Episcopal Senior Communities, a multi-site organization based in Walnut Creek, CA; Maplewood Park Place in Bethesda, MD; Moravian Manor in Lititz, PA; and Aldersgate Retirement Community, a Methodist Senior Services community in Meridian, MS, have been recognized by Holleran for the scores they achieved in the company’s employee and resident engagement studies conducted in 2016.
Holleran is a consulting firm based in Mountville, PA, and serving more than 1,000 not-for-profit senior living provider organizations nationally. The company provides employee and resident engagement and satisfaction research and benchmarks and awards annual “highest honors” recognition to those communities that attain high mean scores and overall satisfaction significantly above the Holleran benchmark. In addition, a minimum response rate of 70% must be achieved, and 60% or more of the organization’s staff or residents must be categorized as highly engaged. This year, only 4% of the communities Holleran surveys attained the highest honors designation.
“These communities are demonstrating a high commitment to employee and resident engagement,” said Michele Holleran, CEO of Holleran. “Engagement is the single best measure of a healthy culture, leading to workforce stability, lower turnover and a high commitment to well-being of residents.”
Episcopal Senior Communities received the designation for employee engagement at three of its locations. “It’s about hiring the right people, people that know their job well, are passionate and customer service-focused,” said Rick Olivieri, vice president of human resources at the organization.
Scott McAlister, executive director at Maplewood Park Place, attributed the community’s performance in employee and independent living resident engagement to the transparent culture among the residents, employees and the leadership team. The organizational structure of Maplewood Park Place is governed by the residents, he said. “Because of the concept of resident ownership, there is no outside force,” McAlister added. “It is all governed internally, which creates an automatic synergy between residents and employees, which continually propels the community forward.”
Moravian Manor was awarded highest honors for a resident engagement, with a mean score of 90.8, and Aldersgate, received highest honors in resident engagement with a mean score of 90.8.
Moravian Manor President and CEO David Swartley said employees are “mission-driven” and “in it for the people and make sure that the residents are well-served.”
Aldersgate Executive Director Lawona Broadfoot said that the residents call their community “Alders-great.” Employees approach their work with a “here to help” attitude, she said. “Our goal is to create an open atmosphere where our elders, as well as our team, feel free to share concerns and compliments,” Broadfoot added.
