Expanding Horizons is an organisation of opportunity and progression for all involved.
Expanding Horizons is an organisation where hard work and dedication is rewarded. Since the very beginning we have always focused on assembling and maintaining a great team with a positive and fair working culture. One of the main aspects of our culture is to provide many opportunities for staff to reach their full potential, which not only benefits the individual but the people surrounding them to, whether that be their team members or our service users.
We have a strong culture of ‘promoting from within,’ and we have many examples of staff who have joined the organisation at the ground level and have worked their way up to management level positions. The most recent example of this is at Essendene Bungalow where we have had a recent re-organisation of our management team. Through promoting from within, Zoe Evans is now our new Group Manager.
The journey to this new position went a little like this...After eight months as a Support Worker at our Ty Bryn Bach service, Zoe moved onto our Eva House service as team leader for about a year and moving next door to Oak View Service to fulfil a service manager role for further 18 months. Then gaining another promotion, Zoe started a new challenge as a Service Manager at Essendene Bungalow where she carried out this role impeccably for 1 and half years until she recently got promoted to the role of Group Manager!
Zoe commented “I am very much enjoying this new role and the responsibility. I especially like it as I get to see different services every day along with the staffing team and service users and it's great to see how well they are all doing.”
“Through continuous learning and development during my time at Expanding Horizons, I have earned many opportunities that I am very thankful for and it has improved my life! I believe the culture of Expanding Horizons has helped me immensely, as it has enhanced my quality of life and has increased my overall wellbeing on a personal level.”
Zoe’s promotion of course left a vacancy in her previous role, that we needed to fill. Therefore, in true Expanding Horizons style, we offered the role to Lauren Blanning who stepped up to become the new Service Manager Essendene Bungalow. Lauren has been working at Expanding Horizons for just under a year, as a support worker.
Lauren said: “I have only lived in Wales for 2 years; I am originally from Bristol. Expanding Horizons were one of the first companies that I looked in to when looking for work in Wales, I really liked their sense of togetherness and that all were treated as a big family. My initial expectations of the company have been met and so much more. They are approachable, trustworthy and the people that we support are at the heart of everything that we do.”
“My Manager, Zoe has been fantastic with me. She has supported and encouraged from the very start. She has taken the time and effort to train me in my new role, she has been at the end of the phone and reassured me if I was ever having doubts. I won’t let her down in my new role, which is of course her old role!”
When asked about what Lauren likes about her new role, she answered: “I love being able to organize and developing ISP’s, I have spent many years putting together care plans in different types of care settings, therefore it is familiar to me. I love being able to be there for my team and communicating with other professionals. I love to learn, so this is a great opportunity for me to expand my skills.”
Discussing the opportunities for progression at Expanding Horizons, Lauren commented that “I have recognized that management take note on staff’s effort and reward good performance. It is a very empowering feeling to be recognised and this gives me a sense of achievement and a new found confidence in my abilities. The team take the time to let you know if you have done a good job and I really appreciate that.”