Ken Booth, who became CEO of Credit Acceptance Corp. in May, has a saying: “When you take care of people, they will take care of the business.”
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As he explains, “There was a period of time during the pandemic when our contract volume was down significantly, but we carried our sales force, provided higher commissions, and now we are seeing the returns.”
Headquartered in Southfield, Credit Acceptance offers financing programs that enable automobile dealers to sell vehicles to consumers, regardless of their credit history. The company’s positive returns during 2021 that Booth speaks of include a best-ever financial quarter and another top-five ranking (No. 3) among large companies in the Detroit Free Press Top Workplaces Competition.
Booth, who was formerly Credit Acceptance’s chief financial officer, further demonstrated his commitment to staff with the hiring of Laurie Minott this summer as vice president of people. In this role, Minott, a longtime consultant for the company, is charged with helping to maintain the “specialness” of the company’s culture in a work environment that has become largely virtual by necessity.
“To go through something this unprecedented and see financial performance and team member engagement continue to advance says we are a company that listens and cares,” Minott explained. “We also are connected by our focus on changing the lives of our consumers, our dealers and our team members; this resonates with everyone at our company.”
To ensure that the company continues to “create conditions for people to do their best work,” Minott says she relies heavily on team member feedback, including team-member surveys. Minott also stresses the importance of teamwork and collaboration in her new role, including a bond she shares with Kim Seyka, Credit Acceptance’s team member engagement manager.
“Laurie and I have known each other for a few years and everything we do reinforces that we are a company dedicated to changing lives,” Seyka said. “And team members have told us that they are as engaged this year as they were in 2020. Even through the challenges of the pandemic, we have not lost ground on our culture initiatives and that is a foundation that we will continue to improve on.”
Credit Acceptance Corp.
Industry: Finance
Top leadership: Ken Booth, CEO
Location: Southfield
Employees: 1,741 (Michigan); 2,050 (U.S.)
Website: www.creditacceptance.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Credit Acceptance Corp. employees ‘took care of business’ in 2021
