Communicating and Connecting with Style

Darin Messick, a man with passion for business since 1989, is the VP/D of Operations Support for OneMain Financial.  After reviewing his thoughts across the following topics, individuals can prepare for a future career in business. Darin is in his twelfth year with the company.

Interview

The following interview took place over email, as Darin lives in Maryland:

1. What is your professional history (include your timeline and roles)?
   • Darin Messick: “Professional history goes back to 1989 when I was part time telemarketer for a credit card company called MBNA (now Bank of America) as I worked my way through college. I spent a total of 18 years with MBNA/ Bank of America and held several positions. I’ve been with OneMain for 12 years.
     1. MBNA/Bank of America
        • Statement services shift Manger (banking officer), Newark DE 1996-1998 monitored the printing and processing of 200 thousand customer statements during the duration of the shift. Completed daily reports for senior management.
        • Statement Services Compliance manger (Sr banking officer), Newark DE 1998 to 2000. Managed and reconciled a $20million postal budget. Responsible for the completion of 24 self-assessments on a Monthly basis. Updated corporate and departmental polices. Served as area contact for all internal customers (e.g. customer service, marketing, etc.), while also overseeing internal and external audits.
        • Lockbox Compliance Manager (Assistant Vice President), Newark, DE 2000 to 2004. Ensured accurate processing and reconciliation of over 190 million customer payments worth $115 billion on an annual basis within all departmental, corporate, and federal guidelines. Scope of responsibilities included all internal and external audits, as well as Sarbanes-Oxley and BASAL documentation and SAS 70 reviews.
        • LockBox Site Manager (Vice President), Hunt Valley, MD 2004 to 2006. Ensured process oversight of approximately 54 million customer payments worth $42 billion on an annual basis. Scope of responsibilities included all aspects of budgetary management, machine maintenance, production, quality, and employee relations.
        • ICM Quality Manager (Vice President), Wilminton, DE 2006 to 2007. Directed the efforts of 12 employees that were responsible for running queries to identify and resolve complex discrepancies between several databases as it relates to the set-up of products (e.g. statement logos, points programs, affinity compensation, etc.).  Additional responsibilities included the oversight of all system-based customer letters, 16 self-assessments and corporate and departmental procedures.
     2. CitiFinancial/OneMain Financial
        • Sales Ops Support Manager (Vice President), Baltimore, MD Sept 2007 to 2016. Manage CitiFinancial Tax Reporting. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, coordinating annual income statements with multiple business lines and completing processes associated with Penalty and B notifications. Liaison with Corporate Tax on all tax matters for CitiFinancial. Manage two affiliate and five external vendor relationships. Operational management of Securitized loans; specific to collateral files.
        • Operations Support Vice President (Director), Baltimore, MD 2016 to Current. Manage multiple business segments / processes. Responsibilities include all budgetary cycles for a $15MM operational budget, identification and implementation of optimization opportunities, performance management and quality metrics (polices, procedures and audits).  Develop and partner with multiple internal and external departments and vendors.”
2. What writing advice do you have for a professional communicator?
   • Darin Messick: “Take your time and verify instead of guessing. It’s the worst when you have to retract or send a correction. Make sure your message is clear and concise; long does not mean effective especially in today’s work. As a serial offender of spelling / grammatical errors, proofread and then have someone independent proofread.”
3. What is your one pet peeve when it comes to professional writing?
   • Darin Messick: “What I consider extra-long or wordy communications. People like me lose interest fast and because most people at managerial levels multitask being clear and concise is key.”
4. What kind of business reports do you read and/or compose regularly?
   • Darin Messick: “There are a host of reports. I limited it to things that are standard for my current Position.
     1. Budget / Cost per Transaction
     2. Performance Management (Productivity and Quality)
     3. Project Status”

5. What are your writing suggestions to make that type of report successful?
   • Darin Messick: “I am a very visual person, so I highly suggest using graphs, and charts to visually represent messaging.”
6. What speaking advice do you have for professional communicators?
   • Darin Messick: “This is something that I still struggle with. Even though I’ve been public speaking for years and I may be the subject matter expert I still get very nervous. I find that when I take time to review the material, collect my thoughts and practice (car ride in / car ride home) I am 100% times more comfortable.”
7. Name one thing you wished you had known about business communications prior to your professional career.

 

 

If you connect with someone (written or verbal) ask them how they developed their style. Especially with verbal communications – how do they prepare, how do they calm the nerves, etc.

1. After assessing the burning glass list of baseline skills (2016), which skills not in the top 5 would you move into the top 5 and why?

 

Critical Thinking – Is an absolute must and is one of the pillars in the foundation of continuous improvement. In today’s ever-changing business environment, the expectation is better, cheaper, faster. Just going thru the motions or excepting business as usual does not work. If you’re not doing it and someone else is they will run right past you.

1. What team skills do you feel young professionals need the most?

• • Darin Messick: “Having an open mind – My current role is largely strategic and too many times great ideas get shut down because of people’s preconceived notions or an unwillingness to change. There have been many times where I have either disagreed with an idea or someone disagreed with me at the onset. Going in with the “no” stamp does not allow you to move forward and in most cases the issues or opportunities will not be fixed or implemented. Some ideas never get implemented even though there better because the cost is too high. However, you will never get to that point of if you don’t have an open mind and look at all alternatives.”

Key Takeaways

I agree with Darin concerning keeping any message sent clear and concise. In my experience, working at OneMain Financial for the last two years, if you do not keep your point short and precise, people do not listen. The boss wants to know what is wrong and the fix, and often does not care about why it happened. Experience is also key when it comes to the business world. Most upper level management have years of experience in multiple different areas of their field of choice giving them vast amounts of knowledge for that field. Darin, for example, worked his way up by spending years learning and handling different roles at a company before getting promoted or moving on to a different location. Now, he handles multiple aspects of day-to-day operations at OneMain.

Critical thinking is a must for the business world, as most employers want a new employee to be able to think for themselves. When I first started at OneMain, my boss would ask my opinion on what the next step should be with an account in question before offering up a solution. Having an open mind is key to furthering a business, and new ideas are important to sustainability and growth. People need a multitude of skills to be successful in the business world.

Darin Messick Biography

Darin Messick is the Operations Support Vice President (Director) for OneMain Financial. He currently works at OneMain’s headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. He is on his thirtieth year in business and has held a variety of different roles in management and still looks to further his career. He is currently on his twelfth year working at OneMain and does not see himself leaving any time soon. Attached is Darin’s LinkedIn page.

 

 

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I, Joshua Hughes, work full-time at OneMain Financial in Evansville, Indiana for the past two years. I am a full-time Business Administration major at the University of Southern Indiana.