I had a chance to sit down with Megan Meloon at the VLTA Annual Convention right before she took over as President of VLTA. Megan and I discussed her upcoming term and some of her goals for 2020.
One of the first things we talked about is how she is approaching her term in office. Each person brings his or her own spin to the presidency and Megan definitely has a few specific things in mind. Her first priority, before even arriving at the convention, was finding the right platform for her term and goal setting. While a year may seem like a long time, it really isn’t that much time at all, especially when you want to accomplish big things. It is even more complicated when you consider that Megan has a demanding job with Old Republic Title.
Right from the outset it was clear that Megan is concerned with the future of our industry, but in a way that may surprise you. Megan is not as concerned about technology making us irrelevant or about title companies being swallowed up or some of the other issues we often hear about. To her, we continue to show fortitude in the face of those types of challenges and have been largely successful. She is more concerned about succession planning. Who is going to take our industry through the next phase? Where are the young employees? How are we reaching out to recruit and train? These are the issues that she wants to focus on in the upcoming year. VLTA is going to work to find opportunities to assist the membership with recruitment. For example, we can partner with local colleges and get the word out about our industry and the employment opportunities.
Retention is another important issue for Megan. It does us no good to recruit the talent if we cannot retain it. How do we build loyalty in a time when it can be incredibly difficult to retain a good employee? What does a positive work environment look like in 2020? To Megan it is simple – happy leads to loyal. Under Megan’s leadership, VLTA will explore issues surrounding employee retention such as improving the work environment, professional development, “poaching” of employees and working remotely.
We all look forward to this next year and Megan’s leadership!
Donald W. Tomlinson currently serves on the VLTA Board of Directors as the Director/Editor of the Examiner Magazine. Don received his B.A/B.S degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College and earned his J.D. law degree from George Mason University Scholl of Law. Don is Regional Vice President/Attorney for RGS Title in the northern Virginia area.
