At the start of a new calendar year, we are messaged all around about “new beginnings.” I am seeing a host of media ads about mattresses, cars and furniture as retailers look to prop up the inevitable dips in sales following the business holiday season. Then, of course there are dozens of (urgent!) weight loss commercials specifically geared to appeal to those who have overdone it through the holidays.
I look at “new beginnings” in my search engine and find that the terminology has been tapped by treatment centers, counseling and mental health services, adoption services, numerous religious organizations, a governmental office of personnel management, alternative education, a Kenyan soap opera, a series of novels about a guardian angel named Victoria Schwab…….. the list goes on and on and many of them very important. So I am a bit reluctant to just crowd in what we are doing at Beatitudes Campus with everything else. One, because I would rather it not be “lost in the crowd” and two, because we are really, literally beginning a new phase in the life of this fifty-plus year old campus with our physical updates, furthering our Radical Hospitality attitudes and programming at a resident-centric level like never before.
As we are learning from the ATLAS process (an organizational assessment program funded by the Virginia G. Piper Foundation) about which Michelle Just, our President and CEO wrote in this space some weeks ago, organizations have life cycles. Only those with strong determination (aka “grit”, the subject of my last Roadrunner article) are able to keep at the top of their operating space and continue their mission in meaningful ways. Absent the will to innovate, collaborate and research, companies can find themselves going the way of least resistance, continuing with methods that may need updating and not stretching to fund their depreciation or bring improvements to the marketplace.
This is but one of the reasons I am so happy to be a part of Beatitudes Campus. We have made a conscious decision not to lapse into mediocrity, but rather to continue a process of “new beginnings” that strives for excellence in every aspect of the life plan community sector. We have just finished our intensive Phase I of the First Impressions updates which has touched most campus buildings, and we have already seen some definitive results with those making decisions about making Beatitudes Campus their home. Painting, floor coverings, furnishings and artwork have a rather profound impact on decision making in senior living often even above our superior care ratings in the licensed areas. Our mission continues to be just as our founders envisioned…….to be leaders and innovators. And we have definitely learned that First Impressions (an integral part of our Radical Hospitality program) is a foundational part of the equation, especially as we also envision the continuance of that mission into the redevelopment process. The higher occupancies that result from attention to this part of the overall equation coupled with strong operations produces a position at which our lenders look far more favorably and which allows us to take next steps.
Now with the first part of the time sensitive program complete, during the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year, we will be continuing the First Impressions/Radical Hospitality process with not only completion of Phase II of the physical assets/décor plan but also with continued training for every member of our staff in the fundamentals of this important aspect of our culture. (Phase III, the completion of the program, is slated for fiscal year 2018.) So, our “new beginnings” is an evolutionary process in which we expect to involve staff and residents in the planning process for the next few years in not only our redevelopment for new areas, but also in the re-tooling and updates for our existing buildings. I am so excited to work with the residents council and building representatives on what constitutes the best for each area. We will be producing common area maps that will be very valuable tools that help keep décor assigned to an area in that location and how the room(s) are to be set following any necessary movement of furniture for an event or holiday season, among other deliverables.
Thanks again for the opportunity to be of service to this campus and it's top notch residents. You are an inspiration and joy – great days ahead!
Get involved!
Comments