Here at Home, it’s our primary belief that business exists to do good through providing employment and training first, and everything else is a bonus. For us, our mission to solve homelessness is our driving objective, however, in order to achieve this we need to empower our people to flourish first. Giving them the time, resources, support and encouragement they need to be able to succeed in all areas of life - financially, spiritually, mentally, and physically.

We’ve spoken previously about our efforts training apprentices and the internal commitment we’ve made to ourselves to have at least fifteen percent of our workforce in an apprenticeship or cadetship. Since then we’re proud to have extended this training and development to create new opportunities across all areas of our organisation.

So why do we do it? What’s in it for us? And why do we want more organisations to follow suit and help build excellence in the next generation?

We believe that as a business, we exist first to provide employment for it’s through employment that we can provide a platform for people to flourish. We believe all businesses have a social and moral responsibility to invest in individuals in their local community by giving them an opportunity to develop skills and expertise and subsequently gain employment.

It’s also no secret the many industries across New Zealand are suffering from a skills shortage - especially construction. This shortage places a huge burden on every organisation and restricts productivity and growth across the entire economy. Therefore, by developing a deeper talent pool of skilled people through apprenticeship and training schemes we are ensuring the long term health and success of our industry and our society.

We also want to bridge the gap between knowledge gained in studies and match it up with real industry experience. If we can take the knowledge that has been learned in a classroom or at home and pair it with an opportunity to put it into practice, an individual is more likely to grow in passion and determination and will succeed faster and greater.

Across the country we currently have 9 apprentices, interns and cadets across all areas of our organisation including carpentry, quantity surveying, delivery team support, finance, and marketing. Each year a number of trainees obtain their industry qualification or graduate into a full time permanent role, and we take on a new cohort of those eager to start their career journey.

Inevitably, when you invest in your people as an organisation you may not always be the one to reap the rewards. But this all depends on how you measure success. Are you trying to grow and develop the entire ocean, or just your small little pond? Is the success, growth and flourishing of people a good thing on its own, even if it doesn’t benefit you or your organisation?

Ultimately in the long run you will always reap what you sow. As people who feel valued, encouraged and empowered will not only become more skilled at what they do, but will often show greater loyalty and commitment. But the greatest reward and value always goes to the individual and for us at Home that is the greatest reward.