If you are struggling with increasing your census or hiring new employees consider how easy it is to sell an environment when:
- Residents thrive
- Family and community members enjoy visiting
- Employees love coming to work
When employees perform at their highest level, organizational goals become an attainable outcome.
Research shows there are numerous benefits that result from focusing on the patient, resident and staff experience:
- Increased Census: 9% higher
- Increased Revenue: $11.43 per resident per day
- Decreased Turnover: 50% less turnover
- Improved Productivity: 38% higher
To create this environment you must recognize that every employee impacts your organizational culture and has the potential to influence occupancy and turnover. We use a four-step approach to organizational development that drives results:
- Awaken: Reflect on each person’s contribution to organizational culture
- Assess: Review strengths, identify opportunities
- Align: Ensure processes support goals
- Anchor: Achieve established goals and sustain the changes
One of the critical components to this four-step process: The community tour.
During the assess phase, your culture comes alive. We conduct focus groups and interviews with members of the community, including residents, patients, family and staff. Each person provides us with insight and a unique view that helps us to develop recommendations. Equally valuable to our understanding of your community’s culture is the community tour.
During tours, we focus our attention on a number of areas:
- Safety
- Compliance
- Cleanliness
- Aesthetics
- Dining Experience
- Staff Engagement
- Resident Engagement
But you don’t have to wait for us! Next time you are walking around your community, pretend you are a visitor to your home. Are you a potential employee? Potential resident? Are you a state surveyor? Are you a buyer looking to purchase this home? Wear as many different hats as you can and ask yourself what do you find.
Here are 10 questions to consider next time you tour your community:
- What does the environment “feel” like?
- Does it seem like a friendly place or does it seem that everyone is too busy to help you?
- Do people look like they are thriving or are they bored? Please don’t tell me people are sleeping in wheelchairs in the lobby!
- Does it feel more like a home or an institution?
- What do you see that makes you say “home” vs “institution?
- How warm/inviting are common areas, activities, private family spaces?
- What are the resident/patient rooms like?
- How are the staff interacting with residents during meal time?
- When you look around, what eye sores do you see to the physical appearance?
- Consider your other senses: What do you hear? What do you smell? How does the food taste?
Don’t forget that your outward appearance should match your internal vibe – not just today but every day (and night!). Tours are just one component to our four step approach. One of the reasons we are so successful at driving outcomes is because we help awaken others to the possibilities that exist and align values with organizational goals. Together we anchor the changes that are put in place.
Here are 4 additional bonus tips that will help best represent your organization.
- Try calling your community on your day off.
- Visit your home or community during off hours.
- Look into your online presence and read comments from past or current employees.
- Witness others giving a tour.
This article was written by staff member, Allison Duda.
