My big question to Andy Smith was this: Can the merger work? . . . How will you make it work?
There is no doubt that the big senior living news of the year is the merger of Brookdale and Emeritus.
In a long shot, Hail Mary attempt to better understand what the merger meant I immediately put in a call to Brookdale asking for an interview with Andy Smith. Because I had no history with Brookdale I sort of figured I would hear, “Senior Housing Forum who?” Instead what I got was “Sure, we know who you are and . . . it is possible . . . but not yet”.
I was pumped! Every few weeks I would check in. Then, with the ALFA annual convention just a few weeks out, I learned that Andy would be there and asked again, this time for a face-to-face. It turned out doing a phone interview the week before ALFA was a better fit for his schedule.
The Big Question
One of the things I particularly like about the senior living industry is that it is filled with optimists who consistently see the glass as being at least three quarters full. As I have asked senior living leaders their thoughts about the Brookdale/Emeritus merger they have been consistently optimistic, feeling that, if the integration of the two companies is successful, it will be very good for the industry. Each of these conversations wound down with this question:
Can they make it work . . . How will they make it work?
After a few minutes of introductory conversation, during which Andy told me he reads Senior Housing Forum almost every day, I jumped right it with THE big question.
Making It Work
By the time the merger was announced, lots of thinking and preparation for the merger had already been done. Since then, the plans have continued to evolve and be refined.
Andy explained that at the very core of a successful merger between the two companies is creating a culture that is people-centered. This is something he readily acknowledged rolls easily off the lips of virtually every corporate leader in and out of senior living but in practice takes deliberate hard work and is often not a serious endeavor. In the minds of Andy and his team there are two key elements to making “people first” the real deal and not just lip service.
- A Passion For Seniors – The Brookdale leadership believes that their current associates and those joining from Emeritus have a deep heart for serving seniors. That Brookdale management must exist to empower and strengthen that passion. This means the corporate structure has to be designed as a set of tools and resources that allow their associates’ passions to soar.
- It’s All Local – This means that the corporate structure should make the routine and mundane things as easy and as minimally time consuming as possible, allowing local staff maximum time and energy for interacting with residents, families and volunteers. It means they are taking a hard look at policies, procedures and processes to ensure they don’t suck up valuable time,energy and, most importantly, passion.
The Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge large care organizations face is conformity creep. When a problem is encountered the natural inclination is to impose another corporate directive. As a result, over time, there are so many of these things that local leaders have no real ability to do what is best for their local market. Pile on enough of these and the very best leaders will leave for places they can really lead.
What I heard from Andy was a real commitment to allowing individual executive directors to have the freedom to manage their communities in ways that leverage the unique strengths and attributes of their local team and marketplace. Are you ready to go to work for the expanded Brookdale?
Steve Moran
Steve,
I think Andy has a great direction. He has acknowledged that creating a “Person Centered” environment is easy to say, but difficult to deliver. Let’s pray that he continues the good fight…it reminds me of the simple phrase Dr. Thomas of Eden Alternative use to share, :Do unto your staff, as you would have them do unto your residents.”
Dr. B
Brookdale has gone through many changes over the years. In 2005, Brookdale purchased the community that I was employed at along with 8 others from Renaissance Senior Living (now no longer in business) and this purchase took them from 80 to 89 communities. What a pleasure it was to get to know Mark Shultz, then CEO who made it a point to know many of the associates personally. The company has held this vision and are a great company to work for. They have done a really good job of understanding that happy associates make happy residents!
I am skeptical about the sincerity of Brookdale in pulling off this vision, but I hope they do succeed. I worked for Brookdale for over 7 years. For me, it was more than just a job, as I have a true passion for serving and making a difference in seniors’ lives. However, in my case, there were some toxic things happening in my community, and the help came too little, too late, and I left Brookdale to join another company. They were even gracious enough to call and offer me my old job back after my replacement didn’t work out, but I couldn’t forget the way I was made to feel right before my resignation, and as tempting as it was to return to a job I felt I was born to do, I didn’t see how it would be that different if I returned. As the company continued to grow larger, it was my experience, in my market, that the “people first” initiative was just a bunch of lip service. As a manager, I did not feel empowered. If anything, I feel I was held back from being able to move forward and advance in my career to the next level. I am glad they are taking a hard look at some of their policies, procedures and processes. I do realize that my own individual experience in my market does not necessarily reflect Brookdale as a whole, and I truly don’t wish them any ill will. There are still a lot of people there (staff, residents and families) that I care deeply about. Let’s hope the new Brookdale truly does carry out the initiatives outlined in this article.