Embrace Core Values: Empowerment

With the 2017 release of Embrace's updated purpose statement and core values, it is the Talent Development team's hope that employees will strive now, more than ever, to infuse these ideals into their personal and professional lives on a daily basis. In the coming months, a different core value will be featured in the monthly eNews to encourage discussion and action amongst Embrace professionals. We will examine values as they are being successfully applied here or in other industries as part of this initiative to further develop an enriching, positive company culture.

The Embrace Purpose Statement dictates, "We enrich the lives of our customers, teammates and business partners by conducting ourselves in a loving manner to help our customers create homes."

This month, we are excited to take a closer look at the Embrace core value of empowerment as it pertains to living one's life according to the Embrace mission.

---

by Kristen Reed

How fortunate I feel to work for a company that stresses the importance of of empowerment every day in the workplace! In fact, it is such an essential part of our ability to funciton successfully as a team that it is considered core at Embrace Home Loans.

According to our company-wide definition, empowerment promotes self-actualization. It gives individuals both the opportunity and the responsibility to take initiative and make decisions. Empowerment perpetuates engagement by encouraging creative and resourceful thinking. We all experience ups and downs throughout our lives. It is in those "down" times that we tend to feel powerless, lose focus, and find that our confidence is shaken. When we lose faith in ourselves, all aspects of our lives are affected. We are unable to trust our own judgment, or make decisions with any degree of certainty. It's just an unpleasant place to be. And no one wants to remain stuck in a rut for any length of time!

... So, how can we recover our self-confidence when we feel as though we couldn't be any lower? How can we find the motivation to become stronger and regain control of our lives? How can we be empowered to overcome and thrive?

While it is certainly difficult to feel empowered all on your own, when we have help, even in the smallest form, it can be just enough to get us going in the right direction. During May's 34th anniversary Orange Week celebration, I witnessed the value of empowerment everywhere I turned. Each team across Embrace spent a few hours volunteering at various charitable organizations throughout their communities. Sometimes, by giving back even in the most mundane ways, as many of us discovered during Orange Week, we find that we can do a world of good for others. In doing so, we can empower those who are struggling and motivate them to overcome challenging circumstances.

Along with my teammates, I was assigned to volunteer at an animal shelter in Fall River this Orange Week. Given the heat of the day and the nature of the work at hand, we weren't exactly excited by the prospect, but we were fully prepared to work as a team to get the job done. At one point, we were asked to clean some outside dog kennels. My first thought was, "Ew, it's hot, smelly, and that's a dirty job." But then, I looked at the volunteers and workers at the shelter and thought, "Well, I'm sure cleaning smelly dog kennels isn't something they really want to do either." ... So I sucked it up and did what had to be done. By the time we left that day, we were all tired, and a few of us didn't smell all that great either, but we were happy to have helped. Did I feel empowered by this experience though? To be honest, not really, but it wasn't about ME, it was about helping someone else. By motivating others, striving to make their bad day a little easier, and showing them a good example of how Embrace employees give back to their communities, we were empowering those who really needed the boost.

An encouraging word or simple contribution of your time and labor can make all the difference in the quality of a person's life. These same concepts apply to how we interact with one another within the Embrace community in the workplace. I feel privileged to work amongst professionals who always cheer each other on and offer a helping hand when they see a peer who could use a little extra guidance to get the job done, or a little nudge to try something new. That extra "push" can be all it takes to empower someone to go the extra mile, or get through that exhausting and overwhelming project. Empowerment is also key to the creative process. When you have a leader on your side who is able to empower you to embrace innovation and think outside the box, you're much more likely to have the confidence needed to be successful.

We at Embrace are fortunate to be able to empower one another every single day through our various support programs as well. The Empower Support Team, the Retail Training Ambassador Team, and the Talent Development Team, along with several other departments throughout Embrace, are designed specifically to aid employees in reaching their highest potentials. It is this very dedication to empowerment in every aspect that makes Embrace such a wonderful place to work. I love that we are provided with countless opportunities to contribute to one another's success, and to furthermore empower others within the greater community. This is what it means to be a part of the Embrace Home Loans family.