Employee testimonial: Forging new paths | America's Preferred Home Warranty Skip to main content

Employee testimonial: Forging new paths

Nothing compares to starting a new job, especially when that job is new to both you and the company hiring you—twice. America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) regularly creates new positions as the need arises, and Torrey’s forging new paths with every step.

It all started in September 2019, when Torrey exchanged a few years of waitressing (“…a kind of mid-life crisis, if you will…”) for the newly developed Payroll Benefits Clerk role at APHW. She firmly believes that God prompted her to put her many years of previous clerical experience back to use, and with perfect timing—APHW hired her right before COVID hit.

“After what COVID did to the restaurant industry, we would’ve really been in a bad way. This job was a huge blessing,” she said. “And now I had this brand-new job with no real parameters, so I was able to sort of run with it and build it up.”

Two people discuss growth at a company while reviewing charts

A couple years later, her role at the company had grown beyond what one person could reasonably handle, so APHW leadership split one job into two. They transfered another employee into the Payroll Clerk role, and gave Torrey her second brand-new position at the company—HR Benefits Specialist.

They wanted APHW’s team members to have a specific person to come to with all their questions, and Torrey’s desk became a place where they could feel heard. “I call myself a one-stop shop. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll get you with someone who does,” Torrey said.

“This has helped with several people now who didn’t know what to do, but did know who to talk to about it. It’s really nice to be able to talk with someone who’s struggling and help them find a solution to keep them in the company family.”

One woman helps another find a solution within the office space

The new position works better for Torrey as well, because it gives her a chance to get to know her team members.

“I knew everybody’s names when I was doing payroll, but I couldn’t have picked them out of a lineup,” Torrey described. “Now, talking to people is the best part of my job! I reach out to all our new hires at least once a week for the first six months to make sure they’ve got everything they need. I have faces and personalities to go with the names, and details about their lives. This is a way better fit for me—it’s a lot of fun, and I really enjoy it!”

That enjoyment has shown clearly to company leadership, who recognized Torrey for that commitment as their October 2022 Employee of the Month.

“It was a huge surprise!” she exclaimed. “It just felt really good to be recognized on that level, because I want to make the people I work for and with proud, you know? I want them to feel that they can rely on me. It also shows that they really do get that you want to be here and want to do the job—and that’s a really nice feeling.”

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