Staying Connected in a Digital World

Fostering a culture of support at Atlantic Bay is an all-encompassing, comprehensive approach – and it’s something our leadership team is fully devoted to.

To further emphasize this, Atlantic Bay has implemented a program over the last year, now known as AB Life. It has continuously grown and evolved since March 2020 - so that it continues to meet the needs of our employees.

“AB Life is truly about our team members. It ties right into our core values of putting people first and valuing real relationships. It makes us who we are at Atlantic Bay,” says Diana Taylor, Executive Vice President of Human Resources.

Living your best life is something we talk about often at Atlantic Bay and providing resources to do so is a major goal. Over the past year, this initiative has grown and evolved to a program where Atlantic Bay employees and their family members are extended various opportunities for wellness advancement and fun!

A small taste of some of those offerings over the past year have focused on:

• Physical Health: Team members have had so much fun taking free virtual fitness classes and joining an app where they can cheer each other on after workouts are completed. ABMG employees from all different departments, who may have never interacted otherwise, have now been given the ability to forge bonds with one another simply through clocking in workouts together.

• Mental Health: Being able to learn from mental health coaches and having access to counseling services is just the start. From weekly videos, to resources for counseling services, to video messages from senior leadership encouraging team members to take time off and recharge, and so much more – we understand that wellness is not just a physical thing.

• Employee Fun: We’ve had some MAJOR wins over the past year! From breaking production records, to a massive number of new team members, and most recently being awarded the #1 Best Large Mortgage Company to Work for by National Mortgage News - we like to celebrate and have a good time.

• Family Fun: Alleviating the stress of parenting while working remotely has been something leadership members have experienced themselves and have been very compassionate about. And that’s why entertainment for the whole family has been a big focus! Between kids yoga classes, weekly activities like sidewalk chalk decorating and obstacle course competitions, costume contests, virtual holiday parties, craft kits mailed out to each kid, virtual story times, and STEM lessons, we want our team members to know it’s okay to wear multiple caps in life – especially during this season. We get it.

• And so much more!

  When the home and the workplace became one in the same for our entire team all at once, we started to realize just how hard it is to make a clean break from one role in the workplace to various others outside of work. Whether those roles were Mom, Dad, Fur Mom, Fur Dad, Caretaker, Community Volunteer, or beyond… we know identity isn’t solely tied to your title in the workplace.

Encouraging team members to step away from work is important because balance is necessary in order to be your best in each pocket of life.

“It’s okay to step away and take some time for yourself. From the top, leadership understands that our team members are our #1 asset – and if they’re not taken care of, then the company isn’t taken care of.”

Whether team members participate in the AB Life offerings or cash in on the incentive program by doing activities on their own, the hope is that employees will be motivated to improve upon certain areas of their lives – and hopefully our resources being offered will help them do so. “Many people out there who, whether because of something we’ve done or maybe they were inspired, it helped keep them going on a journey to self-betterment,” Diana mentions.

A Little Backstory

Team building and a positive work-life balance have always been a big part of life at Atlantic Bay. From lunchtime fitness classes to quarterly team bonding experiences – and everything in between, having fun (one of our three core values!) is always a top-ranking priority.

When COVID-19 hit, our team didn’t skip a beat. Led by tight-knit brothers, Brian and Stan Holland, the Strategic Executive Leadership team, and various talented Atlantic Bay team members, we launched our first version of AB Life in the first weeks following the remote work mandates in March 2020. In a matter of just two weeks, activities were put in place to make life less stressful and more fun for employees and their children. “One of the things I truly appreciate about Atlantic Bay is that they recognize a huge part of company culture is being together. It doesn’t matter where you are geographically. It’s just human nature for most of us. We worked hard to keep that togetherness going and to continue building relationships,” says Diana.

It has undoubtedly been a challenging season of life for many people. And that makes a culture of support even more vital in the workplace. The overall health and well-being of our team members has become even more important than ever before.

“The mental health piece has always been important. Especially when COVID hit. We really wanted to ensure that our team members knew that we cared – and we wanted to be sure to hear from them. Giving those team members that opportunity to be able to be in contact with someone who is a professional and taking a stigma away from mental health and mental awareness was key,” Diana shared.

Employee wellness has been – and continues to be – addressed from multiple angles. From baking classes, to group fitness offerings, to mental health videos, to virtual happy half hours, and so much more – the main goal has always been the same: staying connected in a fully digital world. And ensuring our team members’ mental, emotional, and physical health needs are met in various ways.

Continuing to Evolve

“We continue to see and hear how important this is to our team members, so we will continue to explore ways in which we can support mental health – and various other areas of wellness - across the board. We want it to continue to evolve. That’s why “We Inspire Growth” is another core value here. It’s not just about professional growth, it’s a 360-degree approach,” Diana explains.

Growth is not one-size-fits-all, so we will continue to expand our program to encompass all areas of life that are of importance to the people of ABMG as some team members transition back to working in-office while others continue to work remotely. Our hope is to address the needs of our team members head on so that we can all live our best lives together.