By Jack Cumming

For a long time, we were talking of culture, and nothing seemed to happen. It was all talk and no do. Sometimes it felt like no one was listening. Suddenly, now, culture is a hot topic, and today I was blown away by a James Lee post on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is ephemeral. Posts are removed and don’t last. James Lee’s post deserves both permanence and reflection. Here goes:

After about 3 months with us, a new team member gave us her 2-weeks notice.

Her reason: “I didn’t find a sense that this was a perfect FIT for me. I didn’t feel that magic and connection that everyone here has.

I want to clear the way for someone to come in who does feel that way. This place deserves that, and I deserve that too.”

💜

I consider that a successful onboarding.

Culture isn’t just an invitation IN. It is also an opportunity to opt OUT.

We have had several team members who have left the role and been upset. This is a normal consequence of a fluid ever-present need to form a team.

But we have also had an extraordinary number of people who have:

➡️ Stayed in touch
➡️ Continue to engage in our social media
➡️ Have trained their replacement
➡️ Had lunch with their former manager
➡️ Asked us for a recommendation (which we happily give)

This same employee who gave us her notice made a similar offer. She offered time even after her notice period to come back for a scheduled day or two to help the new person with orientation.

I said with a smile, “just like the last person did for you.” 🙂

She said, “that really says something about this place.”

[We pay them for that time as subcontractors.]

BELONGING means that you don’t have to change yourself to fit in. You are exactly who you are meant to be.

A departure from a team – on their own terms – is not a sign of that person’s inadequacies or of the company’s.

I’m so proud of this person for making a firm decision, conveying that decision with heartfelt clarity, and the graciousness to want to support her team right through the very end.

Everyone talks so much about “retention” from a standpoint of numbers. There’s such a thing as productive turnover. How and why someone leaves you is as important as why others stay. 💜

Unleashing Wisdom

This quote says so much. First, the initiative comes from the employee, not the management. Isn’t that what human beings would expect when they join an organization? The expectation would be that they can leave if it’s not a fit. Of course, the alternative would be for them to be invited to stay and change the organization to what it might become.

Second, the leaving employee is supported by the organization. That is rare. Many managements view a termination as a rejection, while others consider a departure as an act of disloyalty. It may be neither. It may be the management that needs to change.

Residents and Occupancy

We have the same dynamic when it comes to occupancy. Many corporate types think they know best, but the prospects may not be buying it. That is common in many senior living enterprises in which contracts have trended in favor of the corporation, e.g., type B or C, by shifting risk from corporate onto residents. Not surprisingly, many prospects see through that corporate self-service and avoid the product.

The common hierarchical culture puts the onus on the sales team to sell the product no matter what the senior executives devise. If occupancy lags, there’s a tendency to blame sales or local executive directors. That results in churning leadership in those posts when the needed change is at the top.

We’re All Human

Senior living is a human industry bringing together founders, executives, staff, and residents to help human beings have a successful life as they age. It’s easy to let hierarchy or money diminish that community-building purpose. The Greeks taught us that hubris leads to downfall from excessive self-absorption. They called that fall from grace “nemesis,” and many executives, flattered by their direct reports, still today miss the gathering clouds of failure, blinded by hubris.

James Lee is not one of those. He has the heart, character, and courage to know what’s right and to lead his organization toward greatness. In a people business, that’s critical to success. Too often, the countinghouse is allowed to dominate. In the long run, though, what’s best for people, for each person as an individual, is what’s good for the enterprise.