Top Workplaces: How Brighton Securities made it to the top by listening to employees

​​​​​​Brighton Securities has its 50th anniversary to celebrate this year — and it will do it as the No. 1 small employer on the 2019 Top Workplaces list.

Brighton Securities works with individual investors, trusts, estates and businesses, helping clients with financial and tax planning, and savings and investment strategies.

The way to the top, it believes, is to manage from the bottom up and give each one of its 41 employees the opportunity to contribute significantly to the organization.

“There’s no dictator at Brighton Securities,” said CEO Jai Ramachandran. “We try to manage democratically and with a mix of ideas and opinions.”

He said the firm keeps an “open door and open ears” to new ideas and credited employees with driving much of its progress.

“We’ve gone through a lot of changes over the last few years and I would say almost all of the ideas came from employees,” Ramachandran said.

Big or small, the ideas sometimes come in fast and furious — sometimes daily.

One example: The firm's receptionist keeps a file of what each client likes to drink, so she can offer it immediately when the person walks in the door. 

It’s that sort of personal touch that distinguishes how the company treats not only clients but employees as well.

For example, a portion of the firm’s marketing budget is earmarked for its financial advisers,  who use the money to create and promote their own brand identities in the marketplace.

Ramachandran said the company has tripled the size of its marketing budget in response to feedback, while giving advisors more control over how they spend their dollars.

Brighton Securities offers advisers  the cachet of an established and well-respected brand, at the same time recognizing the importance of each person’s individuality and goals. That’s a key differentiator for the company, said chief sales officer Doug Hendee.

At some large firms, Hendee said, "you are in competition with everybody under that same roof. We don’t have that culture here. Our people know we’re partnered with them on their success.”

A similar benefit is the firm’s financial adviser  development program, considered to be the largest of its kind locally among like-sized firms. Half of the company’s advisers,  and four of its nine partners, are graduates. Additionally, a generous education reimbursement program allows employees to take classes to learn new skills or obtain additional certifications to advance their careers.

This is Brighton Securities' sixth consecutive year on the Top Workplaces list. It took top honors in the small business category in 2017.

Its Rochester-area location, at 1703 Monroe Ave., Brighton, is in the same building where the company started in 1969. Founders Marshall Levine and Alan Calderon occupied the space that is now the reception area. Today, the firm fills the entire 12,500-square-foot building and has a second office in Batavia.

Ramachandran said the company’s growth is proof that its employee-centric approach works. In the last 10 years, it has grown from managing $500 million in client assets to $1.7 billion.

Its workforce offers a mix of experience that sets the firm apart from others, he added. Advisers in their 20s and 30s work alongside more seasoned employees, several of whom have celebrated 25 years or more with the company.

“That’s part of the secret sauce for us,” Ramachandran said. “There’s a lot of really young firms out there. There’s a lot of really old firms out there. I don’t think anyone has brought those two things together.”

Its longest-serving employee, Marge Geyer, will celebrate her 42nd anniversary with the company this December. She’s a senior client service associate and the executive assistant to Chairman George Conboy.

“It’s a real family-oriented culture,” said Geyer. “I have great pride in seeing the firm expand and growing from the size it was when I first started here to now occupying the entire plaza.”

Geyer said she has always enjoyed the financial industry, from watching the ups and downs in the markets to changes and buyouts at local companies.

“I’ve never been bored. It’s very interesting,” she said. “And it doesn’t hurt that I love doing paperwork.”

Geyer also appreciates that the firm is flexible about time off, which she has needed on a regular basis since having shoulder surgery last spring. Leaving for physical therapy appointments during the day has never been an issue, she said.

Conboy said Geyer is an example of why the company works so hard to be a great workplace.

“When you have someone as skilled, knowledgeable and as thorough as Marge, you want to do everything you can to make sure they’re happy in their job,” he said.

Conboy has been with Brighton Securities for 30 years. A longtime president of the firm, he was named chairman in 2014.

He said he’s proud that the firm has been able to maintain an inclusive and collaborative environment even as the company has grown. Part of that growth has come as a result of a referral bonus to employees who recommend future hires. Over the years, several people have even referred their siblings to open positions.

“You might be willing to send in some stranger or someone you don’t even like that much if it involves getting a few hundred bucks,” Conboy joked. “But you’re not going to suggest that your sister come work here unless you think it’s a good place to work. We think that’s a strong confirmation that folks like working here.”

Brighton Securities will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a spring gala at the Genesee Valley Club and the publication of a commemorative book on the firm’s history. 

The company launched just four months before Neil Armstrong took that small step on the moon. The company would say that creating a top workplace isn’t rocket science. It’s simple: Treat your people as individuals and everyone will be richly rewarded.