Leadership Trainees at Equity Trust Company

Service Excellece Project Updates

2011-06-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Happy June! The rain has finally stopped and the sun is back in Cleveland, Ohio! There has been a lot happening since my last post several weeks ago and I want to share some of the new developments in my Service Excellence rotation.

Just a week ago I helped launch our Net Promoter Referral Program at ETC. This program allows us to have an opportunity to reach out to clients who would like to make a referral to our company. For this project I worked with our Vice President of Operations and Client Services, our Managers in Client Services and Sales and our Salesforce expert in IT. We are still early in the start of this program, but I am hopeful that it will help to generate leads for our Sales team.

I have also been working hard to prepare my presentation to our Managers and Supervisors at both Equity Trust and Sterling Trust on our Net Promoter Score Program. The presentation is just weeks away and I am starting to feel like the presentation is coming along very nicely. Next week I will be doing a run of my presentation with our HR trainer and make any necessary improvements or changes before the big presentations in two weeks!

My Service Excellence rotation has gone by very fast and I will soon be moving into my Leadership Rotation in the end of July!

Exciting Times

2011-05-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

Equity Trust Company's Leadership Trainee Program has yielded great results! Two of our previous Leadership Trainees have officially finished the program, and now are excelling in their full time position as a Business Analyst and Internal Wholesaler. Congrats to Rachel Cain, our Operations Business Analyst, and Aurie Watkins, our Internal Wholesaler.

Eric Groesch, our current Leadership Trainee, is doing very well in his current rotation in Operations. He is working directly with our VP of Operations and Client Services on our Net Promotor Score. He has found new reporting capabilities that have eliminated manual reporting and has allowed us to see directly how our clients are preceiving our service.

Now we wait patiently for our new Leadership Trainee to join us in June. Please stay tuned to learn morr about Robert Starrett, a recent college grad from the University of Dayton!

~Amanda

Enhancements to Equity NPS Program

2011-05-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

This week I officially rolled out some big enhancements to our NPS Program here at Equity that I have been working on since I moved into my Service Excellence Rotation.

We are now running our survey through our own in-house survey software which has allowed us to link our survey responses to our Customer Relationship Management Software. This has evolved our program by reducing the time it takes for us to have actionable results from 4 weeks to instantaneous.

Before implementing these changes I presented the proposed changes to our Executive Team. We covered the changes in the program and the new ability to have the same type of information and data that would take days to prepare before, available at their finger tips as new survey responses come in.

There are more changes to the program on the way and I will be posting about them as they are implemented.

Expys Awards!

2011-03-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today I attended the Expy Awards in Cleveland with two members of our Human Resources staff and one of our former interns. The Expys are presented by the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education (NOCHE) and recognizes the best experiential learning programs in Northeast Ohio.

The awards included Best Intern, Best Mentor, Coolest Internship, Best New Internship, Best Overall Internship. Equity Trust Company was a finalist for both Best Intern and Best Overall Internship. While we did not win either we did finish in the Top 5 out of over 200 applicants. That is something to be proud of!

For more information on the awards and a list of the finalists you can visit CBC Magazine Expy Finalists

Goodbye Leadership Trainee Program...

2011-03-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Today is bitter-sweet as I finish up my last day as a leadership trainee at Equity Trust Company. I have been offered a full-time position in the Sterling Sales Division as an Internal Wholesaler. I will be working closely with one of the external wholesalers to maintain a strong relationship with Sterling's institutional client base and work towards educating them on non-traditional investing.

During my time as a leadership trainee, I have gained valuable knowledge and a strong skill set not only to be a successful leader but to be successful in any position within an organization. I have learned what it takes to hire valuable employees, how to handle escalated client issues, how to manage daily stats and work them in to a staffing model, how to deal with conflict between employees, managing a project, finding ways to make processes more efficient, identifying ways to reduce costs, the value of the 'voice of the customer', and so much more.

I hope to take all of the knowledge and skills I have gained to my new position and to keep growing with Equity Trust Company. This has been an amazing experience that I feel lucky to be a part of!

Net Promoter Launches at Sterling Trust

2011-03-08T14:02:00.001-08:00

Since my last post I have been busy with our net promoter score program for our Texas company, Sterling Trust. Using our new survey software I designed the survey we would use to send to our clients who had work-flow items closed in the previous week. The implementation with Sterling Trust has gone very well and we are already seeing the value in the responses that are coming back. In addition to this Sterling Trust survey I also launched another one last week for Sterling Trust's Institutional accounts.

In the upcoming weeks I will be working to move our Equity Trust NPS program over to our new survey system.

In addition to administering and reporting on our surveys I have also been working on our core system replacement project. With this project I have put together a list of the reports that our management team uses that will allow us to prepare our new system to have these reports after our conversion.

We Have Fun at What We Do!

2011-02-28T09:47:00.000-08:00

Last week Equity Trust Company closed down for half a day to treat the employees to a day filled with fun, games, and food at Dave and Busters. We all participated in a scavenger hunt which was a great way to meet our fellow co-workers! We also had a great lunch, played games for several hours, and had an award ceremony for the individuals with numerous years of service with Equity Trust Company. It was a nice treat to be able to relax in between the end of the year rush and tax season.

We also closed for half a day last Friday. The weather was extremely bad so management made the decision to close the offices early to allow for everyone to get home safely. They provided us with pizza for lunch so no one would have to leave the building and when we went out to our cars to go home, every ones cars were completely cleaned off. It's great to see a company care for the well being of their employees in that way.
With the short week, there is lots of work to catch up on! So until next time, have a good one!!

Leadership Rotation Continued....

2011-02-15T11:13:00.001-08:00

Since I have been in my Leadership Rotation as team lead of the Account Support team, things have been very busy! When I first joined the team, I sat down with the members to begin to learn their processes. Once I got a good understanding of them, I put together a plan to begin cross-training the team. Now, instead of only having one person who knows a process, we have four! I am also in the process of re-writing all of the procedures for the team and preparing for the system conversion that is going to take place in July.

Some things I have done to prepare the team for this are, as mentioned before, the cross-training. Re-organizing the queues we work out of to better match what the new system will look like, and working with other departments to make the process flow better for ourselves and the client.

While in my leadership rotation, I have been responsible for payroll, monthly score-cards, daily stats, and attending different meetings with management. It has been a great experience and I am looking forward to learning all that I can over the next few months!

Beginning of My Service Excellence Rotation!

2011-02-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

I am now three weeks into my second rotation in the Leadership Training Program! The past three weeks have been both busy and exciting for me! As part of my new rotation I am taking over our survey projects for our Net Promoter Score, which is a metric we use to measure how likely our clients are to refer us. I have been spending a lot of time learning how the survey program works and even took some time at home to read "The Ultimate Question" which talks about net promoter score and why it should be important to businesses.

I am now running our NPS program for Equity Trust on my own. As an added project from my past rotation, I helped to implement some of the many changes Aurie had suggested and we are now using them in our surveys. One of those is the new survey software that we just got to conduct our surveys. Another is for our sister company, Sterling Trust Company, where I am currently launching their first weekly survey program today through our new survey software!

Leadership Rotation

2011-02-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

Wow, a lot has gone on since my last post! I finished up my Service Excellence rotation back in October. I had many successes while in that rotation. I was able to attend the networking conference that Eric spoke of earlier and I also completed my Green Belt training in Six Sigma.

The main part of my green belt project was re-structuring how the company does our client survey that calculates our net promoter score. I came up with a plan on how to restructure the survey as well as researched different software that would make our survey and calculations cleaner and easier. I am proud to state that management went ahead and chose the survey software I had recommended. My plan for the restructure was also approved and then passed on to Eric to implement and see through as I moved into my leadership rotation as Team Lead of the Account Support Team.

I wanted to give an update as to what has happened in the Leadership program the last few months, but now it is time to get back to work. I will follow up later in the week with my experience thus far in Account Support!

Client Services Rotation - Wrap Up

2011-01-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

I am now finishing up my first 6-month rotation within the Leadership Training Program in our Client Services Department. I have been busy these past few months working on various projects that will help to improve the overall experience of our clients as well as assisting in the training of our new Client Service Agents.

In October we brought in 5 new hires that started for us a month prior to their Investment Training class. To assist them in learning their position I worked to pair them with mentors , tracked and followed up with their mentors on their progress, and developed a training packet that they could work through with their mentor to learn how to use our systems and processes. As part of their development, I worked with one of our Team Leads to present a systems training to all of our new agents in their December training class.

Leading projects was another area I have been busy with the past three months. I have worked to develop a FAQ for both our Client Service Representatives and for our clients in order to address topics important during our busy season. For our First Call Resolution project I worked to develop a system for tracking our daily score, managed an excel database and figured our the limits for the project so we could vaidate that our project was under control. As a part of the First Call Resolution project I have also gained experience working with other departments such as Service Excellence and Marketing.

I have really enjoyed my experience and my time in Client Services. I have gained a greater understanding of working in a client driven atmosphere where improving those interactions is an important part to our relationships with our clients.

Next week I will begin my new rotation in Service Excellence where I will be working on our customer survey and attending training for Lean Six Sigma. I look forward to the new challenges and what I will learn in my next rotation!

Networking Conference 2010!!

2010-09-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

From September 23rd to the 26th I had the opportunity to attend the Equity University Networking Conference in Orlando, Florida. This was a great opportunity to be a part of a very successful event and also meet and hear the successes and stories that our clients have to share. Last year our post conference survey found that 89% of attendees were extremely satisfied and from the clients I spoke with they were even more pleased with this year's conference!

The conference is a way for our clients and other attendees to learn more about self-directed investing in their IRA. They were able to attend sessions that focused on different topics of self-directed investing in non-traditional forms of investments such as real estate and tax liens, to name a few. One of the more exciting sessions was Speed Networking where clients were able to quickly meet a lot of like-minded people who can help to share their knowledge. This session brought a lot of excitement and energy to event and the conversations even continued in the room long after we had formally ended!

By attending the conference I was able to meet our clients and even put a face with a name for some of the clients who I had spoken with on the phone during my rotation in Client Services. It was great to hear about the attendees' experience with Equity Trust Company and hear their success stories. While the conference was a lot of work, it was definitely worth it!

Passport Journey: Information Technology

2010-09-02T13:25:00.001-07:00

This week I attended my Passport Journey with the Vice President of Information Technology (IT). This was a beneficial meeting to see how our IT Department impacts the experience our clients have and our employees' ability to provide the right information. In this meeting I was able to learn about the many projects that are happening in IT such as upgrading our data center, improving our work flow, upgrading our eVantage and building the best IT team. It is exciting to see the upgrades and enhancements that are coming to our company to help us better serve our clients.

I was also given a book to borrow titled Execution The Discipline of Getting Things Done. This book has been insightful and highlights how execution is a huge part of a company succeeding and how to really know if your company is an execution company. It also shows that execution means much more than just getting things done.

My next Passport Journey is with the Vice President of Marketing and Sales. I am looking forward to my next Passport Journey to gain a better understanding of the different channels our marketing team focuses on and the processes that allow our Retirement Plan Specialists to educate our clients on making tax free wealth within their self-directed IRAs.

Welcome to Service Excellence

2010-08-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been very busy adjusting to my new role in Service Excellence. I started taking classes at Lorain County Community College to get my Green Belt in Six Sigma. My project for these classes entails researching the main reasons for our NPS to find ways to improve client satisfaction and the NPS.

In addition to my Green Belt project, I have also been assigned to implementing a new way of distributing and reporting Equity Trust's client survey. I have been learning the current databases we use and contacting other companies to see if their products would be better suited for our needs. I have been working closely with third party vendors, our IT department, and Jamie Reed, VP of Clients Service and Operations for this project.

I am very excited to see where this rotation takes me. I will keep you posted on the progress of my current projects and of any new ones that are tossed me way!

Client Services Rotation!

2010-08-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

For the past three weeks I have been working in my first rotation in the Leadership Training Program in our Client Services Department. My experiences so far has been very beneficial and has helped me to have a better understanding of what our clients experience when they call us. I have spent time both taking calls from clients and working on projects that are going on in the department.

Assisting client's with their questions regarding their accounts, investments, and IRAs has helped me to better understand and apply the information I learned in training. It has been rewarding to tell when I have made a positive difference in the ability for a client to understand the process for making an investment or find the information they need regarding their account.

In addition to assisting clients I have also had the opportunity to work on department specific projects. One of the projects I am working on is reviewing reports for our First Call Resolutions and to identify areas where we can improve by creating an action plan to submit to my supervisor. The goal is that I will be able to plan and present a training session for our Department next month. Working on this project has really helped me to better understand our client's needs and to recognize opportunities we have. I am looking forward to the results of my project and to see how it will impact the calls we receive.

On to the Next Rotation!

2010-08-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been very eventful with many exciting changes occurring. I had the opportunity to attend a Happy Hour at Champps with our Summer Interns and members of our Management team. It was a very exciting opportunity to be able to have a casual meeting with our management team over appetizers and drinks. We discussed things like movies and sports and they were all very curious to learn about us and what our goals for the future are. This was a very unique opportunity that was enjoyable for all involved.

I was informed two weeks ago that I would begin my new rotation in Service Excellence on August 30th. I had the opportunity to meet with my new Manager, Rob Nordman, to discuss possible projects I may be working on and what I can expect on the team. He informed me I would be attending Green Belt Training in Six-Sigma methodologies at Lorain County Community College. I attended an informational breakfast on the training to see what the expectations of the course are. I will be expected to work on a project for the company in order to receive my certification.

With that said, I was informed that my project will be to assist in improving the companies Net Promoter Score and my new start date for Service Excellence will be August 16th. My first day I will meet with Jamie Reed to learn more about the details of this project. I have enjoyed my time in Client Service and feel I have learned a lot. I feel it was a very valuable experience to learn how to communicate with clients and put their needs first. I feel this experience will make me stronger and more successful in my next two rotations. I am very excited for my new opportunity and can't wait for the challenge!

Welcome Home!

2010-07-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hello! My name is Eric Groesch and I am also a Leadership Trainee at Equity Trust Company. I am a recent graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College with a degree in Business Management. Upon starting in the Leadership Training Program I began June 21st with a five week investment training where I learned about the types of retirement plans we offer, the kinds of investments that our clients make and our company history. The past five weeks have allowed me to get a good grasp of the company, our values, and our commitment to our clients.

To give you a better idea of what the Leadership Program is I will be posting updates on my experiences in the program. The Leadership Training Program is an 19 month journey through the company. The program is split into three, six-month rotations. The first rotation that I have currently started is in our Client Services Department where I will have the opportunity to assist our clients by educating them on our retirement plans and investments as well as work on different projects. After this rotation I will move to our Service Excellence Department where I will be trained in Lean Six Sigma and learn about process improvement and business project management. The third rotation will be my Leadership Rotation in our Operations Department where I will be able to further develop my managment skills.

While going through these three rotations I will also have the opportunity to take part in many different Passport Journeys, where I will have the opportunity to meet with the managers, supervisors, and the CEO of Equity Trust Company. As a part of my first Passport Journey I have been reading the book From Good To Great by Jim Collins. This book highlights the key findings in what has allowed good/average companies to make the leap to a great company.

I am very excited to be beginning my first rotation here in Client Services and I look forward to the many experiences and opportunities I will have along the way!

Welcome to the Leadership Trainee Program!!

2010-07-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hi! My name is Aurie Watkins and I am the third Leadership Trainee to join Equity Trust Company. I started with the company in January of 2007 in the Operations Department. During my first three years at Equity Trust, I attended classes at Lorain County Community College through their partnership program with Ohio University. In June, 2009 I graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Organizational Communication. I was offered a position in the Leadership Trainee Program in February 2010. At this time, I went through four weeks of investment training where I learned the ins and outs of IRA Accounts, investments, and company history.

After investment training, I was asked to help Human Resources with recruiting over 60 new employees for Equity Trust and Sterling Trust. During this time I assisted with phone screens, conducting skills testing, attending career fairs, and on several cases conduct interviews.

After a month of recruiting, I began my Client Service rotation. During my time in Client Service, I have taken client calls, learned how to handle escalated situations, manage payroll for a team of 14 employees, and learn how to conduct score cards. Coming from an operations background, this rotation has been a great experience for me. Being able to interact directly with the clients has furthered my understanding of the company Core Values and the service Equity Trust has to offer.

Over the last five months, I have had the option to begin my Passport Journey. I have had the opportunity to have lunch with the Vice President and Director of Client Services and Operations, dinner with the CEO, as well as meet with the Vice President of IT and the Director of Equity University. During my time with these individuals I had the unique opportunity to gain valuable insight to what each department does, the future of the departments, and the visions each of these leaders have for the company.

My first five months of the Leadership Trainee Program have been very beneficial and exciting. I am looking forward to meeting with more of the company’s leaders, getting involved in projects, and experience all the opportunities to come my way!

Moving Fast During Tax Season

2010-03-10T06:59:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I had a chance to post anything on this blog, but I've been very busy with new projects in the Leadership Rotation. The months leading up to tax day (April 15) are very fast-paced at Equity Trust and my projects can change at any given time. Fortunately, this gives me the opportunity to learn new things and gain experience handling multiple projects.

Lately, I’ve been working with the Human Resources Recruiting Team to review resumes, phone screen job candidates, and assist in the interviewing and hiring processes. Equity Trust hosted a career fair in February and I had the opportunity to interview several great candidates. Some of the hiring decisions have been made now, so I’m developing a training plan for the Client Services Supervisors to bring some new employees on board. It’s exciting to see our company grow!

Another project I’ve been focusing on is a plan to bring in a large group of new clients to our company. Of course, a big influx of new clients will require additional staff to handle the increased volume, so I’m creating training plans for these new hires. These new employees will be part of a new team at Equity Trust, so it’s great to learn how to build a team from the ground up!

Overall, the Leadership Rotation is full of new experiences and challenges. I’m learning a lot in this fast-paced environment. Over the next four weeks, I’ll be conducting two training classes and then serving as the team lead for the new team that will be bringing in the large group of new clients. I can’t wait to see how these projects turn out! Best of all, by the time the projects are done, tax day will be behind us!

The Leadership Rotation Begins!

2010-01-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

I was surprised and excited to learn last Friday that my Client Services Rotation was over and I would be starting the Leadership Rotation immediately. Service Excellence was previously planned as my next rotation, but Equity Trust's needs have required a change in plans. As a result, I have begun planning for a six-month leadership position in the Client Services Department.

One of the benefits of remaining in the Client Services Department is the opportunity to help with the implementation of the call volume project that Rachel and I completed over the last few months. Our proposals are awaiting approval and they will likely be implemented just in time for tax season. Another benefit of staying in CST is the chance to continue working with the team leads, supervisors, and manager whom I've gotten to know well over the last seven months.

I don't know all of the specifics of my new role in the Leadership Rotation, but I'm sure I will be learning very soon. Right now, I am job shadowing the CST Team Leads to learn about their daily responsibilities. I've also been reviewing Equity Trust's employee handbook, which I will have to know well in a leadership position. I am really looking forward to the challenges and learning experiences that this new rotation will bring. As I learn more about my specific role, I'll follow up with details about tasks to be completed and project plans.

Recruiting!

2010-01-08T12:29:00.000-08:00

As my last post indicated, I am now involved in the Human Resources Department assisting as a recruiter for both Equity Trust Company and Sterling Trust Company (which is located in Waco, Texas). For the past month I have had the opportunity to work closely with the Corporate Recruiter, Amanda Thompson, to learn the procedures and skills necessary to be a successful recruiter. Throughout the past month I have been interviewing candidates for a variety of positions for both Equity Trust and Sterling Trust. I conduct phone interviews with candidates for different positions on a daily basis. I also have been scheduling in person interviews and sitting in on those as well. I am learning a ton about the questions to ask, answers to look for and how to determine if a candidate possess the core competencies necessary to fulfill the open positions. As both Equity Trust and Sterling Trust continue to grow, there are many open positions that we have been looking to fill. Every day is exciting and fast paced. As Colin mentioned in his last post, I too remember job hunting and sitting in on interviews not too long ago. It has been a fun experience to get the opportunity to be on the reverse side of an interview.

I also have been finishing up on my strategic mapping project that was dealing with fee awareness and our competitor's fees. I have created a spreadsheet which provides an at a glance reference comparing our annual fees and service fees with those of our main industry competitors. I also made a coinciding PowerPoint to possibly be referenced or used for continued education training or new hire training. Fees are something that our prospects and clients seem to have many questions about and knowing how our company compares to others out there can help strengthen our competitive advantage.

Meeting Deadlines

2009-12-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-20T05:50:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-11-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-10-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

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.