This year, the award was especially significant as it recognized companies that have successfully built and maintained strong employee connections and cultures of success in the midst of unprecedented challenges. 

Chad Prashad, CEO of World Acceptance Corporation, parent company of World Finance, and Clint Dyer, chief branch operations officer, say the impact of the global health crisis brought numerous changes for World Finance, requiring everyone to embrace a spirit of flexibility, adaptability and innovation.

And due to World’s HR efforts and company culture, particularly a supportive CEO who acknowledges life has changed, employees and managers tackled the issues together, always with a customer focus in mind.

Founded in 1962, World Acceptance (NASDAQ: WRLD) provides personal installment loan solutions and personal tax preparation and filing services to more than 1 million customers each year.

The company primarily serves a segment of the population that does not have ready access to credit. But unlike many other lenders in this segment, World works with its customers to understand their broader financial pictures, ensures individuals have the ability and stability to make payments, and helps them achieve their financial goals.

In its last fiscal year, the company helped more than 225,000 individuals improve their credit score out of subprime and deep subprime financial situations.

A key during the pandemic has been heightened communication through video calls and other means to ensure branches stayed well connected with corporate managers and support staff and to refocus on shorter-term goals, Prashad and Dyer say.

In addition to the adoption of virtual and remote technology for company communications, corporate employees, branch managers and auditors shifted to remote work as early as mid-March of 2020.

Flexible branch hours were added to better accommodate the needs of essential workers and parents impacted by school closures, as well as a digital loan application and funding process to support social distancing.

Early on, World began texting customers and branch employees to explain how to defer loan payments without penalties and fees during the pandemic.

Prashad says the Top Workplaces USA award “demonstrates that our initiatives and commitment to culture truly do make a difference in the lives of our nearly 3,500 team members, and how that level of engagement translates into the care they put into serving World Finance customers in communities throughout the country.”

“We work hard to not only serve our customers, but to also create a culture and environment that encourages every member of our team to serve with empathy and expertise,” he says.

What played to the company’s advantage, Dyer says, is its family atmosphere, with most branch locations having just two to three employees.

“Covid wasn’t a time where you could fake it,” Dyer adds. “Who you were showed up.”

World Finance employs more than 3,300 people at over 1,200 community-based branches across 16 states. Another 200 work at the corporate headquarters and call center on Main Street in downtown Greenville.

Earlier this year, World Finance surprised 10 Covid-19 frontline nurses with a collective $20,000 gift on The Dr. Oz Show.

World’s mission is to help people “Get Back to the Good,” and the nurses’ selfless dedication to their patients embodies the company’s goal of helping others in a time of need, World officials say.

As members of the virtual audience, the nurses were surprised with the news of the gift during the show, which aired Feb. 4, and were chosen due to their experience working on some of the highest risk Covid-floors in hospitals across the country.