Senior care has seen some very tough times. For years, nursing homes have had to battle against negative social stigma. Recruiting the right fit has always been a challenge as has training and retaining good employees. Occupancy The residual effects of the pandemic continue to make operating senior care homes difficult. For reasons such as these, and many more, it has never been more important to develop and maintain a strong and healthy organizational culture.
Why Does Culture Matter?
The culture of an organization or a single care community is what sets it apart from every other company or nursing facility. It is a very powerful force that employees, residents and family members can feel. Other ways to describe how important culture is can be expressed as the personality, DNA, life’s blood or character of an organization or a care facility. Culture matters a lot, and in many cases can be very powerful.
10 Benefits of a Healthy Culture
Higher Employee Engagement and Job Satisfaction
Healthy cultures encourage social and emotional interaction among employees who feel more committed and engaged in the workplace. Research has shown that highly engaged employees express greater job satisfaction, which in turn leads to less turnover and greater longevity on the job.
Improved Health of Residents
A culture that promotes and lives by strong values, principles and beliefs is associated with better resident health outcomes. These characteristics promote good communication, relationship-building, and interaction among residents, families and staff. Not only are physical health outcomes improved, but emotional, mental, social and spiritual health outcomes benefit from a healthy culture.
Higher Census, Better Business
Studies show that companies with positive and healthy cultures positively impact occupancy. Communities with negative, unhealthy cultures do the opposite. They are difficult to fill due to high employee turnover, wasted resources, negative reputations, and poor care. A good culture is like a census magnet. It’s a no-brainer that it is good for business.
Greater Innovation
Healthy cultures don’t fear change – they embrace it and are always working to continually improve the physical environment, quality of care, staffing, and the psychosocial aspects of living. They are transparent, seek community involvement and are looking for the next great thing to make their own.
Motivated and Committed Leadership
“Birds of a feather flock together”. Healthy and positive cultures attract leadership who hold similar values, principles and beliefs. They form a synergy that replicates itself over and over to continually enhance the workplace culture. Unfortunately, negative and unhealthy cultures attract leaders embracing the same core beliefs.
Higher Retention Among Staff and Residents
It’s tough to leave a work environment described as respectful, caring, genuine, fair, honest and happy. This holds true for not only the staff but for residents who live there as well. This is not only anecdotal. Studies show that a positive and inclusive culture has less turnover, greater retention, more satisfied employees, residents and family members, and higher standards for care.
Improved Customer Service and Hospitality
It is far easier to deliver a high level of customer service and hospitality in a culture that promotes it. Healthy cultures embrace respectful communication and interaction, sincerity and genuineness, relationships and kindness. They are more responsive to the needs of not only residents, but to the staff, family members, volunteers and vendors. Everyone knows when customer service is good or bad.
Better Quality of Work and Life
A healthy culture provides the energy and atmosphere that creates a happy workplace environment. Happy employees, as it has been shown in countless studies, take better care of their residents, who in turn, experience a better quality of life. When a resident’s basic care needs are fulfilled, their higher-order needs like safety, love, and belonging can be satisfied by a happy staff.
Attracting, Recruiting and Hiring Better Quality Employees
A healthy and positive culture may be so powerful that it pulls good quality candidates in to become part of it. Word of mouth is still one of the greatest ways to market job and career opportunities to family, friends and the community.
Stronger Branding and Marketing
When there is a cohesive image projecting strong values, principles, and beliefs about being the best in senior care, it is not difficult to tell the story that will inspire others to want to be a part of it. A strong and healthy culture will stand out among all the noise surrounding it.
Final Thoughts on a Healthy Culture in Senior Care
When a workplace culture is strong, healthy and positive, people feel greater security and stability. These feelings are strongly associated with benefits to employees including engagement and job satisfaction. Residents benefit by receiving better care, customer service and quality of life. And the company enjoys a higher census, innovation, committed leadership and better employees. It is difficult to see any downsides of a healthy culture because it turns out to be a win for everyone.