Mortgage Choice financial services franchise has implemented a program to significantly improve its training, learning and development offering to better fit the needs of its franchise owners and their loan consultants.
One of the major initiatives has been a project known as Continuous Learning, which sees a range of changes made to the company’s induction program. The changes were introduced mid-July and are the result of extensive consultation with current franchisees, loan consultants and company staff.
According to Mortgage Choice home loans franchise national corporate affairs manager, Warren O’Rourke, the overall aim of the induction program improvements is to increase the productivity of new franchise owners and loans consultants, as well as provide a higher level of service to customers.
“We need to ensure we supply our induction program graduates with all the tools they need to enter the mortgage broking workforce with confidence,” O’Rourke says. “To accomplish this, we’ve found that more pre-course learning followed by a greater number of practical loan consulting exercises will result in graduates experiencing a more seamless transition into their new vocation. This is very important, especially for those who don’t have previous banking or finance industry experience.
“We strongly believe the Continuous Learning project will provide our franchisees with a more knowledgeable, competent and productive employee, and will therefore also have an effect on the recruitment process. It will also help franchisees minimise staff turnover by allowing them to further assess their new employee’s suitability to the industry and their business.”
O’Rourke says the new Mortgage Choice induction program, which will be adjusted through a process of continuous improvement via feedback from graduates and trainers involved, will:
l Ensure new graduates achieve Certificate IV qualifications
l Increase each participant’s knowledge of the mortgage broking industry and their place within it
l Ensure the customer is top-of-mind throughout the home loan process
l Be a more ‘reality based’ workshop program, focused on the practical aspects of writing residential property loans and running a Mortgage Choice business
l Cover much of the theory and compliance training prior to the face-to-face component of the program
l Reassure a franchise owner that they have recruited the right person for the role through sound assessment processes, thereby minimising staff turnover
l Run for 10 days, requiring new loan consultants to attend eight days of the face-to-face program, with days nine and 10 concentrating only on the needs of franchise owners/managers.
Through its national network of 413 franchises and over 570 loan consultants, Mortgage Choice writes almost one in 20 Australian residential loans.
11-Jan-2006