Van Metre Companies Rolls Out Family-Friendly Work Life Balance Initiatives

Leading Real Estate Developer Proves Increasing Benefits Increases Productivity

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Sep 22, 2020, 08:42 ET

FAIRFAX, Va., Sept. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning real estate developer, Van Metre Companies has proven that giving their 490 employees the flexibility to prioritize themselves and their families over work increases productivity. As one of the most financially stable privately held companies based in the Mid-Atlantic, the 65-year-old family-owned company offers excellent compensation, benefits and more.

Van Metre has rolled out a series of new benefits aimed at keeping employees safe and well by offering more flexibility, especially for parents of young children, to deal with the challenges that have come with the COVID-19 crisis.

Kevin Rabil, executive vice president of Van Metre Homes, said, "Van Metre values family, and so the company has rolled out flexible work schedules, wellness hours, tutoring credits, and other benefits to encourage flexibility without having to sacrifice their professional advancement. We know that productivity and creativity are strongly associated with a safe and healthy environment." He continued, "As we have navigated through this challenging year, the added flexibility and benefits offered by Van Metre has allowed employees the opportunity to continue to thrive."

Prior to the pandemic, Van Metre was a leader in the real estate development industry when it came to the advancement of women in management roles. Working in part with Van Metre's Women's Leadership Group and the Van Metre Crisis Task Force, Van Metre responded quickly to concerns that working parents, especially mothers, may have to choose between the position they've worked hard to earn and childcare. To that end, the company introduced the flex hours program, allowing employees to temporarily alternate or reduce their hours to help parents accommodate school kids and help people set the schedule that is most productive to them or their teams.

As Glen Skutnik, executive vice president of Van Metre Investment Properties stated, "A major component of The Van Metre Companies mission is to create a culture that supports our team members in a balanced life. When the pandemic pushed us into a remote operation, we created the Crisis Task Force focused on ways we could keep our culture intact. We asked our teams to tell us what they needed in order to remain efficient through anonymous surveys."

Van Metre has always taken work life balance very seriously, closing between the Christmas and New Year holidays, requiring employees to disconnect from work by having out-of-office point people, offering half-day Fridays, and prohibiting meetings after 2 P.M. the first week of school to allow parents more time to check in with school-aged children.

According to Tiffany Lamkin, vice president of people operations for Van Metre Companies, "Wellness of both mind and body had always been a top priority for the company but early this spring, we took a very hard look at how we could invest in the well-being of both our employees and their families. We know uncertainty leads to anxiety and we knew this couldn't be a one size fits all situation, so we maintained total transparency and flexibility to meet each individual employee's needs."

Among Van Metre Companies's new policies:

A 50% increase in monthly wellness benefits
Tutoring reimbursement of $75 per month
Free Audible accounts and book discussions on everything from resilience techniques to parenting
40 additional wellness hours for the year
Home office stipends, employees will be allowed to work from home through 2020 or longer
Flexible work hours
Monthly virtual social events
Paid sick leave
Accountability groups

For more information, please visit www.vanmetrecompanies.com.

Media Contact:

Heather Menis
202.468.4349
[email protected]

SOURCE Van Metre Companies