At Gibraltar, our team deals with companies and people in unique, often difficult, situations. We see people when they are facing problems and searching for answers. It is our job to try to find financial solutions to help them. We believe the best way to do this is to focus on empathy and service first — to listen, understand, and be flexible. We have been working to make Gibraltar the best possible partner in challenging circumstances, even before COVID-19 added a special level of anxiety for many businesses in 2020. We are currently doing this by offering our staff ongoing opportunities to strengthen soft service skills.
Company Values Defined by Our Team
Many companies establish cultural values from the top down. We are different at Gibraltar. We wanted our culture to resonate authentically with the people who talk and walk it every day, so we involved everyone in the discussion that resulted in defining our core values. We believe that authenticity, reliability and thoughtfulness are the cornerstone values that best engage our employees and serve our clients and business partners.
Because we deal with companies in transition, our people need to be exceptionally diligent about the way we talk to and treat our clients. Discussions over the issues faced and potential solutions can be emotional. Establishing a supportive relationship helps us to have productive discussions and better understand the situation.
We encourage our people to:
- Focus on empathy
- Take time to listen
- Make customers feel heard and understood
- Be flexible in relating to their situation
Building on Our Foundation
To complement our values of authenticity, reliability, and thoughtfulness — and in response to current market events — we are preparing our team to deliver best in class service in any circumstances. We know it takes more than good intentions to become proficient at handling difficult conversations, so we are developing programs and opportunities to help our team build their knowledge and skills. We want our people to have the emotional intelligence necessary to handle interpersonal relationships with understanding.
We recently engaged an outside vendor to conduct a two-day seminar on customer service, customized to our organization’s processes, employees, and customers. We are encouraging our staff to practice and develop their service skills through role playing with common customer issues. In addition, we are:
- Investing in our employees’ personal development and the information and tools they need to be effective
- Helping them address self-awareness on all levels, getting to the roots of their own anxieties to help them cope with the issues of others
Many of the soft traits we are encouraging in our people cannot be quantified; it is important that we maintain a culture which recognizes the high value of traits like empathy, flexibility, and partnership.
Cultural Development
We are focused on supporting not only our customers, but also our prospects, referral sources, and vendors, with attentiveness and consideration. What we are currently undertaking is not a shift in our culture, but a development of it.
We are proud of the recent work we’ve done with companies like Bentek during the lock down phase of this pandemic. We appreciate the fact that sponsors like Alerion Partners have looked to Gibraltar multiple times for help with their companies because of our flexibility and industry knowledge. We applaud team members for adjusting to meet customer needs with non-traditional solutions like a recent two-part funding solution developed to meet a manufacturing clients’ unique needs.
Whether or not there are global issues such as pandemics, global recessions, or trade obstacles, there will always be companies with challenges, in need of support to fulfill their potential. That is why we continue to work on building our ability to handle complex situations and serve our partners well.
