Family homelessness is largely driven by poverty and a lack of affordable housing and is experienced more frequently by traditionally marginalized members of our society who have difficulty accessing living wage jobs. We believe that everyone, no matter their circumstances, is entitled to housing, healthcare, education, and access to healthy food. Horizons is committed to fostering the well-being of our workforce who are tackling one of the nation’s toughest issues; family homelessness. We respect the unique perspectives and potential of each member of our team and believe that diversity of thought and perspective will not only sustain employee well-being but drive better outcomes for our families. Horizons’ leadership sets the tone and priority for this work.
1. Engagement
It starts with our own people, who are at the heart of our delivery service. Creating an environment that acknowledges and prioritizes our workforce’s needs leads to higher degrees of engagement, which in turn drives better outcomes for our families. This drives our management approach and is fully embraced by our Board of Directors.
To this end, we have an annual employee engagement survey that measures workforce engagement, financial well-being, and growth and development.
Employee well-being is a critical part of our culture because it:
The leadership team has established and is working toward six key initiatives:
2. Financial
Our workforce is the backbone of Horizons and their financial needs must be met in order for them to come to work and care for our children, our families, and our teams. We continue to make bold investments in our workforce through competitive salaries, a comprehensive medical and dental insurance plan, generous retirement contributions, paid time off, professional development opportunities, and more. This requires ongoing attention as we strive to be an employer of choice at the top of the market.
3. Career Development
We have created an environment and systems where our workforce has the opportunity to advance in their careers and experience sustained economic advancement.
We utilize a skills-based approach to hiring and career advancement with an emphasis on experience and credentials earned both outside traditional pathways as well as traditional degrees.
We hire and promote highly motivated and talented people who are committed to our mission, and have the experience, skills, knowledge, and abilities to do the job. We are committed to a well-defined competency model where individuals can grow and demonstrate their proficiency.
Varied perspectives drive relatability for families, invite diversity of thought, experience and background and enable teams to approach problems and issues from multiple angles. This is a source of strength for Horizons and our workforce.