If you’re like me and travel frequently for either business or pleasure, where you stay matters a lot. Whether it’s business-class hotels or 5-star properties, your experiences count and will influence your decision to return. It seems like the hospitality industry is light years ahead of senior living, and for a variety of reasons. No one is seeking medical care in a hotel. Regardless, senior care can learn a lot about hospitality from many leaders in the hotel and hospitality business.
How Great Hotels Get It Right
First and foremost, the best hotels recruit and train employees who share a common passion for customer service. They know that customers will stay where they are highly valued and made to feel welcomed. Exceptional customer service is a must for any senior living center to distinguish itself from the competition. This is not to say that quality of care doesn’t matter, because it absolutely does. But good care is expected. On the other hand, over-exceeding what people desire in terms of service – that’s a whole different ballgame.
(NOTE: For more on Workplace Culture, please take a moment and check out Collins Learning. We have the corporate solution to training and education for your entire staff and company.)
Beyond first class customer service is an intelligently designed environment with the senior in mind. There is only so much space in a senior living community, so it should be utilized wisely, balancing purpose and aesthetics. Throughout my travels to various assisted and independent living communities, I have seen newly developed areas such as pubs, cafés, and theaters. All of these are nicely designed and decorated, but they serve no purpose unless someone is using them. Why not have the café serve breakfast everyday and use it as another dining area? Why not have local groups and organizations use the pub as a regular meeting space? As I stay in my favorite hotels, I notice that the bars and restaurants cater to not only guests, but to people off the street. Couldn’t this be a great way to improve hospitality and get some marketing traction out of it?
While we are on the topic of the environment, hotels also get this right and senior care can learn how to better utilize color, texture, and lighting to maximize the senior’s experience. Color is used to create mood. In high energy areas of a senior community (activity room, therapy), vibrant or brighter colors can influence one’s level of energy and positivity. In areas where acuity of care and cognitive impairment are the focus, calmer, more smoothing colors can be very relaxing and inviting.
Focus on Lifestyle
Another concept that hotels really get right involves an environment so rich with amenities and comfort that it is better than one’s own home. The customer feels as though they are living a certain lifestyle just by being there. From their room, to the bar, spa, pool, and restaurant – this is really living! Now, imagine a similar model for seniors. It isn’t too difficult to imagine, because many developers around the country are doing exactly this. When you make the senior living community more comfortable, attractive and better than if they were still living at home, you’ve done something magical. This will raise the hospitality bar very, very high. And, the competition may not be able to make similar changes.
Here Come the Boomers!
Baby Boomers were born right after World War 2 up to the mid-1960s. They are currently the largest segment of our population and are now either looking into senior care arrangements or may already live in one. What do Baby Boomers want? Hospitality and customer service are top on their list, as are clean, homey, and modern living spaces, lots of amenities and luxury that is affordable. They like style and good design. Many of them have upgraded some of the most important rooms in their homes such as their kitchen, bathroom, and basement. When they are shopping for a senior living community, they don’t want to visit the dining room, but would rather see the restaurant. Don’t open the door to a bathroom when you could be showing them their spa. And touring them through a large, industrial, institutional kitchen certainly will not improve any Baby Boomer I know. They would like to see smaller, well-designed, warm and cozy or upscale kitchen spaces scattered throughout the community.
Final Words on Creating a Culture of Hospitality in Senior Care
I could go on and on about how the hospitality business is leaving senior care in the dust concerning customer service, a culture of hospitality and physical space. It’s good to know that they are catching up day-by-day. You might drive past a beautiful-looking property and assume it is a new hotel, but find out that it really is a senior care community. Would you rather live there than your own home?
(NOTE: For more on Workplace Culture, please take a moment and check out Collins Learning. We have the corporate solution to training and education for your entire staff and company.)