“My favorite part about the DriveTime Family is the people,” says Robyn Jordan, Head of People at DriveTime.
“I am fortunate enough as an HR leader to be surrounded by some of the best in the industry and best in HR. I am very fortunate that I have an amazing team that is passionate about what we do, that is passionate about our customers, and that is passionate about their work.”
Robyn started at DriveTime in 2018 and while the human resources department was small, the foundation was solid making it a great opportunity to transform that part of the business.
“The bones were really great – the collaboration and innovation were already here,” said Robyn. “Culture gets created by the leaders leaning into creating an environment where new ideas are welcomed, expected, and leaving the ego of whose idea it was at the door and accepting that it’s okay to challenge the status quo.”
In just four years, the human resources department, known as Employee Experience, has grown to over 90 employees.
“I’m incredibly proud of how much growth we’ve experienced in so many different avenues. DriveTime really is a place where you can come and be who you are and be surrounded by people who probably love you just as much as your family does.”
Early Career Lessons
After graduating with her degree in business management, Robyn landed her first job as a Human Resources Associate.
“It’s really where I learned to cut my teeth in HR,” she said. “I had the opportunity to get exposure to different areas of HR, but what it really did was open my eyes and my heart to how you can be a really great partner to help people.”
Early in her career, Robyn was learning from some powerful female leaders, although she still had her fair share of lessons.
“I’ll never forget this story. I was still young, in my late 20s, and we were in a meeting with an older gentleman who was the CFO at the time was just really giving me a hard time. I got a little upset and I remember after the meeting I said to my mentor ‘That was really intimidating. I didn’t feel comfortable.’ And she asked me an interesting question, she said ‘Why were you uncomfortable? You knew what you were talking about. You should feel confident.’ There was something to be said about being junior in my career and being around these wonderful leaders. She said, ‘Don’t let anyone regardless of their tenure or their age intimidate you if you believe what you’re doing is right and you believe that the information you’re presenting is correct—no one can take that away from you—just stay focused on the outcome.’ That really stuck with me.”
Moving throughout her career, Robyn learned early on that there were two things not exactly in her favor: she was young, and she was a woman.
“Back then there was this idea that strong women supported successful men, and I was caught up in that environment. There were not a lot of people like me and that just made me fight harder through it.”
However, she found a way around that close-minded way of thinking by banding together with her network of strong women.
“I overcame it by finding other strong women who could help me, and I thought about them as a partner and a peer rather than competition. There is so much opportunity when we support each other and that’s why even now I’m a big proponent of young females in the business.”
Values, Core Principles and Mission
“A really special thing about DriveTime is that we are an organization where people have lots of growth opportunities,” she said. “People move around a lot so I think the collaboration becomes organic when you work at a place that not only fosters career growth and lets folks move around within the organization, but also then offers them up as a resource for the groups that they may have come from.”
Growth and collaboration are central to the DriveTime experience. The mission “Creating Opportunities and Improving Lives” applies to the customers, the employees and the communities in which DriveTime is part of. This led to the formation of the Core Principles:
- We are Difference Makers:
- No Matter Your Make or Model, All Are Welcome on Our Lot:
- Doing the Right Thing is Our Thing:
- Unafraid to Take the Wheel
- We Carpool to a Shared Destination
To Robyn, working at an organization where you believe in the culture and the mission is crucial to creating job satisfaction.
“I want to work at a place where I am proud to be there and that I believe in how we do work, how we get things done and how we interact with one another,” she said.
“One of the great things about DriveTime is that building authentic relationships is really important to our culture. And that’s important to me because when you’re in HR, all your work gets done through people. People have to trust you – you’re dealing with the most important part of the business, which is the people.”
DriveTime’s Culture and Benefits
At DriveTime, their people are put first which means their perks and benefits need to reflect that. Evaluated on an annual basis, DriveTime’s benefits are designed to provide a compassionate approach to employees’ real needs. Here are a few:
- Wellness Program and In-House Gym: DriveTime believes in providing support for your whole self because when you feel good, you go further, faster! Wellbeing 365 aims to support all areas of life including personal finance and career growth, community involvement, and all-around health.
- Mental Health Benefits: From LifeGuides to Teladoc and everything in between, DriveTime is here to support you through good times and bad. We want to ensure you are feeling your best so you can continue putting your best foot forward.
- Tuition Reimbursement and Education Partners: Providing access to higher education so employees can pursue a debt-free college degree.
Putting the Pieces Together
“I have always been someone who has enjoyed a puzzle – putting pieces together and solving problems. What I learned about myself when I first started in HR was that it’s just a big puzzle,” Robyn said. “How do you think about where the pieces go? How do you make sure you build it in the right way?”
“More importantly, I really have a passion for pulling together the thing you want to do and finding happiness at work. I saw early in my career that people were not happy at work, and they just weren’t in the right role to use their skills,” she said. “As you watch them get into the right role and you see them go from not happy to excited, it really showed me I could have a positive impact on their life by helping with that. Now, it is something that I get to do every day here at DriveTime.”
