardless of the day or week, change and continuous improvement will be a constant. Let’s embrace 2023 for both the seen and unseen opportunities that lay head.
Need help setting goals for 2023 and defining appropriate KPI’s.
Luana Slettedahl,
Principal at BlackFin Group