Mortgage Professional America Article - Are mortgage companies lagging in promoting wellness culture?

Are mortgage companies lagging in promoting wellness culture? by Ryan Smith

http://www.mpamag.com/news/are-mortgage-companies-lagging-in-promoting-wellness-culture-39088.aspx

“We had really outgrown our former facility,” said Cal Haupt, CEO of Southeast Mortgage. “…That gave us the launchpad to create a new space that was truly progressive, with an eye toward employee wellness.”

The new, 31,000-square-foot space was created with an eye toward the company’s culture – and the intent to integrate “amenities that enable employees to pursue more balanced lives,” according to a news release.

The new headquarters also makes Southeast Mortgage the only mortgage company in the region to incorporate a “life balance center” for employees into its work space. The life balance center includes amenities such as:

• A fully equipped gym
• A recreational break room featuring a ping-pong table, arcade games, dart boards and more
• A commercial video-recording and photo studio
• A state-of-the-art conference room and other “diverse collaborative areas to accommodate different modes of work”
• An eight-foot-tall waterfall “to foster the atmosphere of a stress-free environment”
• A 400-gallong fish tank
• A health and wellness exercise incentive program

“Our goal was to create a health-conscious workplace that was highly functional, yet offered our employees the necessary amenities they needed for a healthy work-life balance,” Haupt said. “The new space is more than an attractive office; it embodies who we are as a firm.”