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      Forward Financing

      Engaged employer

      Forward Financing Reviews

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      4.8

      95% would recommend to a friend

      (284 total reviews)
      avatar

      Jason Mullins

      99% approve of CEO

      96% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      4.9

      Culture and values

      4.8

      Diversity and inclusion

      4.7

      Senior management

      4.7

      Career opportunities

      4.6

      Work/Life balance

      4.6

      Compensation and benefits

      Forward Financing has an employee rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars, based on 284 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Forward Financing employee rating is 29% above average for employers within the Finance industry (3.7 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      284 reviews
      2.0
      29 Mar 2024

      Another tale of a good company going south

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Getting hired at Forward Financing was exciting. The office is beautiful, the benefits are solid, and the people and co-workers are fantastic. I met some amazing people at this company.

      Cons

      Even with great employees, great teams and great camaraderie, this is a case of Leadership ruining something good. Leadership in general is poor. It’s unheard of for a company this size to have CEOs and other C suite employees so ingrained in the day to day operations of teams, especially on the Tech side where they bring zero value as they lack any technical background. Forward calls itself a Fin-Tech, but the “tech” is grossly exaggerated. They don’t want to spend the resources or time improving our tech, which is far behind our competitors. They constantly micromanage and don’t trust the very people they’ve hired to make decisions for their departments. This has driven away great employees. In place of great employees have been internal hires being put in leadership positions where they have no background or real knowledge in the new roles they’ve acquired. This of course leads to turmoil and confused direction. Company goals can change at any given moment, which any leader knows doesn’t result in success. Bringing in a new CTO was exciting because the company desperately needed an Exec with a tech background. However, as new execs often do, they made sweeping changes leading to unexpected layoffs (which Forward has been known to do in the past) with zero warning. Meanwhile, HR continues to post each day on LinkedIn about how great the culture is and how much they value their female staff during Women’s History month, mere hours after laying off several female tech members. It’s incredibly disingenuous. Lastly, the long term plan seems to be outsourcing every position possible to our DR location. US positions have been laid off only to have that position posted almost immediately after, just in the DR. If I were in sales, underwriting or customer service I would be highly cautious of taking a job at Forward. As soon as they can get someone to do your job for cheaper, you too will be laid off (and likely without warning, since these layoffs are mostly unrelated to performance).

      avatar
      Forward Financing Response
      2y
      Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us as a former employee. We agree; Forward is made up of an exceptional group of people. We're glad to hear you valued the people you worked with during your time with us. We are dedicated to continuously investing in our technology. We have multiple teams and initiatives focused on enhancing our technological capabilities, we strive for innovation and advancement. Furthermore, as highlighted in your review, we recently welcomed a new Chief Technology Officer specifically tasked with driving growth and overseeing our technology advancement. At Forward, we strive to offer opportunities for growth and advancement for our employees. Through our Internal Mobility program, employees are encouraged to explore internal job opportunities as they arise and apply for a new role if it’s of interest to them and better aligns with their career aspirations. While individuals may transition into new roles with varying levels of experience, we are dedicated to providing the support and resources necessary for their success. This is supported by our deliberate and strategic approach to goal-setting. We regularly communicate company performance and check in on our objectives to ensure they are putting us on a path to achieve our goals. As it relates to layoffs, we conducted one reduction in force in March of 2023. While it was a very difficult decision, it was necessary to right-size our business and maintain our ability to serve our customers. Since that time, we have not conducted any further reductions in force. Separately, as our business matures, we may have to reorganize functions to better set the company up for success. At times, this can result in a shift in roles. This is not something we take lightly, and we recognize that valued team members could be affected. We strive to maintain a balance between caring for our people and propelling our organization forward on the path we've set. Finally, regarding your concerns about the geographical placment of our staff, we want to assure you that our priority is to support all members of our team, regardless of location. Since Forward's inception, we have been headquartered in Boston and have maintained a robust subsidiary in the Dominican Republic, which is very different than outsourcing. At Forward, we are one team and are committed to creating a positive and inclusive work environment where every employee has the opportunity to thrive and contribute to our collective success.
      2.0
      16 May 2024

      What Happened Here?

      Anonymous- salaried staff
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      - Benefits are strong - Work from home - The employees beneath senior leadership are smart and amazing people

      Cons

      Forward Financing used to be a place that was genuinely “people first” and a great place to grow your career, but unfortunately over the past 6+ months their philosophy has changed to a “profit over everything” model which has come at the expense of their people. This would be acceptable if they were making smart business decisions, however they have empowered decision makers who have no experience whatsoever. For example, the person leading sales is a former director of HR who has zero sales or industry experience. When leaders don’t understand product, process, or industry they resort to heavy micromanagement and uneducated, poor decision making. Morale within the company is hitting new all time lows each week, and those not laid off are starting to flee. The CEO has his head buried in the sand and is letting his best friend (the president) run the once great company into the ground. There have been numerous quiet layoffs the past 6 months, as the company has made the strategic decision to outsource jobs to the Dominican Republic for cheaper labor. One of the company OKRs this year is to “hire 90% in the DR” and they are expecting US employees to celebrate that. My recommendation is to not walk, but run away from this company when considering employment.

      avatar
      Forward Financing Response
      2y
      Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us as a former employee. We appreciate your comments and are glad to hear that you valued the colleagues you worked with, as well as our benefits and flexible work environment. Taking care of our people is a top priority for us and is fundamental to our people-first culture. While it's true that we are a for-profit business, we are committed to balancing our business goals with the well-being of our employees, recognizing that both are essential for success. In terms of our leadership, we continually refine our criteria and processes for promotions to ensure they are equitable and effective. At Forward, we value leaders who demonstrate humility, strong communication skills, problem-solving abilities, and the capacity to empower and build strong teams. We have also recently hired a leader to build out our Learning & Development function to support the growth of our team. Since our inception, Forward has been headquartered in Boston with a robust subsidiary in the Dominican Republic. To clarify, this is not outsourcing; we have over 200 employees in the US and over 200 employees in the DR, all operating as one team. Any adjustments to our team are made for reasons that do not involve reducing headcount in one location to increase it in another. We are committed to being an employee-centric company, and our low voluntary attrition rate reflects this commitment. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. We wish you the best in your future endeavors.
      2.0
      5 Apr 2024

      A Dispirited Experience: A review of Forward Financing

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Teammates, benefits, ability to wfh

      Cons

      First and foremost, the management at Forward Financing was utterly inept. Decisions were made haphazardly, with no clear strategy or vision. This lack of direction resulted in constant changes and inconsistencies, leaving employees feeling lost and demoralized. Communication within the company was abysmal. Important information was often withheld or disseminated inconsistently, leading to confusion and frustration among team members. The sales tools provided by Forward Financing were below average, to say the least. They were outdated and clunky, making it difficult to effectively do our jobs and achieve sales targets. Technical problems and failures were rampant and had been ignored for years. Despite repeated complaints, management failed to effectively address these issues, leaving employees to struggle with outdated and broken technology. The company’s relationship with business partners was poorly managed, leading to missed opportunities and strained relationships. The HR side of the business breeds the fear of repercussions amongst employees, stifling any semblance of open communication, with employees hesitant to voice their opinions or concerns for fear of retaliation. The lack of transparency and fairness within the company has created a culture of mistrust and unease, making it increasingly difficult to thrive in such a hostile work environment. Overall, the organization was not a healthy environment. I would not recommend joining Forward Financing.

      avatar
      Forward Financing Response
      2y
      Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. As a former employee, we are disappointed to learn that you feel this way about your experience. At Forward, one of our core values is to Keep it Real. We strive to be as transparent with our team as possible, providing regular business performance updates and communicating our progress against our short-term and long-term goals in bi-weekly company huddles and quarterly town halls. The management team at Forward often needs to make quick decisions with the information they have and occasionally pivot in order to reach our objectives. As an example last year, the company navigated through ups and downs, but the decisions that were made enabled us to exceed expectations. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve this success without our phenomenal team and leaders. We continue to progress on our technology journey. We have multiple teams and initiatives focused on enhancing our technological capabilities and have recently hired a CTO to help drive our technology growth. Creating an inclusive and welcoming culture is paramount to us, and our People and Culture team works diligently to foster such an environment. We have numerous venues for team members to share both direct and anonymous feedback and our leadership team takes this feedback very seriously. It's because of feedback and our ability to take action on it, that we are able to continue to enhance our organization. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. We wish you all the best.
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      Glassdoor has 290 Forward Financing reviews submitted anonymously by Forward Financing employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Forward Financing is right for you.