2020-09-23
Our New Normal - Even’s Transition to a Distributed Work Environment
An HR Perspective:
If you would have told me a year ago, that I would be taking virtual team meetings from my small UWS apartment while scheduling team-wide online Yoga sessions, I would have laughed, said no way, and kept working away at my cozy desk in our open floor plan office. Boy, have the times changed.
I had only just started my career with Even in November of 2019. Being hired as their Director of Culture and Engagement was not only exciting personally from my career growth perspective, but because I was thrilled that a Series B start-up was already so focused on company culture that it invested in a resource completely dedicated to it. We were experiencing the typical start-up growth and onboarding large teams of new employees, what felt like weekly. It was exhilarating—I love building teams, programs, processes from the ground up, which is why I’ve always been drawn to start-ups. Here at Even, our constant challenge was always “where are we going to put people?” which is every start-up’s favorite problem to have. We added more desks, took over more space, and started to explore and visit new and larger office spaces to accommodate our booming growth.
I’ve always been in favor of having a WFH policy as long as it was managed properly and that the manager and employee were committed to it succeeding. That being said, I must admit that I was also pretty “HR Old School” in my train of thought and felt that the majority of employees should be in an office. I bought into the data and research out there that showed in person collaboration was the key to a company’s success. I hadn’t seen anything to show me otherwise to be honest.
When we first made the decision to shut the office down and work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I 100% thought that we'd be back in the office in a couple of weeks. Computer accessories and personal items were left in the office (I didn’t even take home my dog’s treats and bed from the office). We quickly transitioned from in-person meetings to Google Meets….err...meets, and set up a lot of touchpoints throughout the day and week to give employees the opportunity to stay connected. It was actually fun to see the makeshift set-ups that people had orchestrated, whether in their small Manhattan apartments or homes where they were now sharing space with spouses and children (or vice versa!). I can’t speak for all, but I know I speak for many when I say that the first few weeks were tough—fears of the virus itself and trying to stay safe, compounded with fears of the failing economy and dire 24/7 news being broadcasted from every media outlet out there, as well as the normal work from home challenge of being unable to separate work from home.
Over the next few weeks our team worked quickly to ensure that people had the resources/materials they needed to work from home successfully, as well as made sure that mentally, everyone was taking time for themselves. We also had to make sure employees were physically taking care of themselves as we were in the beginning throes of the pandemic. My old apartment was on West End Ave in the UWS and I can close my eyes and still hear all the ambulances going by during those early months of March/April. It became a familiar sound in my neighborhood and a constant reminder of what was going on outside of my protected walls. Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our employees became our number one priority.
As the weeks turned into months it became clear to all, that we weren’t going back to the office any time soon. Our Chief People Officer, Kyle Roberts, had built a “Roadmap to Return” and we started putting plans together, but with no vaccine in sight and a city still shut down, we started pushing timelines out. I attended more webinars on how to “return to the office” than I care to count! During this time though, we did notice something significant— despite being 100% dispersed, our overall productivity was affected very little. In fact, we found that most (not all) employees enjoyed being remote and were more productive as a result. That being said, we needed to ensure that people were being mindful of separating work from home and not burning out at both ends. We implemented a mandatory once-a-month mental health day for our employees to select at their own discretion (in addition to our unlimited PTO), instituted Summer Fridays, and connected to a Yoga Instructor for free once-a-week virtual classes for employees. Our managers were encouraged to make sure employees were taking breaks and utilizing these new perks to ensure they had the tools to keep their physical and mental wellbeing maintained.
With the timing of a vaccine still uncertain and a timeline for the lives of our employees (as was as the world) being opaque at best, we’re just working to ensure our teammates and friends have what they require to be successful during these turbulent times. External stress factors are high, and it’s important to understand that each person is now dealing with their own variation of what a “work day” looks like. The old school HR rulebook has been thrown to the wayside and replaced by agile solutions to a variety of new situations, with it becoming more important than ever to listen to our teammates regarding what they’re feeling and thinking during all of this. That listening is what has kept our teams collaborative despite the distance between us, and has helped our team perpetuate the programs and perks that have made it still feel like we’re only a couple desks away from each other. The puppy playdates still happen, they’ve just been relocated to digital dog parks until further notice.
Disclaimer: The material provided on this site is not intended to provide legal, investment, or financial advice or to indicate the suitability of any Engine by MoneyLion product or service to your unique circumstances. For specific advice about your unique circumstances, you may wish to consult a qualified professional. Any information or statistical data sourced by Engine by MoneyLion through hyperlinks, from third-party websites, are provided for informational purposes only. While Engine by MoneyLion finds these sources to be accurate, it does not endorse or guarantee any third-party content.
PROVEN SCALE & TRUST
$7B+
financial products facilitated
1,000+
partner network
32M+
full consumer profiles
Awards
PRESS
Read all about it!
MoneyLion
MoneyLion Wins “Best Financial Literacy Tool” and “Best API” at Benzinga’s 2022 Global Fintech Awards
MoneyLion’s consumer and enterprise businesses were recognized as winners of Benzinga’s 2022 Global Fintech Awards at this year’s Fintech Deal Day
New York, December 14, 2022-- MoneyLion Inc. (“MoneyLion”) (NYSE: ML), the go-to destination for personalized financial content, products and advice, is proud to announce that it has been named “Best Financial Literacy Tool” at Benzinga’s 2022 Global Fintech Awards. MoneyLion’s enterprise business, Even Financial, was also named as the winner for “Best API.”
MoneyLion and Even Financial were honored alongside other top Fintechs, banks, research companies and more. MoneyLion’s consumer business continues to push financial literacy through innovative and personalized content. With the MoneyLion app, users can view personalized financial content in short-form video format and receive personalized financial product recommendations such as loans, insurance and investing. As MoneyLion’s enterprise offering, Even Financial digitally connects and matches consumers with real-time personalized product recommendations from banks, insurance carriers, and Fintech companies on mobile apps, websites and other digital touchpoints through its financial product search engine and Embedded Finance Marketplace technology. This technology powers both the MoneyLion Marketplace, in the MoneyLion app, as well as more than 1,000 enterprise partners.
“We’re thrilled MoneyLion’s consumer and enterprise businesses were recognized by Benzinga,” said Dee Choubey, Co-Founder and CEO of MoneyLion. “Both awards showcase MoneyLion’s every time you money approach to helping our customers. The financial literacy gap is a huge problem for millions of Americans and we remain committed to reducing its effects through engaging, informative content and key partnerships designed to bring an elevated educational experience to all.”
These awards follow the October announcement of MoneyLion University, where MoneyLion launched its latest initiative aimed at closing the gap in money and financial education across the United States.
“We could not be more pleased with Benzinga’s recognition of our company’s API technology,” stated Phill Rosen, CEO and Founder of Even Financial. “Our technology natively integrates real-time credit decisions and product recommendations from the industry’s largest network of connected financial services providers, offering access and choice to consumers searching for financial products. Our elegant Embedded Finance Marketplace, API and search engine enable any company to add trusted, personalized financial products and services to their business, reaching people when and where they need it.”
Even Financial has been named a listmaker for the Benzinga Global Fintech Awards for the last two years and was a previous award winner. In 2021, Even was selected as a listmaker for Best API and, in 2020, selected as a listmaker for both Best API and Best API Platform. In 2019, Even was awarded the Benzinga Rocky Award.
The annual Benzinga Global Fintech Awards take pride in recognizing and honoring the companies and individuals who are propelling the Fintech and financial services industry forward with the most impressive technology advancements and innovations. A panel of industry experts from a wide range of companies reviewed and judged the nominations. Winners were announced at Benzinga’s Fintech Deal Day on December 8, 2022, where MoneyLion’s Chief Customer Officer Cynthia Kleinbaum spoke on the panel, Expert Growth Hacks For Reaching Underserved Markets.
About MoneyLion MoneyLion is the go-to destination for personalized financial content, products and advice. MoneyLion’s mission is to rewire the financial system to positively change the path of every hard-working American. MoneyLion uses its proprietary data advantage and technology to empower its customers. MoneyLion engages and educates its customers with daily, hyper-personalized money-related and money-adjacent content that is delivered through each customer’s own content feed. MoneyLion provides its customers a full suite of financial and non-financial solutions, bundling its proprietary, low-cost financial products with products that are offered through its marketplace technology and network affiliate partners. MoneyLion also leverages its distinct data, technology, and network advantages to deliver leading embedded finance and marketplace solutions for enterprise customers. Since its founding in 2013, MoneyLion has empowered millions of Americans to take control of their finances and live their best financial life, every day.
For more information about the company, visit https://www.moneylion.com/ and https://www.evenfinancial.com. For investor information and updates, visit investors.moneylion.com and follow @MoneyLionIR on Twitter.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221214006032/en/
MoneyLion Communications [email protected]
Caliber Corporate Advisers [email protected]
Even Financial [email protected]
Built In
Even Named A Built In “2023 Best Places to Work”
New York, Jan. 11, 2023 -- Even Financial ("Even"), an independent subsidiary of MoneyLion Inc. (NYSE: ML), and a leading embedded finance marketplace platform, is proud to announce that it was honored in Built In’s “2023 Best Places To Work” Awards. Specifically, Even earned a place on the Hybrid Best Places to Work in New York.
The Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honors companies across numerous categories, sizes, remote-first employers as well as in person and hybrid working companies across the U.S.
Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits, and also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, as well as other people-first cultural offerings.
This announcement follows Even’s recent win at the Benzinga Global Fintech Awards for “Best API.”
About Even Financial
Even is the industry-leading embedded financial marketplace and independent subsidiary of MoneyLion Inc. (“MoneyLion”) (NYSE: ML). MoneyLion is a leading digital financial services and lifestyle content platform serving both consumer and enterprise customers. As part of MoneyLion’s enterprise offering, Even digitally connects and matches consumers with real-time, personalized financial product recommendations from banks, insurance carriers, and fintech companies on mobile apps, websites, and other digital touchpoints through its marketplace technology. Even's infrastructure leverages machine learning and advanced data science to solve a significant pain point in financial services customer acquisition, seamlessly bridging financial services providers (such as SoFi) and channel partners (such as TransUnion) via its industry-leading API and embedded finance marketplaces. Even enables any company to add financial products to its business, with full compliance and security at scale. Even was named one of "America's Best Startup Employers'' by Forbes for 2022 and was named to the 2021 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, which recognizes the fastest growing tech companies in the world. Learn more at www.evenfinancial.com and investors.moneylion.com.