Family, Sports, Senior Living and Culture, Huh?
What is the culture of your family, your household, your neighborhood? How much time have you spent establishing a culture you are proud of? One others can witness and compliment? A culture that is uniquely yours, designed with intention after recognizing and building on what comes natural. A culture not fabricated or embellished. Creating culture must be organic and actions to build and sustain need not be overly exhausting or seemingly unauthentic.
Often I am requested for a project aimed at establishing best practices and guidelines to create world class resident experience in senior living. Can you give us recommendations and a guide that will take our lifestyle programs to the next level and increase resident participation and family satisfaction? I wish it was that quick and effortless. Penning a guide, or putting down on paper all the things an operator should do is easy. But it is rarely the solution. What’s missing is culture and the WHY.
Culture is Developed Through Practice and Work. Behind the Scenes. In the Off-Season.
What I have learned observing interactions in a community is that people do not simply come to an offering or evidence-based program strictly for the health and wellness outcome. No, they show up because of the way it makes them feel; emotionally, socially and physically. They return again and again because of that same feeling.
Connection creates community and culture is often the byproduct of community . Your community culture may look different at each location. The first question I ask a community when I start an advisory role is “What comes naturally and does not require intense planning and effort on the team?” Not just what percolates as the collective, but what do individual staff members excel at that can be woven into the community DNA. If we try to build culture by changing people, reducing their natural talents instead of first building and acknowledging natural gifts it is hard to bring them along on the journey. We lose sight and focus highlighting and celebrating, and instead attempt to chain them.
Likewise, the same answer is the starting point that creates a culture among residents, staff and families. The best athletes are a part of teams that rely on their natural ability and gifts. As my six year old son Blake stated last night during our latest game of Moss (mom as QB with 2 receivers, not normal, but this is how they play), “I am Tyreek Hill and Graham is Justin Jefferson. He is taller than me and can catch the high throws.”
Coming off NBA All-Star weekend it is clear when you watch the skills competitions that excelling at everything is near impossible. Each position requires different skills. Imagine as a coach someone told you the shortest guy in the dunk competition was going to do incredible things and beat out the tall guys. That is nuts, but sometimes we have to see it to believe it. People just need the opportunity and chance to show off.
If you have a great 3-point shooter on your team, but is a terrible ball handler, you coach the team to play to their strengths. Get them the ball when their feet are set. Playing to, and building on individual strengths is the only way a team works in harmony and reaps success, each one contributing. After contribution is knowing you are needed; an integral piece of the puzzle.
We could talk about this scenario over and over again. The best talent does not always win even if they look great on paper. The best team wins. Your community is a team. Made up of staff, residents, families and business partners.
What’s the Point - Cultivating Talent, Trust and Time
Just because you write the perfect book, guide or craft beautiful words, logos, and signature programs, this does not mean culture will follow, staff will excel and residents will engage and be motivated to participate.
I would argue that talent is not your biggest need. Nor are younger, more independent residents. We have to start by looking at the talent we have and assess their strengths. Then, as the next step determine how the location, layout, demographics, geography, and local community augment such strengths. What would it look like if we discovered strengths in underperforming team members and began utilizing them in new ways rather than searching for new talent or spry, new residents, assuming the grass will be greener on the other side.
Second, it is trust. Trusting people to excel and giving them freedom to employ those strengths is what makes people feel needed and an integral part of success. This is why people stay, show up again and again and find joy in their job.
Why doesn’t culture building in senior living occur more often, even though we have been talking about it for more than 2 decades? Because we do take the time needed, setting aside minutes, hours, days, months and even years to build it.
Industry Operating Metrics that Make Us Bonkers
We want quick fixes to occupancy and staffing shortages. We want immediate lease-ups in a community that does not yet even know their culture. Residents and staff desire to be a part of creating the culture. Culture requires participation, not dictation. We want immediate move-in’s that require less nurturing and relationship building. Younger, more independent residents. Culture, feelings and an emotional connection fill communities, not just amazing sales leaders.
Quick fixes to long-term problems in the making for years are beyond difficult. As an industry we admit we are not great at onboarding staff. We admit we could be better at the overall resident move-in process. We recognize resources and training are minimal because time and dollars are limited. When we operate in a state of constant urgency, behind in the game, it can be a very unpleasant match to play even if you are the superstar.
If your team is constantly trailing you are always playing against the other team’s gameplan, failing to execute on your own. Sometimes I think senior living looks like the team down at the two-minute warning, scrambling to get out of bounds to stop time, throwing up a hail mary or praying your kicker can pull off a career-long field goal . Maybe even one last return where you rely on a handful of laterals (which are rarely, if ever, practiced) maniacal for yards. This frantic feeling is exhausting, full of anxiety, and uncomfortable pressure. Maybe this is why staff members are tired and burnt out.
What Does it All Mean?
We can have all the playbooks, guides and training materials available, but if we do not have time to consume and learn the game plan, because we are constantly chasing the market reality that reminds us we are losing at our game it can be incredibly disheartening. Our efforts become preoccupied on trying to get more leads, more conversions, more move-ins, more staff; perpetually reminding us we are not executing the established and written gameplan.
Your culture has to be a massive part of your gameplan. You cannot execute the game plan if you have not taken the time to prepare your players. Or if you don't even know who your players are, meaning you have not scouted and observed them to know their strengths and opportunities. Likewise, if we do not know the residents, we are shooting blindly when we talk about satisfying and elevating the customer experience.
You ask, How can we pause and take the needed time to cultivate, foster and build culture?
I would reply, How. Can. You. Not?