News DeskDubai, UAE – Metropolitan Group, a leading real estate group in the UAE, has once again ranked among the Best Workplace™ in 2025 in the Large sized business category by the Great Place to Work, a global authority on workplace culture, at their annual awards ceremony that took place last night.
The Group continues to make history as the first and only real estate brokerage to ever make the list. The official index ranks the UAE’s best employers based on the confidential feedback of all employees and an audit of management practices and culture at work.
In 2024, the Group achieved its highest-ever ranking in the Best Workplace in the UAE moving up three places from 2023. The Group was also recognised as the #1 Best Place to Work for Women in the GCC in 2022 and achieved the Best Workplaces list for millennials in the GCC two years running.
“The Metropolitan Group has a clear vision to being recognized as the #1 brokerage for real estate services in the UAE and an employer of choice for the real estate community,” said Nikita Kuznetsov, CEO Metropolitan Group. “This recognition validates the hard work and dedication of our entire team. At the Metropolitan Group, we have always believed that a thriving workplace culture is key to our success and this achievement is a direct result of our continuous commitment to employee development, engagement and empowerment.”
One of the primary drivers for Metropolitan Group’s success was its substantial investment in the rollout of various people and culture initiatives in 2024. These new programs focused on strengthening the Group’s core values, fostering a robust feedback culture, enhancing recognition and rewards, promoting innovation and prioritizing employee training and development.
Mike Fleet, Metropolitan Group’s Deputy CEO said: “Being recognized as one of the top workplaces in the UAE for the fourth consecutive year speaks volumes about our people-first culture. Our ongoing success is driven by our investment in our people and our efforts to create an environment where innovation, respect and excellence can flourish. We are particularly proud of our new workplace culture strategies; employee feedback campaigns and the recognition programs that have helped us strengthen the bond with our people and further position the Metropolitan Group as a leader in the real estate market.”
The Group introduced several new initiatives in 2024 to further cultivate the employee experience and culture at work.
DRIVE values: The Group revisited its core values, resulting in the creation of DRIVE – which stands for Discipline, Respect, Integrity, Vibrancy and Excellence. These values reflect the Group’s ethos and are embedded into the hiring process and day-to-day operations, with award categories introduced to recognize employees who embody them. The Group also established a new ethics framework that was supported by an ethics committee, to promote the right behaviors across the organization.
Feedback culture: Taking a step further with its employee-first culture, the Group introduced several new initiatives to encourage feedback and foster open dialogue. Regular employee surveys were conducted to gather feedback on all aspects of the working environment along with input from first-line managers. The feedback from the surveys helped develop actionable plans to ensure that employees feel heard. The company also established an open-door policy, with CEO and Deputy CEO accessible for direct feedback.
Recognition and rewards: The launch of the Metropolitan Stars program rewards high-performing employees with non-monetary recognition, including digital sales notification display with deal alerts, a ‘Wall of Fame’ for top performers and an online community platform, Metropolitan Hub, for recognizing employees who go above and beyond.
Innovation: The Metropolitan Minds initiative has encouraged employees to share innovative ideas, leading to 25 new ideas being submitted in just two months with a few of these ideas already being implemented. To further support development, the company launched the Metropolitan Online Academy to provide employees with cutting-edge sales training, product knowledge and career development tools.
Metropolitan Essentials: The Group also introduced a new skills program focused on the essentials for a high performing sales agent. The course concentrates on mastering the highest standards of client interactions, like calls, meetings and viewings, through a blend of live learning, online capsules and on the job assignments. On completion of the program learners are accredited as a certified Metropolitan Agent.
CSR and team building: The Group’s commitment to employee engagement extends beyond the office. In 2024, the Group organized a beach cleanup event on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi as part of its CSR initiative, alongside an outdoor team-building event, attended by over 650 employees, with a partnership donation to Global Giving Initiative, Buy 1 Give 1, supplying over 900 nursery children in Africa with learning materials. Other partnerships include NYU and Sorbonne University bringing new internship opportunities to students in the Capital.
The Metropolitan family has over 1,000 employees and 66 nationalities speaking 41 languages.
