Independence in office amplifies employee satisfaction
If you need a crowd, office life at Edward Jones Investments probably isn’t for you.
Instead of housing employees together in centralized offices, the financial planning firm maintains thousands of small offices across the the U.S. and Canada manned by one financial adviser and one office administrator — with nearly 250 offices in the Houston metropolitan area alone.
The idea is to get closer to where clients live and work, giving each office the feel of a local corner store, except instead of milk, you might drop in to set up a retirement plan or a college fund.
“Part of the culture is we dive headfirst into our community,” said David Coney, regional leader for Edward Jones’ central Houston offices. “It’s up to you how you want to do it. It’s really great because you feel like you’re running your own business.”
That mixture of independence and community earned Edward Jones the No. 2 spot in the large companies category of the Houston Chronicle’s annual Top Workplaces ranking.
Edward Jones works hard to make sure employees feel they are part of the team.
Financial advisers are assigned mentors to stay with them for the long haul, and they participate in regular training sessions and monthly meetings with other offices in the area.
Coney, for instance, who grew up in League City and now keeps an office in Friendswood, said he got a lot of help after he joined the company at age 23 and now wants to “pay it forward.”
At the same time, employees are encouraged to join in with the firm’s charity and volunteer work, like the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Houston, of which Edward Jones is a sponsor. And they are regulars at local civic organizations like the Rotary Club and the Lions Club International.
The sense of community among Edward Jones employees was evident when Hurricane Harvey struck the Houston area last year, Coney said.
Jones employees banded together to help those colleagues whose homes had flooded as a result of the storm. They helped with the ripping out of sodden drywall before mold had a chance to set in, for example.
“It’s not a lonely place. It’s actually the opposite,” Coney said. “There’s a great sense of unity.”