Culture Corner: CIVIC

Conquering Culture: The CIVIC Difference™

CIVIC

By Originate Report Staff

CIVIC takes pride in being a best-in-class lender that empowers real estate investors through excellent service, providing lending solutions for real estate investment needs. As an institutional private money lender, the company specializes in the financing of nonowner occupied residential and multifamily properties — but only when they go further does any of this ultimately matter. And this is why its culture is key.

GO FURTHER™ is CIVIC’s Brand Promise. And it matters. In today’s world, the CIVIC brand is not what they describe it as. It is not just a logo. It is the sum of their customers’ total CIVIC experience — from the website, to phone calls, to processes and documentation, to how they handle questions and solve problems, and how they treat one other.

Habitat for Humanity Playhouse Build: The #CIVICCARES team joined together with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles to build life-size playhouses for local children of an orphanage and veterans’ families.

At CIVIC we have a genuine focus on making sure our employees are equipped with ongoing knowledge and access to career-building resources. Not to mention, it really is possible here to develop your career and maintain balance between work and life … it’s just not a new concept to us.

- Taryn Barnett, Manager, Learning & Development

Since its inception in 2014, CIVIC has taken a hands-on, innovative, and people-first approach – leading to its successful growth of over 300 employees, an energized culture, and a core purpose extending to serve the communities in which they live and work. From hiring incredibly hard-working and passionate individuals, to creating fast, honest, simple lending opportunities for its customers, CIVIC’s core ideologies are the backbone of the company – and CIVIC’s clients, believe it or not, are the ultimate benefactors.

“Our values mean everything,” says William J. Tessar, President at Civic Financial Services. “They guide everything we do and drive us to do everything possible to maximize our potential. We believe that the way we treat our employees is the way they will treat our customers – and this is where our Brand Promise comes to life.”

So here’s an inside look at exactly what this means.

The CIVIC Core Purpose: Enriching our people, partners, and communities

Enriching our PEOPLE

CIVIC is proud to be recognized (two years in a row!) as one of the Best Workplaces by FORTUNE and Great Place to Work®! Based on employee voting and feedback, the company has also ranked as one of the Best Medium-Sized Workplaces, one of the Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance, and among the Top 100 Best Mortgage Companies to Work For. They are committed to being a transparent environment where employees are encouraged to ask questions and be heard. So, yes, their business is in real estate investing … but it’s known (and felt) company-wide that their greatest investment is in their people.

Enriching our PARTNERS

CIVIC’s success in the private lending arena is a result of an unrelenting focus on the belief that the way employees are treated will naturally lay the foundation of how employees will treat their customers. In between good and great lies a space that requires people to step up and step in, and this is where CIVIC digs deep and lives out their core purpose and values every day. They Go Further. They pay attention to the details. They take ownership, accountability, and focus on finding solutions. They help their customers dream big while doing what is expected, but also doing the unexpected. They accelerate success without sacrificing quality.

Enriching our COMMUNITIES

CIVIC believes there is no better thing you can do with your life and your work than to follow your passions in a way that serves the greater good. CIVIC is committed to giving back to its communities and supporting the causes they care about. They rise to the occasion to lend a helping hand, and come together as one. They are proud to be a Corporate Champion of Wounded Warrior Project®, a partner of Habitat for Humanity®, and a supporter of national disaster relief efforts. The team serves at soup kitchens, cleans up our beaches, donates blood, and has even created a Military Discount Program to benefit our military service community. Whether on an individual volunteer basis, or through collective group events, food drives or fundraisers, CIVIC employees live and breathe the idea of helping to make our communities better and helping those who may not be able to help themselves.

The CIVIC Core Values: Act with Honor, Be a Great Partner, Communicate Clearly, Create Smiles, Simplify

The Core Values of CIVIC: Act with honor, be a great partner, communicate clearly, create smiles, and simplify.

ACT WITH HONOR

From the little things to the big things, what are you doing when no one’s watching? Are you diligent? Do you have a thoughtful approach and relentless pursuit of success for others? They ask themselves these questions every day, and acting with honor guides every decision they make.

BE A GREAT PARTNER

Push boundaries. Lend a helping hand. When it comes to taking care of its relationships and going above and beyond, they pay attention to the details, take ownership, and find solutions.

COMMUNICATE CLEARLY

Proactive, concise and genuine. The CIVIC team delivers information with urgency, clarity and resolve, and leaves nothing open to interpretation. Top-down transparency is paramount and directly translates into a culture of inclusion, knowledge, recognition, and success for teammates and clients alike.

CREATE SMILES

CIVIC’s employee engagement is sky-high — ranking among the top 5% of companies nationally — and their NPS and customer ratings are higher than the industry average as well. Happy employees = happy customers!

SIMPLIFY

Moving quickly and growing fast means tapping into the power of innovation. Being straight and eliminating the fluff. CIVIC strives for efficiency and leverages technology. They are intentional - continuously refining their process, reducing complexities, and optimizing results by working smarter. CIVIC has access to institutional capital and complete in-house control over the lending. This means fast answers, a smooth process, on-time closings, and a growing product portfolio – all designed to better serve their customers. Whether the intention is to buy a single-family home to flip, to leverage an existing portfolio of rental homes to hold long term, or to acquire multifamily real estate for cash flow, they have a focused team and set of products that empower investors to build wealth through real estate.

At CIVIC, they go further by taking that one extra step in everything they do. By supporting one another and going further, a little bit at a time, that is how their brand truly impacts its customers.

We encourage our people to take chances, have fun, and push boundaries. We elevate our team members by helping them develop, learn, and Go Further – and this creates a ripple effect of happiness, transcending to our customers, that we could not be more proud of.

– Merced Cohen, EVP, Operations

Encouraging Recognition: The CORE Challenge grand prize, a Tesla Model E. CIVIC's Opportunities for Reaching Excellence is a year-long program encouraging team recognition and development opportunities to achieve our business goals; all while having fun through a game and points system.

We work hard, we play hard, and we celebrate often. Fun is one of the essential ingredients in CIVIC’s unique culture. Happiness is the secret sauce.

- Sophie Kim, SVP, People & Culture

The President's Club: Top Producers in Sales and Operations were recognized during CIVIC's annual company event, uniting employees from all offices around the country.

Supporting What Matters Most: Team members at CIVIC headquarters in Redondo Beach on National Wear Red Day, sporting their red in support of heart disease awareness.

When you spend so much time with your work family, the ‘why’ really matters. To be part of a company with such a clear purpose, real values and contagious camaraderie is a true joy.

- PJ Chan, Marketing Software Manager

The CIVIC Coin: The CIVIC Coin donning the company's core purpose on one side, and core values on the other, makes its way around the globe as employees submit their photos with the coin as part of an ongoing contest.

Celebrating In Style: Team members join together to celebrate the milestone of CIVIC’s 5th Anniversary.

I love that we all know our voices really matter. The value placed on employee feedback makes it known that all of our ideas are important -- and this is what inspires me every single day.

- Collin Hoffman, Sr. Marketing Specialist

CIVIC BENEFITS, PERKS & COOL STUFF

• Competitive Salary

• Performance-based Bonuses

• 401K (Matched)

• In-House Investment Opportunities

• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance

• Optional Health Care Plan Choices

• Free Snacks & Beverages

• Monthly Town Hall Company Gathering

• 50% discount on CIVIC Swag and Apparel

• Employee Referral Program

• Workout Tuesdays

• Continuous Training and Development

• Coaching and Mentoring

• Scholarship Program

• Catered Meals Several Times Each Month

• New Hire Dinners and Welcome Gifts

• Company Celebrations

• Grand Idea Rewards

• Community Outreach Opportunities

• Team Building Events

• Electric Car Charging Stations

• Employee Recognition Awards

• Culture Squad

• Ticket & Rental Car Discounts

• Casual Fridays

• Offices all over the Country

• The Daily Pulse Company e-Newsletter

• Top Gun Training Program

• Internship Program

• CIVIC Coins

• Ongoing Employee Surveys

• Daily Team Huddles