June - We Can "Do Well" by "Doing Good"

June 1, 2021 Elizabeth Chrane

Hello Team –

It’s already June and this year seems to be flying by. I hope that all of you and your families are healthy and beginning to enjoy the relaxed restrictions as we move on from the darker days of the pandemic. The past few weeks have been so invigorating for me as I have seen many more of you in our corporate office and have begun to travel to a few cities to see our OneDigital family and finally meet some of you for the first time face-to-face. It’s been way too long and it certainly feels amazing to see those warm smiles and to enjoy these “family” reunions. I hope to see many more of you in the coming months as we continue to enjoy a return to the human interaction and collaborative culture that has made us so successful over the years.

As we move into this next chapter we plan to take what we have learned during the pandemic as well as what has made us successful for the past 2 decades. I’ve been reflecting quite a bit on this recently as we continue to build upon our tremendous progress and growth as an organization. Over the past year we have all experienced change and made the best of a difficult situation, but in some ways we have simply relied on what has always been natural for us and is embedded into this special culture that we have built over the years. I often get asked “what’s the secret”.... how do we continue to experience such sustained levels of growth through good times and even the most difficult of times? The truth is that is actually pretty simply: we embrace our culture, wrap our arms around our customers and our people, and aim to treat them well. Basically-  we strive to always “DO GOOD” for others. Of course, we also have a competitive desire and relentless pursuit to learn, to grow, to innovate and to lead the industry, but more than anything, we wake up every day driven to serve and to take care of those most important to us.

Recently, our marketing team launched a project with a top branding agency to continue to build upon and strengthen our brand in the marketplace. I was a bit surprised and encouraged to learn that the most consistent theme that came out of all the interviews with key stakeholders was the special culture and vibe that was felt across the company. These experts interestingly noted that the most consistent factor driving our success was a pervasive culture of “give a shit-ness”. While that is not a phrase we could build our brand around, they marveled at OneDigital impressive and consistent growth, and how much this seems to tie to the our culture and the desire from our people to always strive to “Do Good”. This caring culture has translated into industry leading growth and performance year-over-year.

So far this year, we are on pace for over 6% organic growth, which is really impressive when you look at the impact of COVID on the economy. These results are coming from what comes natural for our teams - treating are customers well and solving problems for them.  Our strategic move into new verticals and our holistic team approach to Benefits, HR, Retirement and P&C, is allowing us to show up as a more strategic partner and leading to expansion in these relationships. Our revenue growth is certainly a nice byproduct, but what really hit’s home for me is the genuine care and compassion that I see every time that I visit one of our offices across the country.  I can see firsthand the true concern our people have when our clients are facing difficult challenges, and I also get to witness the determination and hard work they put into helping to solve these tough problems.  I love to hear the genuine sense of pride and excitement in their voices as they share their stories about how the work we are doing is making a real difference for our clients and their employees. The truth is, it’s fun and gratifying to “DO WELL“ when we do our best work for our customers! 

This past month I welcomed our full Board of Directors into our corporate office as we conducted our first face-to-face board meeting with our Onex team and several new strategic advisors. It was an extremely productive and engaging meeting as they praised us for our customer focus throughout the pandemic and the continued evolution of our client strategies. They further noted that the industry is littered with brokers that have failed at cross-selling, but that OneDigital’s approach and collaborative culture provides an opportunity for us to lead the industry by simply cross-“solving” for our customers – and we are off to a great start.

Team, I am so proud of the work we are doing together. There are a lot of important projects underway across the company, but I also realize at times this can be a bit overwhelming. For me, when I begin to feel a bit overwhelmed, I find it comforting to try to quiet the noise by just keeping it simple….. So, how do we do that?  Just show up every day trying to do good, serve our customers and treat each other the way we would want to be treated. When we do this, success will follow and as we have proven for years, we certainly can “Do Well” by “Doing Good” for others.                            

So please join me in embracing what already comes easy for us as we look to bring our teams together and serve our clients with renewed energy and passion. It really is that simple and what makes OneDigital so special!

Adam

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