Atlanta-based Thrive Senior Living in September welcomed the inaugural group into the company’s High Potential Leadership Development, or HPLD, program.
Thrive operates communities in Alabama, Texas and New Jersey, as well as Georgia. All of the communities offer assisted living and memory care services, and some also include independent living.
“We call it bootcamp because it’s almost like a mini MBA and [is] really geared toward leadership skills,” Thrive Chief Operating Officer Nicole Moberg told the McKnight’s Business Daily.
HPLD follows up on a previous Thrive program called Intermentor, which connected mentors with interns who were interested in learning about leadership in general as well as roles in senior living in particular.
“That went so well for us that we said, ‘Why aren’t we doing this within our communities?’” Moberg said.
In developing HPLD, she added, the creators decided early on to “keep it small and very intentional.”
The yearlong program was capped at 10 employees based on an application process, which was open to all of Thrive’s community leaders as well as the “Thrive Hive” corporate team.
Participants meet for an hour every two weeks via Zoom; every time features a unique theme on which the curriculum is based, Moberg said. Members also meet three times a year face-to-face.
Each participant will be assigned a mentor after the new year and will meet with that person once a month. Participants will be required to work in small groups on a Thrive-related initiative project, which they ultimately will present to Thrive’s “vision team” at the conclusion of HPLD.
“There will also be a graduation ceremony for them at the end of the program,” Moberg said.
She said she is unaware of any other senior living operator with a similar program, adding that Thrive’s program reflects on her earlier career in academia. She formerly taught curriculum design at the University of Central Florida for more than a decade.
“For me, it’s really about cultivating our talent within our organization,” the COO said.
