“Even the name speaks to the family-friendly nature of the company. Owner Mike Wood took inspiration from his oldest daughter, Bailey, in picking a moniker for the mortgage lender, which he founded in 2007.
Mike Wood’s dad, Dave Wood, is a Realtor relations manager at the company, and some managers and employees also have family members who work with Bailey and Wood Financial Group.
“My Mom and Dad both work there actually,” says Jenn Cogan, who handles disclosures in the firm’s operations department. “My dad’s a loan officer and my mom works in processing with me.”
Cogan joined the company six years ago, and when it was about half its current six (36 employees then, 63 now). Although the Bailey and Wood has grown considerably, the same connected, caring workplace vibe remains, employees say.
“It’s still family. You feel welcome when you come to work there,” she says.
Employees credit Mike Wood with setting this tone. Survey responses for Top Workplaces 2020 suggest those who work at Bailey and Wood have high confidence in the leader of the company, and Wood earned a Top Workplaces special award for leadership among for small companies.
Central Indiana workplaces that received top ratings from employees are chosen for the Top Workplaces 2020 list.
But it’s not a one-man show. Rather, employees say that everyone pulls together in what is considered an essential business during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping people get home loans.
“It’s all for one,” says Brian Brent, a mortgage loan officer at Bailey and Wood. “There is no backbiting.”
There’s significant opportunity for growth and advancement within the company as well, employees say.
Eric Hoots first started working with Mike Wood as a sort of “go-to handyman,” Hoots says. “As a contractor I saw how much people respected each other in the office,” he recalls.
Over time, Hoots developed a bond with Wood and others at Bailey and Wood, and he became a full-time employee two and a half years ago. Since then, he’s had various roles and is now a public relations and events coordinator.
This type of connectedness and the opportunity for professional growth seem to endear employees to the company, and helps with retention.
“There is nowhere I would rather work,” Cogan says. She already knows, too, that she’d like to work at Bailey and Wood until she retires.
“I don’t think a lot of people can say that in their mid-30s.”
Bottom Line
Founded: 2007
Central Indiana locations: 9
Description: Mortgage lender
Employees in Central Indiana: 63
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