By Steve Moran
I belong to several life enrichment/activity director groups on Facebook and mostly just lurk. Most of the time the lurking leads to feelings of immense gratitude and respect for the creativity and passion that these professionals have for their residents.
Once In A While …
Once in a while, though, I see a post that makes me go crazy. I wonder why anyone would want to work in senior living or have a loved one live in senior living. Here is the most recent, from an activity director who wants to do something amazing for her residents.
What happens is that way too often these low-paid leaders dig into their own pockets to pay for supplies for the company, which really that means company leaders — which really means people who are being paid a lot more money than they are — don’t care enough about them or their residents to make this right.
How can corporate leaders allow this to happen, knowing they make 20 or 30 times as much money?
How can executive directors be okay with this happening, knowing they make 10 to 15 times more money?
Over and Over Again …
You might be thinking, “Yeah, there are a few bad apples,” but she is not the only one. Some responses to this post.
Worst of All
Worst of all, no one is actually surprised or outraged that this is happening. This means it is a really common occurrence when it should be an “almost never happens” occurrence.
My response is that life enrichment leaders who are treated that way should QUIT! There are great companies that care about their residents and their team members. Life is too short to put up with this kind of crap.
This is happening right now in some of your communities. I want to believe that you are a leader who is committed to this never happening, and so you may not know it is happening, but you need to ask the question. Find out if your life enrichment leaders are suffering.
I beg you to go ask the question.
