Horace Mann's mission of helping educators achieve lifelong financial success resonates strongly with the company's more than 1,700 employees. In interactions with customers, each other and all stakeholders, we aim to reflect the core values at the heart of who we are: compassionate, trustworthy, straightforward, approachable, respectful, and knowledgeable. We believe that an engaged employee base is critical to deliver on our commitment to educators and achieve our business objectives.
We design our policies and practices with the goal of attracting and retaining top talent, while maximizing the employee experience.
Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits
In addition to competitive base salaries, every Horace Mann employee is eligible for an annual bonus program based on company performance and annual merit increases based on individual performance. We regularly review highly skilled and hard-to-fill positions to ensure market competitiveness, to both attract and retain employees.
All full and part-time employees and employee agents who work a minimum of 20 hours per week are eligible for benefits. There is no waiting period for employees to access benefits.
In addition to providing major medical coverage, group life and disability insurance, dental and vision insurance, we contribute up to $1,000 to employee health savings accounts annually. We contribute 3% of every employee’s eligible earnings to their 401(k), regardless of their contribution status. We then match up to an additional 5% of each employee’s eligible earnings annually. We offer new employees four weeks’ paid time off annually, which increases with years of service, as well as recognize 10 holidays annually.
Work/life flexibility
At Horace Mann, our hybrid workforce model allows for more than 70% of our employees the opportunity to work remotely as part of their regular weekly schedule. In addition to paid company holidays, we also provide one paid floating “Unplugged Day” each year for employees to rest and rejuvenate.
New parents receive up to two weeks of paid parental leave to employees following the birth or adoption of their child. In 2022, 37 employees (22 women, 15 men) took parental leave. Eighteen women (82%) returned to work after maternity leave.
To support employee wellness, employees based at our Springfield headquarters can access free or reduced-cost preventive, diagnostic and medical care through our local partnership with HSHS St. John’s Hospital LeadWell health and wellness clinic. Our employee assistance program provides support for employees addressing mental and physical health issues, such as navigating major life changes, grief counseling and smoking cessation. In addition, all employees are eligible for a wellness cost reimbursement up to $200 each year for fitness or weight-loss programs. We also partner with a local yoga studio to offer free weekly virtual classes to anyone across the organization. In 2022, we hosted a corporate-wide book study encouraging peer and cross-functional conversations about mental health in the workplace.
Employee training and development
Horace Mann has a comprehensive employee training and development program consisting of instructor-led classes, peer-to-peer learning opportunities and support for self-directed learning, such as access to an eLearning library. Topics include leadership development, career skills and process improvement. In 2022, employees averaged 24 hours of training.
The company’s intensive Emerging Leaders program is a five-month, 100-hour class that comprises employees across all areas of the company and country. The group works to improve communication, emotional intelligence, and organizational influence skills while developing relationships across the company. The program ends with a capstone project that has proven to contribute to lasting organizational change. Peer-to-peer learning includes “Ask the Expert” sessions and opportunities to discuss Distinctive Service, a key corporate initiative.
Employees and leaders have performance discussions as often as quarterly to benchmark progress and identify developmental opportunities, including potential career paths. In 2022, 98% of employees received at least one formally documented performance review.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We have long strived to foster an inclusive culture in which individual differences are recognized, respected and appreciated. We have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council focused on building steps toward action and accountability; being committed to promoting equitable practices and fostering a culture of inclusivity. We host DEI educational events and quarterly corporate-wide book studies, with participants including senior leadership and Board members. In 2022, 8% of managers completed unconscious bias training; 34% of managers have completed the training overall. In late 2022, we launched Employee Resource Groups aligned with employee identity, inclusion and wellness.
For the past five years, Horace Mann has been named to the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, which recognizes corporate commitment to transparency in gender data reporting and advancing women’s equality.
As of Dec. 31, 2022
In 2022, Horace Mann hired 538 employees: 334 women (62%) and 204 men (38%). The ethnicities of the new hires were 299 Caucasian/white (55%), 143 African American/Black, (27%) 29 Hispanic/Latino (5%), and 21 (4%) Asian. Forty-six hires (9%) chose not to self-identify or did not feel the ethnicities listed included them. The company’s voluntary turnover rate in 2022 was 18%.
Employee Engagement
As part of our ongoing employee listening strategy, we regularly solicit employee feedback through pulse surveys on both specific items and broader topics. Since 2020, we completed six employee pulse surveys, with generally about 50% participation.
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Employee participation
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Survey #1
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59%
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Survey #2
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59%
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Survey #3
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53%
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Survey #4
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32%
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Survey #5
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44%
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Survey #6
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47%
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Overall, in the pulse surveys employees rated Horace Mann favorably on providing retirement vehicles that help them save adequately for retirement, keeping employees informed about company goals, and providing an inclusive environment. Employees identified competitive pay and benefits, support for physical and mental health, and more information on career development as potential areas of opportunity.
Pulse survey results are shared with senior leadership, who take them into consideration when making strategic decisions and operational plans. For example, employee feedback on the benefits of work flexibility helped influence the company decision to implement a hybrid workforce model. Subsequent surveys have confirmed work/life flexibility continues to be a leading factor in maintaining engagement from our employees.
In late 2022, we partnered with Willis Towers Watson to complete a comprehensive employee experience survey, with 74% of employees participating. In 2023, as part of our ongoing employee listening strategy, we plan to cascade discussions of survey results throughout the organization, build on opportunities for areas of focus, and solicit additional employee feedback.
In addition to “listening” through our surveys, we also promote a robust “stay interview” process and tool to ensure we are staying connected to our employees.
Supporting causes important to employees
Due to the mission-centricity of our organization, we find that many of our employees are active in their communities and committed to charitable causes. To support employees and the causes important to them, the Horace Mann Educators Foundation matches employee donations up to $1,000 to qualified nonprofits annually.