Life Lessons

Overwhelming pressure from owners/investors to meet NOI expectations, increased competition, labor retention, and increased costs created a “put today's fire out”  atmosphere in Senior Housing. Quickly adapting to market changes or other operational issues is necessary, however the foundation for sustained long term success requires a committed organizational culture. Why is employee satisfaction/engagement so important? Happy, satisfied, valued and respected employees create happy, satisfied loyal customers, resulting in lower turnover, improved quality, lower operating costs and better financial performance. Unhappy, unsatisfied employees create unhappy or fewer customers, lower quality, higher operating costs and negative financial results. Forbes referred to employee engagement as “the wonder drug for customer service”. Foresee , a customer-service  analytics firm who represents two dozen global businesses including Ann Taylor and Apple released its find...

It’s all about your TEAM People are the foundation of Senior Living success. Imagine every organization is a puzzle with many unique pieces, requiring specific talents and skill sets yet combine to form a perfect picture. Each day you are exposed to many puzzles or organizations; i.e. your company, a hotel, restaurant and let's not forget the local cable company. You form a perception of each organization based on your interaction. This post has nothing to do with a specific experience but it has everything to do with a lifetime of experiences and observations regarding the power of a completed puzzle. A significant predictor of success in the service industry is having all the pieces of the puzzle in the correct place. Have you experienced the frustration when trying to find that missing piece and more than likely have attempted to squeeze a piece into an opening, knowing it wasn't a perfect fit? There are times when the puzzle is incomplete for months, creating tremen...

Throughout my career as a change agent, this quote by Tony Robbins or Henry Ford has been the simplest way to communicate the need to do things differently in order to achieve a different result. Many of us have had the good fortune to work with organizations that experienced remarkable success. They deservedly take great pride in the results of their blood, sweat and tears. As the years pass sustaining success becomes more challenging, yet some company's continue using the original formula that created their growth. Have you noticed as organizations grow some develop internal mini-organizations (much like our government) where even the smallest change may be dismissed or met with almost hostile resistance. Many times a great idea for improving employee engagement, service delivery or enhancing revenue, are only shared with  closest friends at happy hour for fear they would be flagged as having a negative attitude. They've witnessed other brave souls share new ideas with...