By Jack Cumming
The arrival of Sean Kelly at Front Porch was transformative. I should quickly add that I’m a resident at Carlsbad by the Sea Retirement Community, part of Front Porch. If you know Sean, you know that he is very bright, friendly, open, and engaging.
Culture Matters
One of the first steps he took was to bring in Anna Hall as “Chief Culture and Community Officer.” Sean also set out a vision statement for the corporation with culture at the top of the heap.
The sad truth is that there are often two cultures co-existing in senior living corporations and communities. The one culture is that of the executives and employees who exercise the ownership authority. The other is the more rapidly shifting culture among the residents. Residents move in, live out their remaining years, and then pass on or move out to spend their last moments in a less institutional setting.
Still A Dream
My dream, as a resident, is to break down that dividing line to form a unifying culture in which residents are valued for who they are. Residents bring their whole selves into residency, and their talents can be as varied as the talents of the pool from which senior living draws its employees and executives.
Anna Hall understands this instinctively. She is a remarkable woman. She’s also a consummate storyteller. One lesson I’ve learned from Steve Moran is the importance of storytelling. As I’ve gotten to know Anna Hall, I’ve been drawn to her podcast in which she tells stories on behalf of her employer, Front Porch, but many of these same stories provide wisdom for all who serve, interact, or engage with people who are aging.
Anna Hall has an empathetic nature, perhaps attributable to her own life journey. Not only does Anna listen to the most intimate concerns of residents and others, but she also openly shares her own travails. We all have ups and downs in our personal stories, but many are reluctant to share the downside. Anna has the warmth of an open soul who has the courage to share. That’s remarkable.
Story Power
Changing a culture can be difficult and takes time. I’m sure that there are some on the Front Porch Board who see the cultural bright line as necessary, one that subordinates capable residents. That’s just speculation, but it reflects what I was shocked to encounter when I moved in nearly twenty years ago. Anna Hall’s gift for bringing out stories can melt the hearts of even the most hardened moguls.
Over recent years, there has been a welcome trend toward humanizing residents. For Front Porch, Sean Kelly and Anna Hall’s efforts toward humanization have been like a waft of fresh air entering a musty room. It’s as though residents can begin to breathe again.
Staff, too, benefit from the change. The lower the level in the hierarchy, the more likely employees are to work closely with residents. They come to know and like them. They can even become friends.
Fraternization
At one time during my residency, fraternization with residents could be grounds for dismissal, and I’m sure that there are still providers where that remains true. Perceptions have to change before residents are seen by corporate, particularly, for their humanity. Residents are more than a sale or a revenue source. If lower-level employees are closest to the industry’s customers, then corporate offices are the most distant.
The industry spills a lot of ink speculating about how an emerging generation of new residents will change it. In the meantime, though, the industry has been slow to react. Instead of speculating from a distance, Anna Hall is out there modestly getting to know people and bringing their stories to the fore. It’s not the touchy-feely getting to know residents that some people insist on, i.e., positive, happy, complacent residents only. Anna listens to the feelings of disappointed residents and those who feel unheard.
Back to Basics
The title of this article is “Senior Living Is a People Business.” We can get so caught up in financing issues or development opportunities that we can easily lose sight of the primacy of people. Residents can seem so distant that it’s easy to overlook the role they can also have as investors.
Residents may have ideas for making buildings more inviting. People, residents, create a home; architects create drawings. Many modern buildings are cold and industrial. Resident ideas should be considered. Anna Hall is bringing warmth beyond drawings to Front Porch and the industry. The senior living industry is at its best when residents are creatively kept front of mind.
Thank You
Thank you, Sean Kelly, for bringing Anna Hall to us. I hope that she can make a practical difference by lifting Front Porch, perhaps under a new corporate name, to become a leading paradigm for the industry. A few others are there already. You know who you are, and you should feel proud of having that welcoming stature. The industry will grow stronger as more and more providers join that lofty elite of empowering providers.
Now, maybe we can delete the word “Retirement” from the name “Carlsbad by the Sea Retirement Community.” It sends the wrong impression. We are a community of vibrant residents served by a gifted staff who are worthy of human dignity and a lifetime of purpose and meaning.
One thing is clear. Many residents now have lifelong productivity. The time when people just “retired” to lifelong nothingness is in the past. Break down barriers. We can all thrive together.
This is one in a series of articles exploring how providers, residents, and resident families might work together for better aging.
