How would you describe this company in 3 words?

Fast paced, Agile and Flexible

- Fast-paced
- Collaborative
- Supportive

I am going to give a little context behind the words I have used - we do have a very fast-paced way of working here. It's what I like. First Central is very ambitious and we have a lot of plans to grow in the next few years, so it's good to know about the fast pace and often changing priorities.

We're very collaborative here and have a real 'team player' culture. The Execs are super approachable and they really do work closely with their teams, which I personally think is super important for making sure the rest of the business works well together. The Company has worked really hard over the past few years to make sure everyone is 'in the know' of what's happening and who we might need to speak to about certain projects, processes, initiatives etc, which makes it a lot easier to get things done!

When times are tough, I have found the Company to be very supportive - they gave all colleagues from Grades 1-6 an increase in cost of living payment within the past 6-months, which I personally really appreciated. I have personally had Managers that have supported me through difficult personal situations and I have always felt comfortable speaking to them if I need support in work as well.

Fast Paced, Driven, Focused

Fast Paced - the company works in an agile way so change is constantly being delivered, this also means that depending on what projects or change gets prioritised the work priorities can change.

Driven - First Central want to ensure that colleagues and customers are always getting the best experience, this means there is clear guidance through company objectives and strategic drivers to ensure we are all working towards the same direction and outcomes.

Focused - The company is ambitious and the word focus links up my other words of fast paced and driven, as without being focused on the outcomes and the end goals then it would not always be clear to the 'why' we are doing something!

I would say, ambitious, collaborative and high-performing.

To elaborate, we are a high-performing organisation. The company is set-up in a way which minimises friction. I have a clear line of sight to my goals and attaining the goals/taking incremental steps towards them is a lot easier than in other roles I have had. Everyone wants to do their best and when I first joined, I was actually quite surprised at how well we perform vs our peers, whether that's in the amount of business we write, how well our products perform, our Trustpilot feedback, or the other various internal measures we have which benchmark us.

And even though we are already high-performing, there is ambition to do more regardless of the role that people are in. You will have goals, which you will agree with management and you'll be set-up to achieve those goals and these goals will clearly feed into the goals/vision of the organisation. Positivity is also widespread across the organisation, everyone believes we can get to where we want to go and communication is fantastic across the company, we are regularly updated on how we are performing.

Collaboration is obviously very important and we excel at it here. I think one of the natural concerns when looking at a job with a different organisation is asking yourself what are the people like? Let me quash any concerns and confirm the people are great. Everyone is approachable and friendly (and that rings true to even our executive leaders). Upon joining you will be made to feel welcome and soon realise what a great company we are. We are also very much aligned on our vision too, collaborating is smooth sailing and you won't have numerous hurdles to jump over here.

Flexible, ambitious, continuous improvement
I know that was 4 words but you get the idea! First Central is flexible in terms of ways of working, maintaining a great balanced culture and giving colleagues the chance to grow and develop. We are an ambitious company with stretching targets but we are given the support we need to achieve those targets. And finally, we are always seeking to do better. Continuous improvement is about recognising the things we do well but also striving to refine and develop at every opportunity.

The 3 words I would use to describe First Central are flexible, collaborative and supportive.
Flexible - depending on your role and business area there are times were you can be flexible with your time to fit you - a personable example is being able to pick the kids up from school so I can leave the office, get the kids and then log back on at home.
Collaborative - you can easily go into a meeting room in the office and be collaborative and everyone can have their say, this extends for remote workers or people working from home - just because people aren't physically together the collaboration doesn't stop.
Supportive - during my time at First Central I've had a few personal events happen and to say that my colleagues were supportive is an understatement. Not only are the colleagues supportive, but the business as a whole have been amazing especially during hard times, they were able to give colleagues who are grades 1-6 a cost of living payment to really help, which was hugely appreciated.