When it comes to an industry that struggles to find the right people and keep them, look no further than the senior living industry. As a 24/7 industry, where wages tend to be low and the emotional and physical toll high, building a strong company culture and keeping good people is tough. To be successful in this industry, you must have a patient, loving and caring team who cares about elders.
When I met Applewood Our House, they had a heart of gold (still do!) but struggled to find talent that was a good culture-fit. Over the last year, their commitment to creating a strong company culture has been exemplary. They hit the ground running and haven’t stopped. As a result, they earned the designation as a Choose People Certified Company – a company in the top 20% of organizations nationwide with an extraordinary workplace culture. And they accomplished this within an industry with a tough employment reputation.
How did Applewood Our House create a strong company culture?
Here’s just a few of the key pieces they took on:
- Coaching struggling team members with potential.
- Transitioning out those who were a sub-par culture-fit
- Designing and implementing a rigorous hiring process to find those who were both a character and competency fit
- Designing and implementing a thoughtful onboarding and training process to welcome and integrate new team members
- Increasing the management acumen of their leadership team
- Giving up the scapegoats of time poverty and always being “overwhelmed”
- Developing kind, candid and constructive communication to empower team members
- Aligning on expectations and accountability
And, they did all this while adding a fifth location!
Applewood Our House has set themselves up for continued success with a team that is more culturally aligned than ever – and as such, more count-on-able, cohesive and capable!
As a Choose People Certified Company, they demonstrate that no matter what industry you’re in and no matter how fast your growth – creating a strong company culture is absolutely doable.
Congratulations Applewood Our House!
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