NVR Reviews

Pros

NVR is a leader in the homebuilding industry and has buying power that other builders don't. In many markets, they are the big fish in a small pond. They have an excellent team of engineers and have some of the best floorplans around with the best quality. They offered great training and opportunities for advancement.

Cons

In some positions there is not great work life balance. It may be difficult to be promoted from within.

Advice to Senior Management

Find a way to show your employees that you value their time. Giving them a better work/life balance would improve their enjoyment of their jobs and in turn they will work harder for you.

Pros

Great place to learn all aspects of homebuilding

Cons

Very little advancement even when doing a superior job

Pros

Discounts if buying a home. Great insight in to construction practices, processes and pitfalls. Lots of talented people, lots of people in general and lots of energy at first. Nice offices, nice staff, nice bosses - lots of nice. Allowed to be independent, follow true best course and encouraged to be honest, straightforward and ethical.

Cons

But... pay stinks comparably, way over-worked, high stress, good ideas quashed if it might upset the status quo or the builder, only way to earn enough money to live was to fight with fellow employees for loans, or find ways to get loans done even if they maybe should not get done. Builder ruled the world, even though they poisened it in the first place by forcing things through rather than stepping back and considering the best possible outcome. Only cared about their desired outcome.

Advice to Senior Management

Laying off your most talented people might be the way to end debates, questions and discussions within the offices when bad ideas were put in to practice, but it is destroys customer service and leaves you with the workers who just do the job and don't go the extra mile. Originality and capability should be rewarded, not punished.

Pros

Well managed company with detailed systems and processes.

Cons

Senior Leaders manage from Ivory Towers

Advice to Senior Management

Go back to basics and become the homebuilder you were.

Pros

Solid company with a great balance sheet. A real industry leader in business practices.

Cons

Consolidated power in Reston. Very little leeway for operations managers to make the right decision. Many recent decisions were based upon the impact to the stock price and analyst perception, and not necessarily for the good of the company. The culture that made NVHomes special has eroded over the past years, it has turned from a homebuilder to a money making machine, no different from other Fortune 500 companies except for there is little focus on employee morale and well being. The pay scale is under industry averages.

Advice to Senior Management

The bottom line is not the only line. Employee morale is dictated by positive and consistent information flow from senior management. Unfortunately when times got tough a CFO to CEO consolidated power and took all of the decision making away from the operation centers. Treating people like luxuries instead of necessities tears down the culture that made NVHomes special.

Pros

While the housing market is currently slower than the past few years management has continued to think of ways to help the sales staff get the needed sales. We are not paid on percentage commissions, so even though home prices have dropped it hasn't affected our pay directly. The management teams are supportive of your personal/professional goals and are very open to feedback. Constant self-evaluation and feedback from management makes it so that you don't get bored because you're always able to work on something to improve yourself. While promotions have been slowed the growth opportunity is great, even within the position itself.

Cons

Being part of a large Fortune 500 company can be frustrating at time because of the amount of time it takes to affect change. There are numerous layers to work through before something can be approved, etc...

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to think outside the box and continue to solicit feedback from those in the field, not only on the sales side, but on the building side as well - those ideas are the ones that will promote the solutions that we are looking for. It's not ALWAYS about the numbers or earnings per share, but the people as well and sometimes that can get lost in translation.