Attention to detail, a caring atmosphere and a sense of purpose – these are the not-so-secret keys to success of Advanced Financial Services Inc.
Whether it’s making a customer “feel like a guest” or putting fresh flowers every day in the women’s restroom, AFS lives up to the challenge of its founder to create a “great place to work” while competing and winning in the competitive residential mortgage industry. That it is why Advanced Financial Services is one of the Best Places to Work in Rhode Island.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
“You don’t feel like a number here, and we don’t let our customers feel like numbers,” said loan officer Sandra Burroughs. “You know you are part of something bigger, something you want to make better.”
AFS has bucked the cubicle-and-water cooler corporate image to create the type of work environment that not only attracts employees, but keeps them. The workplace amenities also have put AFS on a much larger corporate map. The Society of Human Resource Managers named AFS a top five place to work nationally for each of the last two years. Those types of accolades are no surprise to the employees.
“Our challenge is develop a great place to work,” said AFS President Kurt D. Noyce. “There is still room for improvement, but we are succeeding.”
Founded in 1983 by Rhode Island businessman Dennis Hardiman, AFS has grown into a multimillion-dollar company that operates in 42 states from its Newport base. AFS specializes in residential mortgages and its Web site carries a simple question: “How can we help?” It is a mantra Noyce said contributes to the atmosphere at the firm.
“We work with many credit-stressed people,” Noyce said. “It’s not that they have credit problems, but they have a lot of revolving debt, unexpected home improvement costs or medical bills. There are a variety of reasons why they become credit-stressed, and what we do is show them how to get a little less stressed.”
Last year, AFS wrote more than $1 billion in residential mortgages, and Noyce said the opening quarter of 2006 would be the best in the company’s history, as the firm topped $340 million in loans. But the AFS president said record low interest rates are not the reason for the company’s success. Instead, Noyce said it was all about the people.
“The mortgage business is known for its turnover,” he said. “There are a lot of people in the industry who are nomads, going from agency to agency. What we try to do is provide a workplace where people want to stay. It’s one reason why we would rather hire someone with no experience so we can train him the way we want.”
AFS divides its sales force into 13 teams that compete against one another on a monthly basis for business. The competition, however, is healthy and friendly and reinforces the sense of unity within the company.
“I’ve been here 11 years,” Burroughs said. “And I can tell you the turnover rate is very small. My team has been together now for six years and we have developed a relationship where everyone knows we can count on each other.”
AFS has a series of rewards for top sales teams, ranging from sports tickets to cruises on Narragansett Bay. The teams themselves also reward individuals who worked particularly hard or work through a difficult situation, Burroughs said. It all makes for a place where employees are just as important as what they produce.
“We want to be faithful to the principle of creating a great place to work,” Noyce said.
“We could do things where the bottom line was all that mattered,” Noyce said, “but all we would have is disgruntled employees and far less success. We’re living up to the challenge to create a great place to work.”
