“That’s an inordinately high number,” he said. “I don’t break my shoulder patting myself on the back about the 50. I think about the other 50 that we’re not getting and what we can do to be better. … I would say that it’s an almost maniacal focus on how we can continue to be better for the customer.” CIVIC CULTURE “FEELS DIFFERENT” To provide top-notch service and products, CIVIC has focused on building its culture with employees. Tessar said visitors often comment that “it feels different in here.” “It feels different in here because everyone is treated like family,” he said. Communication is one key to keeping teams engaged. Everyone in the company has a quick morning huddle with their team. That allows everyone to check the pulse of what’s going on, Tessar said. Though the company has traditional hierarchy in management, it doesn’t ascribe to the theory that good ideas must come from the top down. It regularly collects feedback from employees, both anonymously and in meetings. Tessar said teams discuss “keep, stop, starts” throughout the organization to find out what’s working, what could be dropped, and what they should try. “That forces our company to constantly be better, and it also gives a voice to everyone in the firm. There’s not one person’s voice at CIVIC that is valued more than the others. Certainly, mine might be the loudest, but it isn’t the strongest,” Tessar said. “I learned at an early age God gave us two ears and one mouth and to use it proportionately.” The team doles out culture award points throughout the year
Encouraging Recognition: The CORE Challenge grand prize, a Tesla Model 3. CIVIC’s Opportunities for Reaching Excellence is a year-long program encouraging team recognition and development opportunities to achieve business goals — all while having fun through a game and points system.
CIVIC received a host of additional accolades from Comparably: • Best Company Culture • Best Company for Diversity • Best Company for Women
for employees who go above and beyond, and they can be nominated by any team member. CIVIC has an annual celebration where the top point-getters are honored for their commitment. This year, Tessar said, the winner received a Tesla. “If it were up to me, I’d give 10 of them away because of what those 10 finalists did for our firm throughout the year for their community and their co-workers,” he said. “I think if you give people more than they deserve, the company gets back more than it deserves.” That approach has played out well on the public stage too, with CIVIC earning multiple culture awards this year. It was named as the top mortgage company to work for by National Mortgage News, and Comparably dubbed it one of the Best Places to Work in Los Angeles. It was also recognized as having the Best Product and Design Teams and Best Operations Teams. Last year,
• Best CEO for Diversity • Best CEO for Women • Best CEOs 2021 • Best Career Growth
• Best Companies Perks & Benefits • Best Companies Compensation • Best Companies Happiness Among other awards in 2021, CIVIC landed on Fortune’s Best Small & Medium Workplaces 2021, Best Workplaces for Millennials, and Best Workplaces in Financial Services. The fact that CIVIC has reeled in so many honors during the past two years is a testament to its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how its team
6 | think realty magazine :: june 2022 :: SPECIAL LENDING EDITION
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