RICHMOND HEIGHTS 鈥 Top Flite Financial likes to hand out money and lavish trips to encourage employee performance, and it seems to be working.
The incentives have launched the branch office here to the top revenue spot among the company鈥檚 37 locations nationwide, executives said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e the biggest team, and we do more than half the company鈥檚 total loan volume,鈥 said division manager Todd Feager.
Top Flite took first place among small employers in this year鈥檚 Top Workplaces survey. This is the second time the mortgage lender has nabbed the honor. Last year it ranked second 鈥 and the branch has only been in St. 不良研究所导航网址 for five years.
The branch has grown to 80 employees from 12 in 2016.
A visit to Top Flite鈥檚 new office space at The Boulevard shopping district tells much of the story. First, there鈥檚 the enormous spinning wheel on a stage-like platform. The 9-foot-diameter wheel was custom-made for Top Flite, and it barely fit through the doors when it was delivered, Feager said.
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Every week, the top performers spin the wheel to try to win a cash prize of $1,500 to $2,500 depending on the results from that week. Employees also spin for the monthly $8,000 vacation package. Winners can choose from numerous destinations and take a friend, spouse or the whole family.
Feager said his branch is on track to hand out anywhere from $200,000 to $250,000 in incentives this year. Entries are earned not just for sales, but also for other types of job performance so that employees in operations and administration have opportunities to win, too.
鈥淎nyone can qualify. It keeps everyone engaged and prevents the top two people from winning every time,鈥 Feager said.
The corporate office offers the vacation bonus to the top branch 鈥 which is consistently St. 不良研究所导航网址 鈥 but otherwise gives each location discretion on how it will reward employees. When Feager and co-manager Dave Bray launched the office together, they wanted to share the wealth with employees.
鈥淭he concept is: What if you treated others first? Usually, the guys in the corner office get the financial rewards. It鈥檚 a simple version of the golden rule,鈥 Bray said.
鈥淲e put it back in,鈥 Feager added. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to do that. People do make a great living here. We find a way to motivate people and show we appreciate them. Some people think we鈥檙e crazy.鈥
Golf, anyone?
Money talks, but so do other perks. At the St. 不良研究所导航网址 office, the mostly male workforce 鈥 only 17 of the 80 employees are female 鈥 includes plenty of people who practice their putting skills on one of the five carpeted areas outfitted with a sunken cup.
Putting competitions give workers a break from the stress of selling and assisting customers through the mortgage process.
鈥淭hese guys are on the phones all day. We try to find opportunities to help break it up,鈥 Feager said.
On the day a reporter visited, one employee was in the training room setting up to putt. He called it 鈥渁 good tension reliever.鈥
Many of the employees wear headsets and walk around while talking on the phone. About half the staffers were standing at their desks, which can be raised or lowered.
Another bonus is a Starbucks machine in the spacious, modern kitchen. Cappuccino, espresso and hot chocolate are just a few of the selections that employees enjoy for free.
Top Flite鈥檚 busy workload is fueled by the more than 400 leads they receive each day through Lending Tree, the online loan referral tool. Top Flite assists clients nationwide, the vast majority of whom are looking to pay off credit card debt by refinancing their mortgage.
鈥淲hen you have less than perfect credit you don鈥檛 have a lot of options,鈥 Bray said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very satisfying for our employees to help people, to give them freedom and relief. It can be a very emotional experience (for clients).鈥
Hiring family, friends
Bray and Feager rely on referrals to recruit new employees.
鈥淲e hire a certain type of person, with a solution-driven mindset,鈥 Feager said. 鈥淎lmost everyone we hire comes to us with no industry experience. We prefer that. It allows us to train people from the ground up and not have to break any bad habits.鈥
Hiring family is not a problem, as long as the person fits in and works hard.
鈥淲e鈥檝e squashed the theory of 鈥榙on鈥檛 hire friends.鈥 We have a mom, two sons and a wife here,鈥 Feager said, referring to the fact that his mother, brother and spouse all work for Top Flite.
Jeremy Brigham joined the company in late 2019 as a loan processor. He was working long hours for an aviation supplier and was looking for a better work-life balance. He had worked with Feager and Bray at another mortgage company several years earlier, where he said the atmosphere was tense and negative. He wasn鈥檛 sure he wanted to give the mortgage business another try, but he saw a Facebook post mentioning that Top Flite was recruiting. He met with his former colleagues and was encouraged by what he saw, including the prizes and bonuses.
鈥淭he higher-ups are more concerned about their employees than giving themselves raises,鈥 Brigham said.
He also appreciates not being micro-managed, as he was in previous jobs. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice not to have someone breathing down your neck saying: More, more, more.鈥
Brigham won the monthly vacation prize last month. He plans to go somewhere warm when it gets cold here.
Joe Daniel joined Top Flite Financial as a loan officer two years ago. Before that he ran a Little Caesar鈥檚 franchise. He was working 16-hour days and not seeing his two young children enough. Two friends worked at Top Flite and suggested he come in for an interview. They said it didn鈥檛 matter that he didn鈥檛 have sales or mortgage industry experience. He would be trained on the job.
The job is commission-only, which worried his wife at first. But things have worked out well. Daniel won a vacation prize and is taking his wife to Maui this fall for seven days.
鈥淣ow my wife鈥檚 happy, the kids are happy,鈥 he said.
Top workplaces, small
Rank | Name | Founded | Ownership | Primary sector | Headquarters | Global employees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
76 | 1989 | Public | Finance and Insurance | Fenton | 51 | |
75 | 2008 | Private | Wealth management and banking | Clayton | 70 | |
74 | 1999 | Private | Other | Maryland Heights | 350 | |
73 | 1902 | Private | Moving and storage transportation | Earth City | 85 | |
72 | 2005 | Private | Agents/brokers | Clayton | 22,000 | |
71 | 1993 | Private | Custom software development and consulting | St. Louis | 150 | |
70 | 1993 | Private | Plumbing, HVAC and electrical | Collinsville | 86 | |
69 | 1947 | Private | Automotive glass repair and replacement | St. Louis | 20,000 | |
68 | Geotechnology | 1984 | Private | Engineering | St. Louis | 260 |
67 | 1860 | Nonprofit | Nonprofit | St. Louis | 116 | |
66 | 1984 | Nonprofit | Early childhood education nonprofit | St. Louis | 120 | |
65 | CAPREIT | 1993 | Private | Apartment communities | Rockville, Maryland | 1,000 |
64 | 1977 | Private | Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration | St. Peters | 66 | |
63 | Bastian Solutions | 1952 | Public | Logistics | Carmel, Indiana | 1,040 |
62 | 1978 | Public | Specialty insurance | Fenton | 140 | |
61 | Renewal by Andersen of St. Louis | 2012 | Private | Construction | Maryland Heights | 107 |
60 | 2010 | Private | Pet care: Dog daycare, boarding and training | St. Louis | 101 | |
59 | Residential Home Health, Hospice and Palliative | 2018 | Parent company | Home Hhealth care services | Glen Carbon | 2,600 |
58 | 1857 | Cooperative/mutual | Financial services and insurance | Creve Coeur | 12,400 | |
57 | 2016 | Private | Holistic reentry services for incarcerated individuals | St. Louis | 52 | |
56 | 1975 | Private | Industrial automation | Chesterfield | 176 | |
55 | 2015 | Private | Auto service contract companies | O'Fallon, Missouri | 79 | |
54 | 2010 | Private | Childcare services | Missouri | 70 | |
53 | 1978 | Nonprofit | Religious financial institution | St. Louis | 124 | |
52 | 1999 | Private | Health care data analytics and management consulting | St. Louis | 81 | |
51 | Cass Commercial Bank | 1906 | Public | Commercial banking services serving privately held businesses and faith-based orgainizations | St. Louis | 54 |
50 | 1933 | Private | Engineering design consultant | St. Louis | 96 | |
49 | 1947 | Private | Hearing health care | St. Louis | 58 | |
48 | 1957 | Nonprofit | Private high school | St. Louis | 63 | |
47 | 1896 | Private | Mechanical contractor | St. Louis | 51 | |
46 | 1986 | Public | Promotional products marketing | St. Louis | 55 | |
45 | 1962 | Public | Staffing services | Tampa | 2,255 | |
44 | National Design Build Services | 2007 | Private | Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration | St. Louis | 57 |
43 | 1997 | Private | Interior and exterior design, remodeling and renovation | Chesterfield | 100 | |
42 | 2006 | Partnership | Third-party logistics | O'Fallon, Missouri | 93 | |
41 | 1983 | Public | Certified public accountants and consultants | St. Louis | 220 | |
40 | 1967 | Private | Swimming pool construction and service | Maryland Heights | 69 | |
39 | 1992 | Private | Hospice | Skokie, Illinois | 250 | |
38 | 1994 | Private | Law | St. Louis | 70 | |
37 | 1989 | Private | Third-party logistics | St. Louis | 147 | |
36 | 1996 | Private | Systems integration | Chesterfield | 74 | |
35 | 1994 | Private | Franchise | Maryland Heights | 97 | |
34 | 2011 | Private | Manage and coordinate home care services for veterans and surviving spouses | Lake Saint Louis | 51 | |
33 | 1980 | Private | Design and build firm offering architecture, interior design, engineering and construction services | St. Louis | 125 | |
32 | 2001 | Private | Residential home loans | St. Louis | 209 | |
31 | Private | Digital marketing | Dayton, Ohio | 600 | ||
30 | 2012 | Private | Brokerage, freight, warehousing | St. Charles | 60 | |
29 | CC3 Solutions | 2017 | Private | Telecommunicationsand cybersecurity | Des Peres | 60 |
28 | 2006 | Private | Solar design and installation | St. Louis | 74 | |
27 | 2015 | Private | Vendor serving health care industry | Chesterfield | 75 | |
26 | 1995 | Private | Information technology | St. Louis | 360 | |
25 | 2006 | Private | Title insurance and escrow company | St. Louis | 65 | |
24 | 1920 | Cooperative/mutual | Auto, home, farm, business, umbrella insurance | Edwardsville | 54 | |
23 | 1953 | Private | Engineering | St. Louis | 95 | |
22 | Erie Construction | 1976 | Private | Roofing and siding | Toledo, Ohio | 501 |
21 | 2010 | Private | Vehicle service contract sales and administration. | Chesterfield | 50 | |
20 | 2016 | Private | Modern software engineering, data engineering, etc. | St. Louis | 74 | |
19 | 2010 | Private | Automotive software technology | St. Louis | 61 | |
18 | Krilogy Financial LLC | 2009 | Private | Wealth management | Creve Coeur | 59 |
17 | 1917 | Nonprofit | Primary/secondary school | St. Louis | 59 | |
16 | 1990 | Private | Technology software | St. Louis | 70 | |
15 | 1965 | Nonprofit | Human and social services | St. Louis | 59 | |
14 | 2007 | Parent company | Security and protection | St. Louis | 120 | |
13 | Auto Repair Network | Private | Auto ealerships | Mississippi | 55 | |
12 | 1938 | Private | General contractor | East Alton | 51 | |
11 | 1994 | Private | Management consulting | St. Louis | 67 | |
10 | 1966 | Private | Mortgage lending | St. Louis | 125 | |
9 | 2009 | Private | Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration | St. Peters | 54 | |
8 | 1996 | Private | Mortgage lending | Madison, Wisconsin | 8,410 | |
7 | 1904 | Private | Heating and air conditioning | Maryland Heights | 85 | |
6 | 1904 | Private | Flavor house | Maryland Heights | 51 | |
5 | Janet McAfee Real Estate | 1975 | Private | Residential real estate brokerage | St. Louis | 84 |
4 | 2007 | Private | Real estate sales | Clayton | 57 | |
3 | 1962 | Private | Wholesale distribution | Hazelwood | 121 | |
2 | 1961 | Private | Drywall, painting and flooring | Maplewood | 75 | |
1 | 2002 | Private | Mortgage lending | Williamston, Michigan | 172 |