Meeting Deadlines

After Rachel’s recent departure from the Client Services Department, I have been focusing heavily on the call volume project to help prepare CST for tax season. Rachel and I had nearly completed the project by the end of November, so I have been working hard to tie up any loose ends associated with it. Earlier today, I sent the final versions of two Excel files with all of the call volume and staffing data requested by the CST Supervisors and Manager. I am confident that our recommendations will be approved and implemented. After three months of analyzing call volume data and staffing models, the work that Rachel and I did will finally pay off!

In addition to the call volume project, Rachel and I have also been delegating our tasks as Equity Trust Company’s Facebook Administrators. We met with the CST Management Team to choose two great Client Service Representatives who can assume the responsibilities of this project. Like Rachel, I will also be moving on to the next rotation of the Leadership Program in the near future, so training two new Facebook Administrators is imperative before I leave the Client Services Department. So far, the transition is going smoothly.

A fun and exciting part of my job over the last three weeks has been interviewing candidates for open positions in CST. After spending time as a job applicant during college internship searches and job searches after graduation, it was interesting to be on the other side of the desk as an interviewer. Rachel and I were recently trained on Equity Trust Company’s Topgrading methodologies, so the recent interviews have been excellent opportunities to learn how Topgrading practices can be applied. Not only were the interviews great learning experiences, but they served as reminders that I work for a growing, successful organization. I hope to learn the results of our hiring process before I move on to the next rotation in the Service Excellence Department.

Goodbye CST...

This past week, my rotation in Client Services came to an end. I am now starting a new rotation in the Human Resources Department assisting with the recruiting process. My four months in CST were very helpful and I learned so much from our clients. I will take the suggestions that our clients presented with me throughout my future rotations so that Equity Trust Company can continue to enhance our clients' satisfaction with our services. I thought this would be an appropriate time to recap on my experience in client services.

Throughout the first couple of months on the phone, I balanced taking incoming calls from our clients and working on projects. I would say that I spent about 70-80% of my time on the phones and the remaining time was spent working on various projects. In months three and four, I was probably on the phones about 50% of the time and worked on projects the other half of my time.

A typical call from our clients would usually be about a pending investment, how to proceed forward with an investment, questions about their account or questions about paperwork regarding an investment. Most of the answers to their questions could be found within in one of our information systems. Having this type of interaction with our clients helped me to gain information about what our company does, the types of investments our clients are pursuing and the company's internal processing of investments.

Some of the ongoing projects that Colin and I both worked on while in client services included monitoring our Facebook and Twitter pages, a process improvement project and our call volume project. I was also given numerous smaller projects from my supervisors to complete on an as needed basis.

I will miss the client services department but look forward to my new rotation. I will update this blog with my new experiences and projects as my time in Human Resources continues!

Holiday Spirit

As Rachel mentioned, Equity Trust has several core values that we adhere to every day in our work. One core value that has been especially important lately is "Welcome Home", which means that Equity Trust is more than a business...we are also a family. We are here for each other in times of need and celebration, and this includes helping those in need in our communities as well.

Over the past several weeks, Equity Trust has been collecting canned food and monetary donations for a Thanksgiving food drive. Our Elyria and Berea offices have been challenging each other to see which office can collect the most food. It's been great to see how everyone here responds to the challenge to help our local communities.

Equity Trust has also started to collect toy donations for a holiday toy drive. Just like the food drive, I expect the competition between the two offices to be fun. Although my office (Berea) seems to have lost the food drive competition, I'm hoping for a better outcome in the toy drive.

Overall, these charity competitions and fundraisers make Equity Trust a fun place to work. We are committed to hard work and success, but we also have an understanding about what's important in the communities where we live. I've enjoyed participating in our charity events and I'd like to become more involved in the future. As a former Peace Corps volunteer, it's inspiring for me to work with people who care about community service and are driven by more than just a paycheck.

We Have Fun at What We Do!

Equity Trust Company has a list of core values which all employees strive to adhere to. One of my favorite core values of the company is “we have fun at what we do”. Spending 40 hours a week at a job could prove to be stressful. However, working in an environment which promotes a fun atmosphere helps to reduce the amount of stress a full time job can usually cause.

A perfect example of “we have fun at what we do” took place last Friday for Halloween. Everyone had the opportunity to dress up if they would like. Individuals and departments won prizes for their costumes. In the Client Service department, we all coordinated our costumes to be hippies. Decorations were put up and many members of our team donned their best “hippie inspired” outfits. When it was all said and done, in the Berea office, the Client Service Team won for best department theme. Our prize was a department lunch. It was definitely a fun day!

As Colin mentioned, we have been working on a call volume project. We have met with our manager as well as supervisors and team leads to determine the best course of action to make sure we are prepared for the ‘busy season’ in client services. It’s been a fun project because nothing like this has been done in the past for the Client Services department. Therefore, we have the opportunity to be creative with our ideas and implement new programs to help the department better handle an increase in call volume.

Recently, I have been spending most of my days taking incoming client calls. We also recently welcomed a new group of CST representatives to our department. I have had the opportunity to work with some of these individuals to assist in their acclimation to their CST roles.

Now it’s back to the phones!

Projects

As I've mentioned before, a central part of the Client Services rotation in the Leadership Program is completing projects to make improvements within the department and enhance our services for clients. I'm currently working with Rachel to review call volume data from early 2009 to create accurate forecasts for the call volumes that the Client Services Team (CST) can expect during tax season in early 2010. We're also analyzing different options to create the best scheduling and staffing plans for the department to handle the high number of calls during that time period. Since tax season is very important for Equity Trust and its clients, Rachel and I have been focused on this project for about a month. We've been making good progress and I'm confident that we'll have our final plans ready within a few weeks.

In my opinion, working on such projects is the best part of my job because I get to apply the knowledge and skills I acquired during my college and internship experiences. In addition, the projects I've been working on have the potential to bring financial benefits to the company, make work processes more efficient, and increase customer satisfaction.

Although my projects are primarily focused on the Client Services Department, certain project components can often impact other departments. That has given me the opportunity to discuss the projects with people throughout the company, which has been a great way for me to understand how different departments work together. Everyone in the company seems open to new ideas and eager to help me. Next month, I hope to see new promotions of some of Equity Trust's services on the company website. This is the result of several months of work on a project that was assigned to me in June. Along the way, the project has been improved by employees who work in Marketing, CST, Sales, Service Excellence, and Operations. The implementation of one my projects is a great confidence-builder and it shows how quickly a Leadership Trainee can make an impact at a great company that's moving forward at a fast pace.

Sometimes, I work on one or more projects for most of the day. On other days, I help the rest of CST take incoming calls for our clients, which helps me get a great understanding of Equity Trust clients' experiences. My schedule can vary from day to day and week to week, but I generally try to make sure that I'm spending half of my working hours taking clients' calls, while the other half of work hours are devoted to project work. Since there are project deadlines, required meetings, and company events on a regular basis, my supervisors and manager are always understanding with my schedule. Speaking of my schedule, it's Thursday afternoon and I'm off work tomorrow...I should go finish some things before the three-day weekend!

It's Meeting Time!

Last Wednesday, October 21, 2009, Equity Trust Company held its third quarter meeting at Lorain Community College. At 7:30am, all the employees from both the Berea and Elyria offices met to be updated on the current state of the company. During this meeting, we heard from members of the executive team whom provided information about each of their departments. This meeting gives our employees the opportunity to learn about what each department did within the last quarter and the department’s plans for future quarters. Jeff Desich, the CEO of the company, also spoke giving the company’s statistics for the year thus far and future goals.

This particular quarterly meeting had a lot of emphasis on the recent networking conference that was held in Orlando, Florida during the first weekend in October. This conference was put on by Equity University, Equity Trust Company’s educational resource. The three day event was a proven success with over 400 attendees from all across the country. At the event, our clients and prospective clients had the ability to interact and network with each other along with attending lectures dedicated to specific investments. A brief video was shown at the meeting giving an insight into the three day event. The client testimonials proved that the event was a success and provided a lot of knowledge to the attendees.

Also, at our quarterly meetings, outstanding employees are recognized. Equity Trust has a program called POISE. This program is to encourage employees to submit ideas to make processes more efficient or suggestions to better the company. Any suggestions which are accepted by management will be implemented within the company. Employees who submit suggestions that are accepted are recognized at the quarterly meeting and receive a gift. Employees demonstrating outstanding work ethic on a particular project or within a department can be nominated by their peers for the Shining Star award. Prior to the quarterly meeting, employees submit their nominations and then these nominations are voted on by the rest of the company. All the nominees are recognized and the winner receives a gift. The POISE and Shining Star programs promote employee involvement and achievement which is critical in a successful work environment.

In my next post, I will give an update on the projects I am currently working on within the Client Service Department.

Passport Journeys

Now that Rachel and I have introduced ourselves, I'd like to write about some of the most unique components of the Leadership Program. For me, meeting the leaders of Equity Trust during the "Passport Journeys" that Rachel mentioned has provided some valuable learning experiences. So far, I've met one-on-one with Equity Trust's CEO; the Vice President and Director of Client Services and Operations; the Director of IT; the Vice President of Marketing and Sales; and the Director of Equity University.

In these meetings, I've not only learned about what each leader's department does, but what each leader sees as the future role of the department. This company is growing rapidly and moving quickly toward its goals, and each department plays a critical role in allowing Equity Trust to achieve its vision of being the most valued company in our clients' lives. The leaders of the company's various departments are all very focused on driving our initiatives to upgrade technologies in order to enhance clients' experiences and improve our work processes. Through my discussions with these leaders, I've gained some insight on their leadership styles and how they manage people and projects on a daily basis.

In addition to the Passport Journeys, I've also had the opportunity to read several books as I've gone through the first two rotations as a Leadership Trainee. "Good to Great", a book by Jim Collins about the differences between good companies and great companies, was a nice introduction to the Leadership Program because it correlated with our CEO's ideas about how our company can become even better. After Reading "Good to Great", I read "The Nordstrom Way", by Robert Spector and Patrick McCarthy, which was a great way to learn about customer service excellence while starting my rotation in the Client Services Department. Most recently, I read "Topgrading", by Brad and Geoff Smart. This book was very informative because it describes many of the hiring, coaching, and performance evaluation methodologies used by Equity Trust's Human Resources Department. Overall, these books have helped me stay focused on the company's goals as well as my own as I progress towards a leadership position.

There will be a few more Passport Journeys and another book or two to read in my third and fourth rotations of the Leadership Program, but right now I'm focused on projects that need to be completed before the Client Services rotation ends. Rachel and I have been working closely with the Client Services Management Team on an action plan to maintain excellent customer service during tax season, which is an especially busy season for our company. On that note, I'll get back to work.

Welcome to CST...

My name is Rachel Cain and I, like Colin, am a Leadership Trainee at Equity Trust Company. I started on June 22, 2009 after graduating from Ohio University with a degree in Finance. The first five weeks were dedicated to an intense training program. Within this training I learned about everything from retirement accounts and investments to information about our company and the mission that Equity Trust strives to achieve.

Since training, I have been in the Client Services Department. On a daily basis I take incoming calls from our clients and their representatives to go over procedures for investing and maintaining their self directed retirement accounts. Being on the ‘front lines’ of the company and interacting with our clients has been extremely beneficial to furthering my understanding of what Equity Trust offers and the investments in which clients are currently pursuing. While in this current rotation, I have been working on numerous projects with the CST supervisors and manager in hopes that some of the ideas brought to the table are implemented within the department.

As a leadership trainee, we are participating in a program referred to as the ‘Passport Journey.’ Throughout my first couple of months with the company, I have had the opportunity to meet one on one with many of the members of our executive team. I had the unique opportunity to go out to dinner with the CEO of Equity Trust, Jeff Desich. It is nearly unheard of to find that type of individual attention to a leadership program within a growing company. Along with the CEO, I have met with additional vice presidents and mangers of numerous departments. Through these meetings I have had the chance to learn about specific departments and find out about the vision that these leaders possess. We were even able to go out for a happy hour with some of the executives. Events like these weren't only fun, but they gave me a chance to interact with our company’s leaders outside of the workplace.

Throughout this blog, Colin and I will provide updates in relation to projects we are working on, events that we attend and the every day experiences of a Leadership Trainee at Equity Trust Company.

The First Two Rotations: Investment Training and Client Services

It’s been a fast-paced six-month period in the first two rotations of the Leadership Program, and this blog is our newest project. I’m Colin Trimble, one of the first two Leadership Trainees at Equity Trust Company. My first day of orientation was April 27, 2009, and I spent the next five weeks in investment training. After learning a lot about self-directed IRAs and non-traditional investing, my training class and I moved on to the Client Services Department.

While working with the Client Services Team (CST), I’ve worked closely with our Supervisors and Manager on projects to improve our services to clients, identify areas for improvement, and get a solid grasp of CST’s role within the company. An essential part of my learning experience has been answering clients’ calls about their retirement accounts and investment options. This has given me a thorough understanding of our clients’ experiences and how Equity Trust delivers exceptional client service.

Since the beginning of my experience at Equity Trust, I’ve received great support from people throughout the company. The Human Resources Recruiter who first interviewed me continues to be a helpful resource today, and I meet with the CST Supervisors and Manager on a regular basis to discuss new project ideas and push current projects towards implementation. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet with executives from each department of the company to learn about how they lead their teams and what their staffs do on a daily basis. From discussions with our CEO, Vice Presidents, and Department Managers such as my mentor, the Operations Manager, I’ve developed a good understanding of what it takes to launch a successful career as a leader at Equity Trust.

On the lighter side, I’ve enjoyed the fun activities that Equity Trust hosts on a regular basis. Within a few months of my first day on the job, I joined my co-workers at a Cleveland Indians game, spent an afternoon racing go-karts and hitting baseballs, and enjoyed potlucks, birthday celebrations, and pizza parties. The people here work hard to deliver on Equity Trust’s mission, but they also make a commitment to have fun at the same time.

I’ll follow up soon with more details on my previous and current projects. For now, I’ll pass the baton to my fellow Leadership Trainee, Rachel, to tell you about her experiences at Equity Trust.