NO. 4 LARGE COMPANY
7-TIME WINNER
Financial services firm based in Washington, D.C., with 1,485 D-FW workers at its office in Plano.
Financial services giant Fannie Mae creates opportunities for people in all U.S. markets to buy, refinance or rent a home. It also creates opportunities for its employees to give back to their own communities in very personal ways.
Consider the firm’s local operation at the Granite Park VII building in Plano. Workers are offered up to 10 hours of paid volunteer leave each month to support individual causes under the company’s SERVE (Serving, Engaged and Ready to Volunteer Employees) program. Last year, about 250 local Fannie Mae employees participated in SERVE, volunteering more than 1,000 hours.
In June, for example, workers showed up at the headquarters of Community Partners of Dallas, a nonprofit providing for the needs of abused and neglected children in Dallas County. Fannie Mae volunteers helped pack backpacks for the children, who are in the Child Protective Services system.
“It was a great way to feel good about doing good and have some team building as part of that as well,” said Jake Williamson, Fannie Mae’s senior vice president of single-family collateral and quality risk. Fannie Mae has also bolstered its employee benefits by putting in place a surrogacy-reimbursement program, in addition to its adoption-reimbursement program, Williamson said.
Fannie Mae won the Top Workplaces special award for appreciation, with workers giving it the highest score among its competition for this statement: I feel genuinely appreciated at this company. Asked to explain why they feel that way, employees pointed to the company’s compensation, honest feedback, fully remote policy and recognition of good work.
To boost that recognition, Fannie Mae uses a third-party-administered platform called The Beat that allows employees to celebrate their achievements and those of their peers. Employees can select awards for their accomplishments from an expansive product catalog that includes electronics, kitchenware and gift cards.
As if that weren’t enough, Fannie Mae also provides workers with a $500 lifestyle spending account to cover their individual well-being needs. The money can cover anything from pet care and fitness classes to home office supplies and airline tickets.