Page 16 - BusinessWest May 12, 2021

Federal Credit Union, said 176 of his employ- ees work from home right now, and he has no immediate plans to require a mass return to the office.
“In fact, we are so confident in the success
of the work-from-home model that we are con- solidating one of our branches with a nearby operations center,” Bissell said. While Greylock has no plans to permanently close branches, it is looking into shared-space arrangements to increase efficiency and save on future real-estate investments.
All the bankers agreed that, when possible, they prefer personal interactions with their employees and customers. When that’s not pos-
“The consensus is to bring people back to the office as much as possible while still allowing them the flexibility to work from home probably one or two days a week.”
sible, they are grateful for advances in technol- ogy that have made it easier to work from home. Sometimes it results in seeing certain jobs in a different light.
“I never thought I’d say this, but there are some situations where the business and the task is better suited to work remotely,” Howland said,
citing certain loan-processing positions as one example. “Because all the documents are elec- tronic, it’s easy to measure a person’s productiv- ity without looking over their shoulder.”
Bissell admits this past year has helped him understand how the pandemic affects employ- ees in different ways.
“Those with school-aged children or who are caregivers have different needs than those who may be at risk themselves or have a partner who works as a first responder,” he said. “We must pay close attention to employee needs and build in opportunities to meet them where they are.”
Whether employees worked in the office or from home, they all stayed busy with mortgage applications for people buying new homes and for those looking to refinance at historically low interest rates.
“Our mortgage business was up nearly 65% last year,” Welch said. “As fewer houses are avail- able for sale, we’re making up some of that slack in the refinancing area.”
He predicts slower growth could loom on the horizon, however. “There are only so many peo- ple who can refinance, and when you have less housing inventory to sell, it suggests a slowdown in the mortgage business may be coming.”
John Howland says some positions, such as those in loan processing, are more suited for a remote setup than others.
While the mortgage market is still active,
Bissell pointed out there is a greater demand
than housing supply, so Greylock is trying to
help increase the supply. “We are partnering
with local leaders to look at ways to stimulate
development of more housing across the pric-
ing spectrum,” he said, with the goal of a healthy
housing market that is accessible to all members we allowed people to defer their mortgage pay-
We Built That.
of the community. ments without having to substantiate they had On the flip side of new mortgages, job losses a need.”
during the pandemic made staying current on mortgage payments a burden for many.
“We anticipated that people would have trouble when COVID hit,” Howland said, “so
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16 MAY 12, 2021
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