Personal growth key to firm’s financial success

HIGH MORALE, HIGH ACHIEVEMENT: Oceanstate Financial Services employees are encouraged to spread their wings professionally and have fun at the same time, and the company benefits from talented, engaged workers. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
HIGH MORALE, HIGH ACHIEVEMENT: Oceanstate Financial Services employees are encouraged to spread their wings professionally and have fun at the same time, and the company benefits from talented, engaged workers. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

At Oceanstate Financial Services, team-building is accomplished through fun activities.
It could be a reward trip for the financial advisers to someplace like Las Vegas or a Greek island. Or it could be something small, like pizza parties on rainy days, paid for by the company. “We’re always doing something that promotes camaraderie,” said Ann Swartz, the company’s chief operating officer and head of the East Providence office.
Oceanstate is the Rhode Island branch of New England Financial Services, one of the region’s oldest and largest privately owned financial-services firms. The agency is owned by New England Life Insurance Co., headquartered in Boston. The business involves providing clients with strategies for investing, buying insurance, planning retirement and other financial matters.
New England Financial’s 331 employees – including 54 in Rhode Island – are well-compensated for their work. Salaried employees enjoy an average annual pay check in the six figures; others earn an average of $45,000. The company also pays 75 to 99 percent of health, prescription and dental insurance coverage.
But employees say it’s also the atmosphere that makes them stay with Oceanstate.
“I get a lot of help from the support staff,” said Guido Sarcione, one of the financial advisers working in Rhode Island. “They’re very attentive. At the same time there’s a lot of autonomy. You get to make your own decisions.”
“I’ve been in this business for 34 years, and this is the best company I’ve worked for,” added Anne Alix, case manager for new business. “This is a warm and supporting office, and everyone is very professional.”
To keep that spirit alive, Oceanstate makes a real effort to boost morale and bring employees together. A half-dozen times a year the company hosts Happy Hour events, which also raise money for Baystate Financial Charitable Foundation, the company charity. The events could be anything from a golf tournament or an American Idol contest with a live band.
And on the first Friday in February, there’s a Black Tie Gala, an upscale dinner-and-dancing affair for all staff members and advisers who hit their production goals. This year it was held in Boston. “It’s a great opportunity for staff from all the New England states to get together,” Swartz said.
There’s also a vacation condominium in Orlando, Fla., that is available to everyone – both advisers and support staff – for up to two weeks at a stretch. “It’s a wonderful perk,” Swartz said. “There are fresh linens and towels, the refrigerator is stocked. Everything is provided.” Financial advisers are rewarded with group vacation trips, and this year 250 of them traveled together to Florida. There are incentives for the rest of the staff as well. A support team has a chance to split a $15,000 bonus pool, it is the first one to hit its sales goal. The award is given out every month and every quarter, so there are 16 opportunities to win each year. Last year, the company paid out nine times.
The company also gives out anniversary awards five times a year. Associates can browse catalogs to select their own gift, anything from jewelry to kitchen gadgets and audio equipment. The employee who brings in a new hire gets a bonus, too.
Company policies also make Oceanstate a great place to work. Employees describe their office as family-friendly, the type of place where it’s OK to take time off to take care of loved ones.
“The company is very flexible,” said Alix. “If you have to leave for a family emergency at any given moment, they are right there to support you.”
“An individual’s family life is important to us,” said Swartz. “We encourage people to be there for their child’s soccer game or recital.”
There’s a focus on promoting fitness and wellness, too. The company picks up a portion of the dues when an employee joins a health club and offers personal enrichment programs on eating right, as well as CPR training and fitness activities. For many workers, Oceanstate provides real opportunities for moving up. The company hires both college graduates and older workers looking for new career paths.
“We have people here who started as interns and then became full-time associates, and some of them went on to become sales support staff and financial advisers,” said Swartz. “We have a career-changer who joined us and became a case manager and then moved up to team leader for new business.”
New hires are often assigned mentors, or encouraged to take part in job-shadowing activities to help them climb the ladder. Oceanstate has a strong track record for promoting from within. Last year the majority of those picked to fill vacant positions were already working for the company. And opportunities are plentiful: Last year the company created 35 new positions.
Swartz notes the company’s business is helping people meet their life goals, which itself can be a satisfying task.
“It can be very fulfilling,” she said. “You have a chance to support people, our clients, in many areas of their lives. You can make a difference. And it can be financially rewarding as well.” &#8226

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