Beyond the LMS: Purpose Financial’s (Advance America) Award-Winning Performance Transformation
From searching for an LMS to transforming employee engagement and performance, discover how Purpose Financial (the parent company of Advance America) earned the 2024 Gamechanger Award.
Purpose Financial, the parent company of Advance America, is a specialized financial lender with over 25 years of experience. Catering to customers with limited access to mainstream lenders, they operate across 23 states with more than 800 branches and a large online presence.
At the heart of Purpose Financial’s success is their Office of Strategy, Corporate Communications, and Learning Development, which ensures alignment across teams and supports employee growth. This effort is led by individuals like Jim McHugh, Senior Director of Strategic Alignment and Learning Development, and Michelle Goldsberry, Senior Business Integration Specialist. Together, they spearheaded the implementation of Centrical’s gamification platform, driving a transformational approach to employee engagement.
By leveraging Centrical’s platform, Purpose Financial turned routine tasks into engaging, game-inspired challenges that foster a culture of growth, recognition, and motivation among its consumer-facing team members. This approach empowered managers, along with field, call center, and collection agents, to achieve new levels of performance and collaboration.
Their bold strategy earned them the 2024 Centrical Select Gamechanger Award, which recognizes their commitment to inspiring employees and delivering measurable results.
In this blog, we’ll explore how Purpose Financial overcame their challenges, embraced groundbreaking solutions, and set a new standard for employee engagement.
Watch the full interview here:
Challenge: Finding Engagement Beyond Training
Purpose Financial set out with a clear goal: to find a learning management system (LMS) that could enhance training for their diverse workforce. However, they quickly realized that improving training alone wasn’t enough—they needed a solution that could truly engage employees, drive motivation, and support performance across a wide range of roles.
“Our learning management system was very functional, but it wasn’t very engaging for our team members across the enterprise. Centrical stood out as not only having a solution to gamify learning and enhance engagement, but it had the added benefit of performance tracking with coaching attributes tied to it,” shared Jim McHugh, Senior Director of Strategic Alignment and Learning Development.
Before adopting Centrical, Purpose Financial’s approach to performance management was decentralized, with each function managing their own coaching and performance improvement plans.
“We always managed somewhat organically within each function… but nothing that was digital and really tied to their learning and engagement. That was what differentiated Centrical for us,” said Jim McHugh.
This unexpected discovery revealed an opportunity to do more than just train their workforce. Purpose Financial seized this opportunity to reimagine how they motivated employees and empowered managers to foster meaningful connections and drive team performance.
Their challenge was no longer just about training—it became about creating a comprehensive strategy to inspire and engage employees across their entire organization in a way that felt meaningful and rewarding.
Key Innovation: Driving Success with Gamification, Performance Insights, and Communication
Gamified Challenges Create Excitement
Purpose Financial leveraged Centrical’s platform to introduce gamified challenges, significantly enhancing employee engagement. Employees eagerly participated, creating and accepting challenges that fostered a culture of friendly competition and self-improvement.
“They love challenges. Every day, we have new challenges… Within the first week, we had over 150 challenges. They got in there, and that’s one of their biggest things—they are constantly challenging each other,” said Michelle Goldsberry.
This enthusiasm for challenges not only motivated employees but also encouraged them to set personal goals, driving continuous performance improvement.
Enhancing Communication During Critical Times
Purpose Financial encountered a critical communication breakdown when their branch operations’ secure intranet email system failed, leaving teams unable to receive essential updates. To quickly address this issue, they leveraged Centrical’s platform, which operated outside the compromised system, ensuring uninterrupted communication with all team members.
McHugh noted: “It was really a savior for us because we didn’t have an effective way to communicate all the way down to our branch team members.” By utilizing Centrical’s platform, leaders could effectively disseminate information until the internal issue was resolved.
This experience underscored the platform’s critical role in maintaining operational continuity and effective communication during unforeseen challenges.
Driving Engagement Through Recognition
Recognition played a key role in Purpose Financial’s efforts to boost employee engagement and foster a sense of inclusivity within their teams. Leveraging Centrical’s platform, they introduced features that made acknowledging achievements and welcoming new team members more interactive and meaningful.
“Team members absolutely love being able to give each other kudos, and even managers awarding badges,” shared Michelle Goldsberry.
Purpose Financial created specialized badges—such as “Welcome to the Team” or “Congratulations”—that employees could award to their peers. These badges not only celebrated individual and team successes but also encouraged positive interactions and strengthened workplace relationships.
By empowering employees to recognize each other’s contributions, the platform fostered a supportive and motivated workforce, ensuring that every achievement, big or small, was celebrated.
Real-Time Insights for Managers
Managers were also equipped with actionable insights that allowed them to provide instant feedback, celebrate achievements, and address performance gaps on the spot. The integration of coaching tools within Centrical ensured that managers were always in tune with their teams’ needs, fostering a more supportive and results-driven environment.
By combining gamification with real-time communication and coaching, Purpose Financial turned their challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation, setting the stage for long-term success.
Results: Transforming Engagement Into Performance Excellence
Purpose Financial’s innovative use of Centrical’s platform has significantly enhanced employee engagement and performance across various departments. By conducting pilot programs within the Customer Care and branch teams, they gathered valuable feedback, allowing for necessary adjustments before a full-scale rollout. This approach enabled the development of tailored Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and quizzes specific to each department’s objectives, driving targeted improvement.
The customized implementation yielded remarkable outcomes, with certain departments experiencing up to a 160% increase in performance metrics, notably within Customer Care and branch teams. Additionally, the platform achieved a 98% login rate among team members, indicating widespread adoption and active participation.
Jim McHugh highlighted the correlation between engagement and performance: “When we layer on performance improvement scores… whatever KPI, it may be new customers or new money metrics…the highest engaged team members always have the highest KPI.”
By customizing Centrical’s platform to meet the specific needs of each department, Purpose Financial not only enhanced individual and team performance but also cultivated a cohesive and motivated workforce aligned with the company’s strategic objectives.
What’s Next
Purpose Financial is set to advance its employee engagement initiatives through several strategic enhancements:
Integrating Real-Time Data
The company plans to implement Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) within the Centrical platform to provide employees with immediate performance insights, enabling timely self-assessment and improvement.
Revamping Onboarding Processes & Introducing New Game Narratives
A comprehensive redesign of the onboarding program is underway, utilizing Centrical’s features to deliver essential training and information to new hires at appropriate stages, ensuring a smoother transition into their roles.
To boost engagement, Purpose Financial is considering the deployment of Centrical’s “Grand Race” game, offering dynamic, race-themed elements to make learning more interactive and enjoyable.
Exploring AI-Driven Enhancements
The company also plans to leverage Centrical’s latest AI capabilities to refine coaching and performance management.
Through these initiatives, Purpose Financial aims to further elevate employee engagement and performance across the entire employee lifecycle, reinforcing its commitment to continuous improvement and excellence.
Summary: Pioneering Employee Engagement in Financial Services
Purpose Financial exemplifies forward-thinking leadership in the financial services industry. By creatively leveraging Centrical’s tools, they have empowered their teams to excel, delivering enhanced employee experiences and achieving exceptional results. Their commitment to innovation and employee development sets a new standard for the industry.
Congratulations to Purpose Financial on their continued success!
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Linat Mart
VP, Product Management
Linat Polak Mart has more than 15 years of expertise in managing product strategy and operations in high-volume organizations.Previously, she held the role of Head of Product Experience and Communications for LivePerson, a leading Conversational AI platform, where she played crucial part in delivering significant product innovation and customer growth. Prior to her time at LivePerson, she held multiple senior product roles at NICE, a leading enterprise customer experience (CX) software provider, including Director of Product Portfolio and Director of Product Management.
Linat holds an MBA from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Computer Science from Reichman University (IDC Herzliya). She graduated magna cum laude from both institutions.
“CX leaders should stop isolating contact centers from other departments. Customer experience is increasingly cross-functional. In 2025, integrating CX insights across the organization will be critical to delivering seamless and cohesive experiences.”
Tompkins comes to Centrical with more than 25 years of experience in software and hardware sales. Prior to joining his role as Chief Revenue Officer at Centrical, he was CEO at Workspot. He held the position of Chief Revenue Officer at IGEL as well as senior sales leadership positions with Red Hat, Hewlett Packard (now Hewlett Packard Enterprise), and Citrix.
Tompkins holds an MBA in Business Administration and Management from the University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and served in the US Navy as a Nuclear Propulsion Technician.
“To start, give customers a choice: digital or live support. And if they go digital first and can’t get what they want, make it super-easy for them to connect to a live agent.”
“Knowledge Management: It is not exactly underrated but it will be bigger than what it is in 2025. Vendors are likely to boost R&D investment in knowledge management for contact centers in 2025.”
“Human-centered AI, where AI is used not just to automate and drop money to the bottom line, but used to service up insights to support team members and delight customers. I see generative AI with conversational context and tonal analysis as pretty critical here.”
“The future? Goodness, there’s so much, but I really believe 2025 is the year of community. We’re not just taking tickets anymore—folks we’re drawing people in, getting proactive, and co-creating with customers. Community will become a normal service channel, with customer service workers facilitating and adding value.”
“The myth that technology/AI is a quickly implemented CX superpower. Companies will realize that we can’t harness a lot of these gains without quality data that is clean and well-organized.”
“By 2025 the buzzword omnichannel may be on its’ last leg. Customers want their issues resolved quickly and accurately and they would prefer not to need to contact us in multiple channels that we can see at one time.”
“For 2025, the main trend I’m watching is ‘AI agents’—bots powered by AI that are becoming more autonomous. Unlike basic responses, these AI agents can handle end-to-end customer interactions, reducing the need for human intervention. Expect significant developments from vendors.”
“Stop talking about AI. It’s like talking about the internet being a thing. It’s here. The better focus is start thinking about how AI enhances the lives of your team. So stop talking about AI and start doing something about it.”
“AI and CX will drive hyper-personalization, using consumer data to segment customers, deliver key messages, and provide fast, accurate responses. Technologies like chatbots and predictive analytics will close the gap between brands and consumers.”
“The blending of CX and EX will accelerate. The days of reducing friction for customers at the expense of employees are over. Indeed, because AI-enabled customer experiences often require AI usage by customer-facing employees, leaders will have to ensure a frictionless work experience to drive AI adoption and deliver value.”
One myth that will be debunked in 2025?: “Customers are on the edge of their seat waiting to hear what you have to say. We need to learn about what’s important to customers by asking more questions.”
Doron is a seasoned R&D professional with a a deep expertise in SaaS and enterprise software. He leads product development at Centrical. Prior to joining the company, he was Director of R&D at Tipalti, where he was part of the team that designed and developed the Tiplati product and the infrastructure it uses. Prior to that he was Director of R&D Sensor Management, which joined from Orsus, which was acquired by Nice Systems. Prior to that he held various R&D positions at Orsus. Doron holds a B.Sc in Computer Science from the Tel Aviv Yafo Academic College and a MBA degree from the University of Tel Aviv.
April Crichlow
CMO
April has 20+ years of global marketing experience in the high-tech industry with leadership experience across brand, demand generation, and customer adoption.Previously the Global Head of Marketing for SAP SuccessFactors, April was responsible for end-to-end marketing for SuccessFactors around the world. In this role, April led strategic marketing plans to grow global brand recognition, revenue, customer success and category creation of human experience management (HXM), which is focused on solution innovations that put the employee at the center of work. April also served as a Diversity and Inclusion Lead at SAP and led global thought leadership and strategic partnerships inspiring an inclusive culture, women’s equality, supplier diversity, and sustainable supply chains.
April has been honored by various organizations including CRN’s “Women of the Channel” and as a “Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executive” by EmPower. She holds a B.A. in Communications and Marketing from Simon Fraser University, Canada’s leading comprehensive university.
Gal Rimon
Founder and CEO
Gal founded Centrical (previously GamEffective) in 2013, with the vision of helping companies empower their employees’ performance, making them the center of business success.Prior to that he was CEO of Gilon-Synergy Business Insight, a national leader in Business Intelligence. In 2010, Gilon-Synergy was acquired by Ness Technologies (NASDAQ:NSTC) and Gal went on to serve as Senior VP at Ness, and was member of its executive management.
Prior to that he was VP customer relations and operations at Deloitte Consulting. He also worked at EDS and Bashan. He holds a MBA degree in Marketing and Information Technologies from the Tel Aviv University.
Daphne Saragosti
Chief Customer Officer
Daphne has over 15 years of experience in Customer Relations and Retention in both B2B and B2C environments. Her area of expertise is leading customer success, consulting and global professional services teams within public and private sector companies. She is focused on leading teams to grow the partnership with our clients.
Prior to Centrical, Daphne worked software and service companies in the online marketing and gaming industry.
Daphne holds MA in Statistics – Specialization in Operations Research and a MBA degree, both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Ella Davidson
VP Global HR
Ella Davidson is responsible for managing Centrical’s employee relations worldwide, including organizational development, talent management, benefits and recruitment. Ella has more than 18 years of human resources management experience. Prior to joining Centrical she was vice president of human resources at myThings and OpTier – leading SW companies, and consulted numerous entrepreneurs and startups in the Israeli hi-tech industry and Israel and in the US.Ella holds a B.A in Psychology from the Hebrew University and MSc in Organizational Behavior from Recanati Business School at Tel Aviv University.
Ariel Herman
VP Research and Development
Ariel has over 16 years’ experience in a wide variety of R&D leadership roles. He is highly experienced at building R&D teams from the ground up, driving high levels of accountability and ownership and setting up automation infrastructures. For the past 10 years Ariel has managed both in-house and offshore development teams at companies ranging from startups to enterprise organizations.
Prior to joining Centrical, Ariel served as VP of R&D at Worthy.com where his team dramatically improved product stability, quality and execution. Before that, he was VP R&D at Applicaster where he led infrastructure changes from project to product. Ariel has also held various R&D positions at Retalix (later acquired by NCR).
Ariel holds B.sc in Computer science & Math, and MBA degree in Information Technologies, both from Bar Ilan University
Ronen Botzer
CFO
Ronen is a Finance and Business Development executive with 20+ years of leadership experience in startups and global companies across all aspects of management. He has direct experience with companies in the areas of software, services and capital equipment, including fund raising as well as M&As across different continents. Ronen is a CPA and holds an LLM degree from Bar Ilan university and B.A in business administration from the College of Business Management.
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Linat Mart
Doron Neumann
April Crichlow
Gal Rimon
Daphne Saragosti
Ella Davidson
Ariel Herman
Ronen Botzer