Editor’s Note: McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News are profiling the McKnight’s 2021 Women of Distinction honorees daily July 6 through Aug. 9. To see the 2021 McKnight’s 2021 Women of Distinction awards ceremony, register for free here. For additional profiles of McKnight’s Women of Distinction, visit this page.

Jiane Bassi headshot
Jiane Bassi

Jiane Bassi started her career at Covenant Living in 2015 as human resources director, where she was tasked with overseeing employee relations for 200 Covenant workers. Quickly excelling at her work, she was given the additional responsibility of managing human resources for Covenant Living Brandel Manor.

Because the company had just acquired Brandel Living, she understood the importance of incorporating the employees into the culture of Covenant Living. Through leadership and strategy, Bassi was able to integrate the recruiting and development of both Brandel and Covenant employees into a single working group. She also implemented events to engage both parties. As a result, the retention rates for Brandel employees have improved by double-digits since 2018, colleagues note. 

Bassi also served as interim human resources director and the go-to employee relations resource for three Covenant Living locations in California, as well as two locations in Washington state and Colorado. In September 2020, she was promoted to associate executive director at Covenant Living of Turlock/Brandel Manor. Bassi made a seamless transition into her new role of overseeing management for assisted living, dining services and facilities for both communities as well as residential life and the wellness clinic at Covenant Living of Turlock, her co-workers note. 

With her collaborative spirit and constant employee encouragement, Bassi is regarded as an effective coach and influential leader by employees with whom she works. During the coronavirus pandemic, she demonstrated her leadership capabilities by ensuring the safety of Covenant employees and residents by putting testing and reporting systems in place to track exposure.

Bassi has been able to take on two different types of roles — human resources as well as administrative — and has excelled in both, colleagues note. The result has been improved systems and processes, as well as employee relations, wherever she has worked, they say.

The McKnight’s Women of Distinction program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. The program’s Diamond sponsor is PointClickCare, and the Roundtable Sponsor is Paycor.