First Financial Asset Management (FFAM) has been growing since its inception in 2002 and has seen exponential improvements and incredible success stories over the last two decades. Reflecting on past and present, executives point to the value of culture and a servant-leadership philosophy as central to the core of the organization and its ongoing ability to thrive, provide positive career opportunities, and give back to the community despite weathering many seasons of change and adversity. For nurturing culture and its growth, specific cultural staples of FFAM include fostering the joy of serving in unity, developing leadership, taking time for team building, and feeding the inner morale of team members with inspiration for the mind.
Joy in Serving Together
First Financial Asset Management (FFAM), like many corporations and businesses, prioritizes a continuous commitment to giving a portion of revenue and time back to the community through a variety of annual events, campaigns, and fundraisers for chosen nonprofit organizations. Team members are encouraged to participate with incentives such as employer matches for employee contributions, supply drives, team runs, and more. What feels particularly unique about FFAM, however, is the persistent passion and vision which emanates from the executive team and spreads throughout the company. While the servant leadership philosophy is the antithesis of top-down leadership in many ways, the contagious “above-and-beyond” mindset does flow out and make an impact on the entire organization.
Value of Healthy Culture
Throughout the years, some of the events First Financial Asset Management has participated in include annual sponsorship/participation in the Promise 686 Race for children in foster care, an annual employee match program for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual back-to-school supply drive, and more. While the team genuinely enjoys participating together in such events, studies show that this is also key in building a culture that aligns with employee values and, in turn, retains valuable employees. According to an article by Harvard Business Review, seasoned C-suite executives tend to observe that healthy culture leads to higher business value and performance and decreased employee turnover.
Leadership Development
FFAM also prioritizes leadership development to support a healthy culture and grow team members both professionally and personally. The organization invests time and resources toward creating and offering quarterly leadership development workshops focused on topics such as improving communication, defining the company culture/vision/core values, mastering focus, and more. The company’s intent for these opportunities is to nurture individual growth and ultimately to foster team solidarity centered around one goal and one purpose. FFAM held a Spring Sales Summit for the Sales Executives and Team Building Event for all Employees. The theme of the Summit was “Mastering the Art of Focus,” and the event centered around planning how we can focus on better serving our customers and clients.
Team Building Events
FFAM routinely plans intermittent team-building events throughout the year to build genuine relationships through fun and engaging activities where team members can set aside “shop talk” and get to know each other more personally while having a great time. For example, the team enjoyed a ropes course excursion at Sojourn Adventures. With “Focus” as the theme, some had to climb a telephone pole and jump off the top while trying to catch a trapeze bar before being belayed to the ground. The event was a great time to connect with the team.. These team outings help to build and maintain enthusiasm and nurture trust and close cooperation.
Feeding the Mind & Spirit
Finally, the leadership team at First Financial Asset Management takes initiative to boost morale by helping to remind and solidify in the minds of its team members key values, motivational phrases, and other types of linguistic inspiration in a variety of ways. Whether it’s sending a company email or placing quotes and wall art around the office, FFAM’s COO, Paul Allen, and Director of Operations, Allen Guthrie, believe in the power of the written and spoken word in building positive, effective mindsets for both individuals and the larger team.
Mr. Allen shares that “there is a quote by R.C. Sproul: ‘The mind is to serve as the feeding trough for the soul.’ I think it is incumbent upon me to provide quality mental nourishment because a place can become either toxic or it can become life-giving and uplifting. The words we focus on and share should be intentional, worthwhile, and bigger in the scheme of things than the more granular emails, numbers, and strategies on which we often find ourselves spending our focus. We enjoy our work and have fun together, but what matters is that we use that to be united in a greater purpose of serving one another and our community with the gifts and resources we have available. I’m very fortunate and humbled to have the opportunity to try to make an impact here along with our awesome team.”
About First Financial Asset Management (FFAM)
Founded in 2002, First Financial Asset Management is a collection agency headquartered near Atlanta, GA. We provide customer-centric solutions that address all phases of the credit and revenue lifecycle. First Financial Asset Management is a certified women-owned business by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and a Certified Receivables Business by Receivables Management Association International (RMAI).
