Feedback: September 2015

Question: What are the key elements of company culture for your business? And how do you foster this culture?

Bernie Clark

Executive Vice President
Charles Schwab
Sector: Financial

For more than 40 years, Schwab has been challenging the status quo to help investors and those who serve them transform lives and realize dreams. Every decision we make is based on seeing things through the eyes of our clients. To do that, we have to truly care about those we serve — and each other. And we do. Our culture of service makes Schwab a special place to work, where employees can, literally, change people’s lives.

Schwabbies, as we’re known, are forward-thinking, optimistic and passionate. We value transparency and integrity, which are at the heart of all we do for our clients and one another.

Our people-first culture starts at the top. We know that when our employees are at their best, so is Schwab. That’s why we support the well-being of our employees and their families, and the communities where we live and work. We offer competitive compensation and world-class tools and advice to help employees plan their financial futures. Most importantly, we have a culture where diversity is celebrated and everyone can excel.

Bernie Clark is a member of Charles Schwab’s Executive Committee and leads Advisor Services, which serves independent Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) across the United States. Clark oversees custody, practice management and consulting services to nearly 7,000 independent investment advisory firms with $1.26 trillion under management. An industry leader, Clark has been named by Investment Advisor magazine as one of the 25 most influential people in the industry.

Ed Colby

Assistant Vice President, Human Resources
Nautilus Insurance Group
Sector: Insurance

At Nautilus, we have a passion for our business, relationships with our business partners, customer service excellence (externally and internally), the health and development of our employees, and giving back to the community. In order to foster a culture that embodies that all-encompassing passion, we do our best to “live” it every day.

We know that, to be the best in our business niche, we need to work smarter, invest in our employees and our systems, and help each other to succeed. With the spirit of collaboration, open communication, creative thinking, respect and support for each other, our efforts ensure our core values continue to drive our success as a company.

The health and development of our employees is embraced through continuing educational opportunities, an in-house gym, and annual health fairs. This is all brought home and made better through the sincere and generous “pay it forward” charitable acts and donations of our employees, our company and our parent company.

Colby began his career with Nautilus Insurance Group in March of 2004 and became assistant vice president of Human Resources in 2009. He has more than 15 years of human resource experience and earned his PHR designation in 2006. He is an active member of Society for Human Resource Management of Greater Phoenix, and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in personnel management. 

Tomas Gorny

Chief Executive Officer
Nextiva
Sector: Communications

At Nextiva, we believe in building a company culture centered on appreciation, recognition and trust. It is also important to our success to create an environment where we get to have fun and enjoy the work that we do every day.

Cultivating our culture takes time and consistent practice. We achieve this through creating meaningful relationships with new employees in our new hire program, which includes “culture” training. While teaching new team members about Nextiva’s personality, we encourage individuals to find ways that they can make unique contributions, drawing upon their own personal strengths. We also produce an internal news show every week, called “NexTV,” where we recognize individuals or departments, share product news or announcements, and incorporate skits that are simply meant to make people laugh.

“Our team is our greatest asset and a key driver in our rapid growth and success. We work hard every day to create an environment where each team member feels valued, has fun and can grow,” says Yaniv Masjedi, our VP of marketing.

Tomas Gorny is the CEO of Nextiva. He has a 15-year track record of investing in, building and leading high-performing technology and Internet companies. His entrepreneurial background includes launching Trendsetter and IPOWER. In 2007, he orchestrated the merger between IPOWER and Endurance International Group. He creates the vision while managing the business strategy for Nextiva. He can also frequently be found rolling up his sleeves in the day-to-day activities.