After recently highlighting an employee survey about its positive workplace, EFG Companies expanded its leadership team on Tuesday, reflecting growth opportunities in powersports, dealership training, and profit participation programs.

Among the three executive moves, EFG said Adam Ouart has been promoted to senior vice president of agency services and powersports.

Also, Glenice Wilder will serve as EFG’s vice president, training and inside sales.

And new to the operation, Areej Duval has joined EFG as vice president of reinsurance.

Ouart possesses more than 28 years of professional experience. He now will be responsible for growing EFG’s agency and powersports market channels. This includes providing dealer development, both directly and through a distribution network of top-tier agents.

As reflected in his recent predictions for the second half of 2023, Ouart is focused on helping powersports and marine dealers continue to maximize online sales revenue opportunities, focus on localized financing, and bolster service capabilities for older models to offset potential revenue loss due to high interest rates.

In the agency space, Ouart’s team is arming agents to handle shrinking back-end profit margins, including playbooks for certified pre-owned warranty programs, electric vehicle education, and customer-first best practices to maximize client profit opportunities on every unit sold.

Duval brings 24 years of reinsurance, financial operations, insurance, accounting, and auditing experience to her new position.

In this role, Duval is responsible for business oversight and leadership of EFG’s profit participation programs, including formations, ceding, distributions, and dividends, reporting and quarterly reviews. She also coordinates the funding of the EFG Insurance trust, financial statements, and the company’s year-end audit.

In her previous role as senior vice president and U.S. controller of Aspen Insurance Holdings, Duval was responsible for all U.S. financial accounting and operations, including all reinsurance accounting and reporting functions.

Duval also has served in a variety of reinsurance and accounting management roles with companies such as Alea North America Insurance Company/Catalina U.S. Insurance Services and The Hartford.

Wilder has more than 36 years of industry experience and close to two decades of growing EFG’s capabilities and client base. She is responsible for developing dealership revenue and market share through ongoing training, and equipping clients with the skills and tools for sustainable performance improvement in today’s highly unique environment.

Currently, Wilder’s teams are focused on assisting dealers in better navigating current industry challenges, including rising interest rates, the ongoing transition to online sales, and lack of inventory.

EFG highlights positive workplace environment

In other company news, EFG employees ranked the company as one of the most innovative, engaged employers among business service companies in north Texas.

Based on annual employee survey results administered by Energage, EFG said it ranked as a national standard for culture and career opportunities, while the executive team scored among the highest in the industry.

Over the last seven survey years, EFG said it has been recognized as a National Standard Top Employer four times and as a Top 100 Workplace within the Dallas-Fort Worth area once.

In 2023, the company experienced its highest response rate yet with 96.1% of team members participating in the survey, giving EFG an 82% engagement rate.

At 82%, EFG said its 2023 engagement rate is 156% higher than the national average.

According to Gallup, the percentage of engaged employees in the U.S. was 32% in 2022. EFG’s engagement rate is also 12 percent higher than the average engagement among Gallup’s best practice clients.

“Our team comes to work every day ready to meet the challenge of living up to our values of dependability, respect, integrity, visionary and excellence,” said John Pappanastos, CEO and president of EFG “By fost.ering a respectful, connected, and inclusive environment rooted in teamwork, we will continue to mobilize a talented team to engage intensely, reliably, transparently, and innovatively to drive profitable results for our clients.”

EFG partners with Energage annually to evaluate the company’s progress on employee engagement initiatives. Survey results help company leaders determine go-forward priorities designed to positively impact team member experience, and in turn deliver greater value to clients.

When describing EFG, the company said team members used the words:

—Integrity
—Respect
—Inclusive
—Caring
—Teamwork

“With results like these, it’s clear to see why our median tenure is 5.57 years,” said Sue Jewell, EFG’s director of human resources. “At EFG, we show strong tenures across all age groups. We understand the value of creating a place where people want to work, and we endeavor to ensure that all employees feel heard and respected.”

The 2023 Employee Engagement survey also reflects the company’s continued strengths in community engagement and leadership. Employees have embraced company initiatives centered around career advancement, work-life balance, and philanthropy.

In fact, the entire EFG team logged more than 750 community volunteer hours during the past year, with most of those hours at the North Texas Food Bank. The company plans to return to the popular organization later this year.

“Creating more opportunities for community engagement has been a priority for me since I joined EFG,” said Ellen McGee, senior manager of corporate culture and external communications. “Over the years, we have supported different causes, like Toys for Tots. The feedback after each initiative is that team members want to volunteer more. That’s why we put such a heavy emphasis on community engagement by creating a formal community service effort. Each spring, we now conduct a donation or monetary drive for a different charitable organization. Each fall, we give our time to the local community.”

Earlier this year, EFG conducted a tornado relief donation drive to support a Mississippi community hit by a devastating tornado. The 150-person company collected critical items needed by displaced residents, enabling the hard-working Americans to focus on rebuilding their community.

“I grew up in that part of the U.S. and still have family in the area,” said Dann Young, senior claims manager at EFG. “I can personally attest to what it means to be hit by a natural disaster, and how important community outreach and aid is to families who’ve experienced significant loss.  You cannot underestimate the difference it makes, and I’m very proud of EFG surpassing its donation goals for this effort.”