7/26/2017
Clemente Mojica, CEO
Tyler Wolfe, Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator
Jennifer Rivera, Fund Development Assistant
Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services
Challenge: Talented staff at nonprofits with limited budgets often leave for higher-paying jobs in private industry. To fulfill its mission to the community and stay competitive as an employer Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services needs to attract and retain diverse and talented staff, reduce turnover rates and improve job satisfaction.
Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services (NPHS) is dedicated to improving the lives of residents in Southern California communities. To do so, we focus on growing, retaining and improving the lives of our greatest assets: our employees. We implemented strategies to reduce staff turnover rates and improve job satisfaction, which has led to improvement in the delivery of quality services. This has helped develop our organizational bench strength, which in turn improves our staff retention, effectiveness, and efficiency.
NPHS fosters interdepartmental collaboration through flexible, on-site work environments that promote synergy and cohesion by breaking down silos. Employees are often found working collaboratively in the board room or the training room or sharing new ideas in the company's innovation lab, a workspace designed to inspire creativity. Our CEO has an open door policy for all employees that encourages new ideas and promotes originality. Because communication with other staff and departments is so readily available, our employees are often informed and involved in projects that span multiple departments, increasing their knowledge, skill and overall strength.
Our employees are not only knowledgeable, but passionate about making a meaningful connection with their work in our local communities. One of NPHS' staff success stories involves Hitesh Kamble, who was hired through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. A recent graduate of Environmental Science at University of California, Irvine, Kamble focuses on developing green policies and procedures. During his time at NPHS, Kamble has found meaningful ways to apply his passion and expertise to community economic development, making a major contribution to developing NPHS' new Sojourner Solar Financing Program.
"One of the first projects I worked on was helping NPHS receive its LEED gold certification," Kamble said. "The process was very eye-opening because I had not realized the extent to which policy and government regulation came into play when attempting to reduce energy consumption and waste."
As a subject matter expert on energy issues, Kamble further shares his insights as a millennial serving on NPHS' Millennial Advisory Committee (MAC).
NPHS encourages intergenerational information sharing to stay current with the needs of an ever-changing clientele. The MAC, a committee composed of millennial employees and executive leadership, was formed at NPHS to generate data and recommendations for targeting and servicing millennial clientele. Through routine development of surveys and community engagement, the MAC assists NPHS in shaping its strategic direction to align with future consumers and employees. With a better understanding of millennial priorities and career concerns, NPHS can tailor its organizational culture to attract future leaders and continue to build bench strength by developing new products and services.
Through initiatives such as employer-assisted housing programs, NPHS implements creative methods to attract and retain talented staff while accomplishing its community mission. In helping employees become homeowners, NPHS fosters stability, employee loyalty and retention among its staff, while providing them the opportunity to experience the same life milestone they create for their clients.
In the last four years, NPHS has helped seven employees, including Curtis Miller, purchase homes with down payment and closing cost assistance.
"NPHS has provided me with the resources necessary to purchase my own home and build a family," says Miller. "For that I am forever grateful. I otherwise may not have been able to afford a home in the community that I serve."
By emphasizing an organizational culture rooted in creativity, inclusion and employee satisfaction, NPHS has developed effective ways to attract and retain qualified employees while fulfilling its responsibilities to the community.