Our history and core values
History
Elephant was founded in 2009 as an offshoot of Admiral Group, one of the U.K.’s leading insurers with additional brands operating in eight countries and millions of customers worldwide. Headquartered in Richmond Virginia, Elephant has grown from an initial launch in Virginia to providing auto insurance in the states of Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Tennessee, and Texas. Elephant is known for its customer focus, innovative pricing, and inclusive culture.
Core values
As part of the Admiral Group, Elephant’s culture is based on four pillars: communication; reward and recognition; fun; and equality. These pillars support our core values and allow us to provide exceptional service to our customers.
Communication. At Elephant, it’s important that team members feel involved and informed about what’s going on at the company. We want everyone to feel they can approach people at any level with questions and feedback. One way we bring this pillar to life at Elephant is through our “Welcome to the Week” emails, which are a summary of our thrice weekly leadership meetings which regularly include shout outs to individuals around the company.
Reward and recognition. We believe in the power of celebrating a job well done. We reward and recognize contributions through financial incentives including biannual allocations of company shares. We frequently share positive feedback with team members to let members of the Elephant Herd know they’re doing a good job. Another example unique to Elephant and its parent company, Admiral, is that each year several teams of volunteers from each company in the Admiral Group come together to create an entertaining skit to illustrate a chosen theme. The winning team from each company is treated to an all-expense-paid trip to the U.K. to compete across the group for the top place. We call this the Top Ten Award.
Fun. We go out of our way to make Elephant a place where people like to come to work, and we encourage staff to find time to have fun and get to know one another. Fun activities include friendly competitions like fitness challenges, outings to sporting events and opportunities to volunteer together through our Elephanteering program.
Equality. If you were to step foot into our Richmond offices before the pandemic, you would see that there are no obvious signs of hierarchy. Managers sat with their teams so that everyone feels equal and valued. Even Alberto Schiavon, the CEO, sits side-by-side with different teams around the business when we come together for in-office Connected Days. What’s more, Elephant staff are awarded company shares each year, regardless of level or what part of the business the person works in.