Press
At Advancial, Fun Company Culture Starts At The Top
Kimi Bates
Marketing Specialist
972.201.1758
kbates@advancial.org
DALLAS (September 2, 2011) — Advancial Federal Credit Union’s organizational culture can be described as fun and unique. This unique work environment is the result of the guidance from the Leadership Team at Advancial. The recent Fourth of July celebration, involved a fun and exciting week long activity.
For Fourth of July Advancial coordinated a “shoot out” where all locations created a themed photo shoot for each day of the week. The Leadership Team impressed employees with their rendition of “planking,” a pop culture phenomenon that involves photographing yourself lying flat like a plank.
“The fun company culture is part of the reason why Advancial has received some prestigious company awards,” said Suzan Dick, Chief Human Resources Officer of Advancial. “Named by Best Company to Work for in Texas and Best Places to Work, it’s obvious our employees enjoy the organizational environment we’ve worked so hard to create.”
Advancial frequently organizes company activities throughout the year to promote collaboration and to celebrate the time of year. Members of the Leadership Team include Brent Sheffield, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO); Andy Tomalin, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO); Larry Burwell, Chief Information Officer (CIO); Suzan Dick, Chief Human Resources Officer; Deborah Griesbach, Vice President of Marketing and Business Relations. The Leadership Team at Advancial can oftentimes be seen participating in these social activities and contests.
“To promote the Dallas area’s Summer Circus Event, Brent (President & CEO) dressed as a circus ring leader and handed out animal crackers to employees around corporate,” said Heather Stalling, Business Relations Officer at Advancial. “The Leadership Team is always doing something fun to promote company activities and never ceases to wow us!”
To raise money for charity Advancial hosted a “pie toss” where employees donated money for the Leadership Team to get a pie in the face. The charity drive ended with a total of $1,757.35 earned and a lot of smiles on employees’ faces. For the annual “Celebrate Advancial” meeting Brent Sheffield, President & CEO at Advancial, played a prank on all employees by spreading a rumor he was sick and was forced to miss the meeting. At the end of the meeting Brent surprised all employees with a grand entrance involving “magic.”
“It’s important that our employees look forward to coming to work every day,” said Brent Sheffield, President & CEO of Advancial. “One of the ways we make that possible is through the fun and collaborative social activities. Everyone [Advancial staff] has learned to expect over-the-top things from us [the Leadership Team], and I think it adds a level of anticipation to everything we do at Advancial.”
In order to participate in the 2011 Best Companies to Work for in Texas program, Advancial’s workplace assessment process included an employee survey and an inventory of the company benefits, policies and offerings. The final rankings of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas list was published in a special advertising section of the February 2011 issue of Texas Monthly, a national publication.
The Dallas Business Journal’s Best Places to Work awards program is in its eighth year and is the publication’s most popular program. To be eligible, companies were required to have at least one office in North Texas and have a minimum of 10 employees in the seven-county DFW metropolitan area.
With a history dating back to 1937, Advancial provides a diversified line of advanced financial solutions to its members. Today, Advancial is a full-service financial institution that serves more than 70,000 members worldwide and has assets of approximately $966 million. For more information on this organization, please visit the Advancial website at www.advancial.org.