REDUCING THE LEARNING CURVE FOR NEW EMPLOYEES “You need to take initiative, to be a prob-
lem solver,” said Lisa Welshhons, a senior vice president at human resources consul- tancy Aureon. “You may encounter situ- ations that have nothing to do with your immediate job, but it’s up to you to own that problem and get it addressed. The housekeeper or the dining server needs to know how to own a problem and get a resolution. You can’t say: ‘That’s not my problem.’ Everyone is responsible for taking care of the resident.” That’s a veritable avalanche of informa-
tion. Does knowing all of this really im- pact employee satisfaction and, ultimately, retention? Anecdotal evidence suggests it does. We looked at Glassdoor, a website where work- ers review their employers, and found that the most satisfi ed senior living workers were those who felt engaged in the overall culture of the industry. Wrote one happy worker: “By truly in-
vesting in their employees and delegating responsibilities into manageable and clearly defi ned roles, the business is set up for suc- cess and the individual is allowed a great amount of job/role satisfaction.” And another: “There are people who
started as dining servers who then went into housekeeping, then to caring for residents, then to director-level positions. If you are service-oriented and really want to make a diff erence in people's lives, you can make your career here.” Buy-in really does matter, and yet there is so much a new hire needs to know: Subtle
“This is a big business and it’s growing all the time, and we want people to feel that they have a future here. To keep their interest, to hook them into a career, you want to give them an understanding on the business side,” said Woodka.
8 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE MARCH/APRIL 2018
points about the culture of senior living, the nature of the work, the expectation of service and even about the bigger industry picture. How to communicate all that ef- fi ciently and eff ectively so that new workers will hit the ground running and stay in the race for the long term? Here’s how it is done.
Setting the stage Cultural indoctrination starts before you ever advertise a job opening. Want people to understand and appreciate your unique work environment? Use social media to paint a picture. “That’s where people go to look for jobs.
When people go there, they need to hear you telling your story,” said Woodka. “A lot of people think of this industry as being all about sick old people. So, you want to
put other kinds of images on social media: People dancing, playing cards. That’s how you shape people’s understanding of the industry.”
At Hearth Management, Suits leverages
social media as a strategic asset in recruiting. Recent Facebook posts showed residents dolled up for St. Patrick’s Day, touring the Country Music Hall of Fame, and getting a professional makeup job. “We use social media to show what it actually looks like and feels like to be a part of our community. We want people to see what the job looks like, so that they can picture themselves doing what they are actually going to be doing,” she said. To that end, Suits strives for authentic-
ity in her social media posts, as in all her marketing materials. “We use real videos, homemade on smart phones. We use real
DRIVING CORPORATE CULTURE EARLY ON
Employee understanding of the corporate culture doesn’t begin with the fi rst-day orientation exercise. Ideally, it’s embedded in the hiring process itself. Here’s how human resources professionals and hiring managers can begin to broadcast the company culture early on, as adapted from the Society for Human Resource Management.
✔ Interview for culture: Craft interview questions that hone in on the organization's vision, mission, and values statements. If you value enthusiasm, or creativity, or compassion, draw up interview questions that explore these traits.
✔ Listen for cues: Open-ended questions sometimes will give insight into a candidate’s likely fit. “Where’s the worst place you ever worked?” If the answer sounds a lot like your community, you may be headed for a cultural disconnect.
✔ Let them go fi rst: Don’t tell them about your company culture right away; that’s like feeding them the answers before the test. Have a clear sense of your organization’s culture and values, then listen for those things in the interview process.
✔ Rule of three: Have at least three people involved in the hiring process. Diff erent people will see and hear diff erent things. Multiple perspectives give clearer insight.
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