Jennifer Honey Brannon, VP of Human Resources at Financeit, gives us an insight into what it is about the company culture that drives success.
What was the company’s journey like to get to where it is now?
It’s been an exciting journey. We’ve hit a number of significant milestones in the last few years. In 2016, Financeit (along with Concentra) acquired TD Bank Groups indirect home improvement financing assets. Then, in December of 2017 we acquired a global SaaS company called Centah, which services the home improvement industry. Now, we’re now working on geographic expansion with our majority shareholder, Goldman Sachs.
What is it about your company’s culture that drives success?
At Finance it, we are very strategic about how we wanted to drive our culture as we grew at such a rapid rate. Since January, we’ve hired seventy new employees. For us, it’s been so important to have a plan in place that articulates what our values are.
Our success is driven by our culture. We work hard to make sure we stay true to our values at every touchpoint whether that be dealing with our merchants, our customers, or our employees. Culture is always top of mind.
We look for cultural fits with employees, starting right at the recruitment process. This ensures that candidates are selected based on cultural and behavioural-based questions. We want all of our employees to go through the same experience and ensure they all feel part of the community.
All new Financeit employees receive a survival kit as a fun way to introduce our employees to our culture Inside the kit, you’ll find a pair of Financeit socks, a hard hat stress ball, value postcards for distributing within the team, a travel mug and more.
How do you as a leader ensure that your culture, is a culture, that creates success?
As part of the executive team, it’s important that we all lead by example and live the values every day. We refer back to our values when making decisions, always keeping them at the forefront. They help guide and set the tone for our company.
What’s next for Financeit?
Financeit is growing quickly. We’re continuing to focus on growing the Canadian market in the home improvement industry as well as prepare for our geographic expansion into the U.S.
