疫情来袭，这家美国养老机构居然找到发展机遇
Trilogy Health Services的高管们用一个词来形容他们所热衷的领导方式：“走访探视”（rounding）。
它与医生“查房”（rounds）异曲同工，准确描述了Trilogy领导们定期拜访其专业护理机构的一线员工和居住者的做法。
随着新冠疫情的袭来，Trilogy首席执行官利•安•巴尼和她的副手们不得不改变了他们原来的走访习惯。但尽管实施了保持社交距离的安全规程，他们还是找到了走访探视的办法。巴尼和其他人已经在Trilogy遍布中西部多个州的117个营业点举办过烧烤活动。在养老行业举步维艰的这一年里，你会看到她为30多人做饭，向员工发放留职奖金，不断地给员工加油鼓劲。
“我可以和大家一起烧烤，烤牛排和鸡肉，”巴尼说，“我们彼此之间保持距离，但大家都可以过来和我聊天。”
巴尼给大家准备食物，是对Trilogy领导者们应对2020年诸多挑战的服务型领导方式的最佳写照。他们力求不辜负员工的辛勤工作与牺牲，尽其所能去应对突如其来的、无情夺走Trilogy多名员工及居住者生命的疫情危机。
值得注意的是，Trilogy员工对公司的评价仍然很高，今年有80%的员工认为Trilogy是一个很好的工作场所。
如果说Trilogy的领导者有什么不同的话，那就是他们把疫情危机视为机遇：不仅仅是提升其公司文化和经营表现的机遇，更是助力整个养老行业发展的机遇。疫情肆虐了众多养老院，致使许多美国老年人失去生命，给养老服务行业蒙上了一层阴影。但疫情也让我们看到从业人员勇敢地在前线奋战，日复一日地做着充满关爱、充满意义的工作。巴尼说，业内领先的组织机构更是将临床专业知识融入到高质量的接待和生活照料服务当中。
她说，“养老院和长期护理机构还从未被如此重视过。”但是，也许这场疫情所引发的关注“将会助推行业的发展，给我们的行业和员工带来支持。”
Trilogy Health Services有着深厚的服务文化和具有远见卓识的领导层，因而它能够跻身第三届“最佳养老服务工作场所”年度榜单也就不足为奇了。卓越职场研究所（Great Place to Work）旗下养老研究公司Activated Insights刚刚携手《财富》公布了今年的榜单。
“人人称道的卓越工作场所”
在过去的一年里，卓越职场研究所和Activated Insights调查了近50个州的18.9159万名员工，从尊重、公平和领导能力等维度衡量他们的工作场所体验。我们的方法还能反映出一个组织机构的文化在各个人口学群体和各级别员工的心目中有多大的一致性。
在养老服务领域，工作场所文化建设是重要一环。疫情造成的伤害加剧了该行业的劳动力紧缺和员工流失问题。同时， 我们的研究表明，更好的工作场所文化可降低员工流失率。医疗保健方面的多项研究也表明，更稳定的员工队伍可以提高护理质量。
在今年的经济动荡中，人人称好的卓越工作场所文化也更有利于企业的发展。卓越职场研究所在大衰退后的调研发现，在2007至2009年经济衰退之前、期间和之后，工作环境最具包容性、备受员工信赖的那些企业业绩表现要优于同行。
养老行业困境
被误解是养老机构面临的挑战之一。即便是有足够的经济条件，包括记者在内的很多人也都会把家里的老年人送进主要由政府资助的公办养老院，而不选择私立养老院。当然，养老行业本身在宣传推广时也使用一连串令人困惑的名称来描述五花八门的服务和居住选择，妨碍行业的发展。实际上，那些居住选择很多看起来像是拥有酒店式设施的豪华公寓大楼，与多户住宅楼一样，它们在疫情防控方面也做得很好。
养老机构还面临着各方面的经济压力。由于缺乏渠道准确了解比较各家养老机构的优劣，家庭通常都会基于价格作出选择。与此同时，随着政府拨款不断减少，公众要求获得更多的控制权，养老院数十年来日渐衰颓。鉴于员工薪酬占多数养老院运营预算的三分之二，定价方面的压力迫使它们降低员工薪酬，削减对工作场所的投资，因而进一步推升了员工流失率。2019年，养老院的员工流失率平均高达65%。2020年，这一数字继续上扬。
不妨拿这些行业平均水平与注重投资于员工的公司进行对比。得益于将员工放在第一位的文化，Trilogy员工流失率比行业平均水平低了近50%。
坚持以人为本的方针需要采取一些大胆果断的商业举措。今年，尽管营收和利润双双下滑，Trilogy仍然斥资数百万美元给直接护理人员加薪。此外，该公司还向2000多名员工发放沃尔玛购物卡，供他们购买食品。对于孩子学校春季停课的员工，Trilogy会提供托儿补助。
Trilogy还加倍投资帮助员工提高技能和学历，谋求更大的职业发展。这些投入不仅提升了Trilogy的客户服务和临床护理水平，还帮助它的员工克服了经济和种族方面的劣势。近一半的Trilogy员工正在通过参加结构化的学徒计划提升技能，这一计划帮助他们每隔几个月就可以获得证书和加薪。此外，Trilogy与普渡大学的Purdue Global项目展开合作，让员工可以免费攻读该大学的线上学位，今年合作第一个学年便有十五分之一的员工参加。针对种族和经济不平等造成的数字鸿沟，Trilogy还专门为员工提供笔记本电脑、网络服务等他们缺少的资源，方便他们学习。
疫情袭来
今年3月，在疫情席卷美国各地之时，Trilogy领导层采取各种防控措施，以保障其9000名居住者和1.2万名员工的安全。巴尼每天与员工开会，商讨制定新的安全规程，采集个人防护设备，并分享最新的信息。有几个星期，Trilogy取得了不俗的防控效果，避免了陷入困境。但面对疫情这一养老行业专家口中的“完美杀人机器”，该公司及其员工终究还是避免不了伤亡。
3月下旬，Trilogy位于印第安纳州的一家养老院爆发疫情，众多居住者出现呼吸困难。
“他们从医院过来，当时还没有建立自己的病毒检测机制。”巴尼回忆称。Trilogy当时依赖于当地卫生部门的检测。检测结果要几天才能出来。
巴尼说道，“我记得有一个星期，不管在办公室、家里还是外面，我一直都在打电话，不停地跟人沟通联系。”
不幸的是，有几位居住者死去。这一年，在Trilogy旗下的所有营业点中，也有三名员工死于新冠病毒。
尽管巴尼认为公司当时已经竭其所能去防止疫情相关的伤亡，但Trilogy还是想要从这些悲剧中吸取教训。
它强化了多项安全规程，包括为居住者和员工设立自有的每周检测系统。Trilogy的慈善基金会为死者家属提供支持。该公司还通过员工援助计划提供心理咨询服务，并补充了一项牧师服务。
虽然Trilogy及其员工在2020年遭受了冲击，但事实证明，该公司和它的文化很有韧性。在Great Place to Work的员工信任指数调查中，员工对Trilogy的评分比2019年仅下降了3个百分点，80%的员工称该公司是一个很好的工作场所。相比之下，类似的专业护理机构的员工信任指数得分下降了7个百分点以上。
未来的机遇
事实上，随着美国人口老龄化的速度空前加快，Trilogy的领导者认为，2020年的黑暗时期已经指出了未来的两个大好机遇。
一个机遇是，养老行业的相对地位发生了转变。“长期以来，我们一直没有医疗保健行业那么备受重视。”巴尼说道，“而疫情期间，养老服务却成为了人们的关注焦点，我们证明了我们的服务是多么的重要。”她接着指出，养老服务已经成为了“人们关注的重心，进入了一个自然发展阶段”。
换句话说，现在的机遇是，一改养老服务机构之前临床封闭落后的印象，变身成为先锋者，在将客户服务和接待服务与医疗保健相融合方面树立典范，从为老年人服务开始。这样，养老服务行业及其领先企业才能克服今年的严峻考验，持续蓬勃发展。
Trilogy首席人力资源官普里西利亚•马丁利进行了更深入的分析。她着重谈到吸引更多更优秀的人才进入这个行业的机遇。“从好的一面来看，今年的疫情与随之而来的种种挑战会让许多人认识到，如果想贡献自己的一份力量，你在养老服务领域也能起到跟在儿科一样大的作用。”
把握这些机遇，需要行业领导者多下功夫。在Trilogy，领导层的工作包括投资于员工的职业发展，以及继续“走访探视”。长期以来，走访探视让高管们能够近距离跟踪了解前线所发生的一切。
这个假日季，巴尼将会现身探访Trilogy的养老院。她会与他人保持社交距离，佩戴口罩，但仍会与Trilogy的居住者和员工进行交流互动。
她很喜欢的一个故事发生于去年12月，当时她去访问Trilogy位于印第安纳州中部的Wellbrooke of Carmel养老院。和公司的一位厨师聊天时，她指了指厨师外套上的四颗星。四颗星表示，这名员工已经完成了所有的四门厨师学徒课程，提升了她的烹饪技能，从而获得3000美元的年薪增长。
该厨师回应道，她有四个孩子，这是她第一次不用为圣诞节的开销发愁。
“这是我们努力的目标，”巴尼说，“让我们的员工知道我们关心你，我们愿意投资于你的职业发展，我们想让你的生活变得更美好。”（财富中文网）
作者Jacquelyn Kung博士是卓越职场研究所（Great Place to Work）旗下养老研究公司Activated Insights的首席执行官；埃德•弗劳恩海姆是卓越职场研究所的高级内容总监，合著有《A Great Place to Work For All》一书。
译者：万志文
Trilogy Health Services的高管们用一个词来形容他们所热衷的领导方式：“走访探视”（rounding）。
它与医生“查房”（rounds）异曲同工，准确描述了Trilogy领导们定期拜访其专业护理机构的一线员工和居住者的做法。
随着新冠疫情的袭来，Trilogy首席执行官利•安•巴尼和她的副手们不得不改变了他们原来的走访习惯。但尽管实施了保持社交距离的安全规程，他们还是找到了走访探视的办法。巴尼和其他人已经在Trilogy遍布中西部多个州的117个营业点举办过烧烤活动。在养老行业举步维艰的这一年里，你会看到她为30多人做饭，向员工发放留职奖金，不断地给员工加油鼓劲。
“我可以和大家一起烧烤，烤牛排和鸡肉，”巴尼说，“我们彼此之间保持距离，但大家都可以过来和我聊天。”
巴尼给大家准备食物，是对Trilogy领导者们应对2020年诸多挑战的服务型领导方式的最佳写照。他们力求不辜负员工的辛勤工作与牺牲，尽其所能去应对突如其来的、无情夺走Trilogy多名员工及居住者生命的疫情危机。
新冠疫情前，Trilogy Health Services的居住者和员工参加公司一年一度的 “脱离饥饿”（Independence from Hunger）活动。图片版权：Trilogy Health Services
值得注意的是，Trilogy员工对公司的评价仍然很高，今年有80%的员工认为Trilogy是一个很好的工作场所。
如果说Trilogy的领导者有什么不同的话，那就是他们把疫情危机视为机遇：不仅仅是提升其公司文化和经营表现的机遇，更是助力整个养老行业发展的机遇。疫情肆虐了众多养老院，致使许多美国老年人失去生命，给养老服务行业蒙上了一层阴影。但疫情也让我们看到从业人员勇敢地在前线奋战，日复一日地做着充满关爱、充满意义的工作。巴尼说，业内领先的组织机构更是将临床专业知识融入到高质量的接待和生活照料服务当中。
她说，“养老院和长期护理机构还从未被如此重视过。”但是，也许这场疫情所引发的关注“将会助推行业的发展，给我们的行业和员工带来支持。”
Trilogy Health Services有着深厚的服务文化和具有远见卓识的领导层，因而它能够跻身第三届“最佳养老服务工作场所”年度榜单也就不足为奇了。卓越职场研究所（Great Place to Work）旗下养老研究公司Activated Insights刚刚携手《财富》公布了今年的榜单。
“人人称道的卓越工作场所”
在过去的一年里，卓越职场研究所和Activated Insights调查了近50个州的18.9159万名员工，从尊重、公平和领导能力等维度衡量他们的工作场所体验。我们的方法还能反映出一个组织机构的文化在各个人口学群体和各级别员工的心目中有多大的一致性。
在养老服务领域，工作场所文化建设是重要一环。疫情造成的伤害加剧了该行业的劳动力紧缺和员工流失问题。同时， 我们的研究表明，更好的工作场所文化可降低员工流失率。医疗保健方面的多项研究也表明，更稳定的员工队伍可以提高护理质量。
在今年的经济动荡中，人人称好的卓越工作场所文化也更有利于企业的发展。卓越职场研究所在大衰退后的调研发现，在2007至2009年经济衰退之前、期间和之后，工作环境最具包容性、备受员工信赖的那些企业业绩表现要优于同行。
养老行业困境
被误解是养老机构面临的挑战之一。即便是有足够的经济条件，包括记者在内的很多人也都会把家里的老年人送进主要由政府资助的公办养老院，而不选择私立养老院。当然，养老行业本身在宣传推广时也使用一连串令人困惑的名称来描述五花八门的服务和居住选择，妨碍行业的发展。实际上，那些居住选择很多看起来像是拥有酒店式设施的豪华公寓大楼，与多户住宅楼一样，它们在疫情防控方面也做得很好。
养老机构还面临着各方面的经济压力。由于缺乏渠道准确了解比较各家养老机构的优劣，家庭通常都会基于价格作出选择。与此同时，随着政府拨款不断减少，公众要求获得更多的控制权，养老院数十年来日渐衰颓。鉴于员工薪酬占多数养老院运营预算的三分之二，定价方面的压力迫使它们降低员工薪酬，削减对工作场所的投资，因而进一步推升了员工流失率。2019年，养老院的员工流失率平均高达65%。2020年，这一数字继续上扬。
不妨拿这些行业平均水平与注重投资于员工的公司进行对比。得益于将员工放在第一位的文化，Trilogy员工流失率比行业平均水平低了近50%。
坚持以人为本的方针需要采取一些大胆果断的商业举措。今年，尽管营收和利润双双下滑，Trilogy仍然斥资数百万美元给直接护理人员加薪。此外，该公司还向2000多名员工发放沃尔玛购物卡，供他们购买食品。对于孩子学校春季停课的员工，Trilogy会提供托儿补助。
Trilogy还加倍投资帮助员工提高技能和学历，谋求更大的职业发展。这些投入不仅提升了Trilogy的客户服务和临床护理水平，还帮助它的员工克服了经济和种族方面的劣势。近一半的Trilogy员工正在通过参加结构化的学徒计划提升技能，这一计划帮助他们每隔几个月就可以获得证书和加薪。此外，Trilogy与普渡大学的Purdue Global项目展开合作，让员工可以免费攻读该大学的线上学位，今年合作第一个学年便有十五分之一的员工参加。针对种族和经济不平等造成的数字鸿沟，Trilogy还专门为员工提供笔记本电脑、网络服务等他们缺少的资源，方便他们学习。
疫情袭来
今年3月，在疫情席卷美国各地之时，Trilogy领导层采取各种防控措施，以保障其9000名居住者和1.2万名员工的安全。巴尼每天与员工开会，商讨制定新的安全规程，采集个人防护设备，并分享最新的信息。有几个星期，Trilogy取得了不俗的防控效果，避免了陷入困境。但面对疫情这一养老行业专家口中的“完美杀人机器”，该公司及其员工终究还是避免不了伤亡。
3月下旬，Trilogy位于印第安纳州的一家养老院爆发疫情，众多居住者出现呼吸困难。
“他们从医院过来，当时还没有建立自己的病毒检测机制。”巴尼回忆称。Trilogy当时依赖于当地卫生部门的检测。检测结果要几天才能出来。
巴尼说道，“我记得有一个星期，不管在办公室、家里还是外面，我一直都在打电话，不停地跟人沟通联系。”
不幸的是，有几位居住者死去。这一年，在Trilogy旗下的所有营业点中，也有三名员工死于新冠病毒。
尽管巴尼认为公司当时已经竭其所能去防止疫情相关的伤亡，但Trilogy还是想要从这些悲剧中吸取教训。
它强化了多项安全规程，包括为居住者和员工设立自有的每周检测系统。Trilogy的慈善基金会为死者家属提供支持。该公司还通过员工援助计划提供心理咨询服务，并补充了一项牧师服务。
虽然Trilogy及其员工在2020年遭受了冲击，但事实证明，该公司和它的文化很有韧性。在Great Place to Work的员工信任指数调查中，员工对Trilogy的评分比2019年仅下降了3个百分点，80%的员工称该公司是一个很好的工作场所。相比之下，类似的专业护理机构的员工信任指数得分下降了7个百分点以上。
未来的机遇
事实上，随着美国人口老龄化的速度空前加快，Trilogy的领导者认为，2020年的黑暗时期已经指出了未来的两个大好机遇。
一个机遇是，养老行业的相对地位发生了转变。“长期以来，我们一直没有医疗保健行业那么备受重视。”巴尼说道，“而疫情期间，养老服务却成为了人们的关注焦点，我们证明了我们的服务是多么的重要。”她接着指出，养老服务已经成为了“人们关注的重心，进入了一个自然发展阶段”。
换句话说，现在的机遇是，一改养老服务机构之前临床封闭落后的印象，变身成为先锋者，在将客户服务和接待服务与医疗保健相融合方面树立典范，从为老年人服务开始。这样，养老服务行业及其领先企业才能克服今年的严峻考验，持续蓬勃发展。
Trilogy首席人力资源官普里西利亚•马丁利进行了更深入的分析。她着重谈到吸引更多更优秀的人才进入这个行业的机遇。“从好的一面来看，今年的疫情与随之而来的种种挑战会让许多人认识到，如果想贡献自己的一份力量，你在养老服务领域也能起到跟在儿科一样大的作用。”
把握这些机遇，需要行业领导者多下功夫。在Trilogy，领导层的工作包括投资于员工的职业发展，以及继续“走访探视”。长期以来，走访探视让高管们能够近距离跟踪了解前线所发生的一切。
这个假日季，巴尼将会现身探访Trilogy的养老院。她会与他人保持社交距离，佩戴口罩，但仍会与Trilogy的居住者和员工进行交流互动。
她很喜欢的一个故事发生于去年12月，当时她去访问Trilogy位于印第安纳州中部的Wellbrooke of Carmel养老院。和公司的一位厨师聊天时，她指了指厨师外套上的四颗星。四颗星表示，这名员工已经完成了所有的四门厨师学徒课程，提升了她的烹饪技能，从而获得3000美元的年薪增长。
该厨师回应道，她有四个孩子，这是她第一次不用为圣诞节的开销发愁。
“这是我们努力的目标，”巴尼说，“让我们的员工知道我们关心你，我们愿意投资于你的职业发展，我们想让你的生活变得更美好。”（财富中文网）
作者Jacquelyn Kung博士是卓越职场研究所（Great Place to Work）旗下养老研究公司Activated Insights的首席执行官；埃德•弗劳恩海姆是卓越职场研究所的高级内容总监，合著有《A Great Place to Work For All》一书。
译者：万志文
Executives at Trilogy Health Services have a term for the way they like to lead: “rounding.”
It’s a riff off the “rounds” that doctors make to check on patients, and it captures the way leaders at Trilogy regularly visit front line employees and residents of their skilled nursing facilities.
The COVID pandemic has forced Trilogy CEO Leigh Ann Barney and her lieutenants to change their rounding rituals. But despite safety protocols to remain physically distant, they still found a way to get around. Barney and others have hosted barbecues at Trilogy’s 117 locations throughout several midwestern states. You’ll find her cooking for 30 or so people, giving out retention bonuses and offering encouraging words during a very difficult year in senior care.
“I can be at the grill with steak and chicken,” Barney says. “We’re socially distanced, but people can come and chat with me.”
Barney serving up food is a fitting metaphor for the way Trilogy leaders have navigated the challenges of 2020 from a foundation of servant leadership. They have sought to match the hard work and sacrifice of their employees, and to respond as best they could to a disease that has taken the lives of a number of Trilogy employees and residents.
Remarkably, Trilogy’s employees have continued to rate the company highly, with 8 in 10 calling it a great place to work this year.
If anything, Trilogy’s leaders see the COVID crisis as an opportunity. Not just to elevate the culture and performance of their company, but to aid the elder care industry as a whole. The pandemic—which ravaged many nursing homes and killed many older Americans—may have given the aging services industry a black eye. But it also opened eyes to the heroic, caring, meaningful work people in the field do day in and day out. Not to mention the way leading organizations in the industry combine clinical expertise with high-quality hospitality and lifestyle services, Barney says.
“Nursing homes and long-term care haven’t been thought of in this way,” she says. But perhaps the attention provided by the pandemic “will be a way to bring this forward and to advocate for our industry and our employees.”
With a deep culture of service and visionary leadership, it’s no wonder that Trilogy Health Services has earned a spot on the third annual Best Workplaces for Aging Services list. Activated Insights, the senior care affiliate of Great Place to Work, just announced this year’s ranking in partnership with Fortune.
A 'Great Place to Work For All'
Over the past year, Great Place to Work and Activated Insights surveyed 189,159 employees across nearly all 50 states to measure the workplace experience in areas such as respect, fairness, and leadership competence. Our methodology also captures how consistent an organization’s culture is across demographic groups and job levels.
Addressing workplace culture within the aging services field is critical. The pandemic’s toll has exacerbated workforce shortages and employee turnover in the sector. At the same time, our research shows that better cultures translate into lower employee turnover, and studies in health care have shown that a more stable workforce leads to better care outcomes.
In this year of economic turmoil, a great workplace culture experienced by all also is better for business. Great Place to Work research following the Great Recession found that the most inclusive high-trust workplaces outperformed peers before, during and after the 2007-2009 downturn.
Elder care’s struggles
Getting mislabeled is a challenge elder care providers face. Even when a family has financial resources to pay privately, many people, including journalists, seem to sweep all of senior living into the largely government-funded facilities called “nursing homes.” Of course, it did not help that the elder care industry resorted to a set of confusing names to describe a wide array of services and housing options. In reality, many of these options look like lush apartment complexes with hotel-like amenities, where COVID-19 has been as well controlled as in multi-family apartment settings.
Elder care providers also face economic pressures from all sides. With a lack of information that distinctly shows which retirement home is better, families will often select an option based on price. Meanwhile, with downward spiraling of government budgets and the public demanding more controls, the nursing home side of the industry has been collapsing for decades. Given that staff pay comprises two-thirds of an operating budget for most homes, these pricing pressures have compressed pay and workplace investments, further increasing employee turnover. In 2019, employee turnover in seniors housing and care averaged a whopping 65% per year. In 2020, the average has increased.
Contrast these industry norms with a culture that invests in its people. By putting its employees first, Trilogy has nearly 50 percent lower employee turnover than the industry average.
Sticking to its people-first approach has required some business heroics. This year, in spite of falling revenues and profits, Trilogy spent millions of dollars delivering wage increases to direct-care staff. In addition, the company provided more than 2,000 employees with Walmart gift cards to pay for food, and staff with children whose schools shut down in the spring received childcare assistance.
Trilogy also doubled down on its investment to upskill and educate those who want to advance. These dollars not only improve Trilogy’s customer service and clinical care, but also help its people overcome economic and racial disadvantages. Nearly half of Trilogy employees are furthering their skills through a structured apprenticeship program which can result in a certification and more pay every few months. And, one in fifteen employees are studying for a free online college degree despite it being the first full year of partnership between Trilogy and Purdue Global, a program of Purdue University. Given the digital divide born from racial and economic inequities, Trilogy worked to get laptops, internet access, and other resources to employees who did not have them to study.
COVID strikes
When the COVID pandemic hit the United States in force in March, Trilogy leaders tried to keep their 9,000 residents and 12,000 employees safe. Barney organized daily meetings with staffers to create new safety procedures, gather personal protective equipment and share the latest information. For a few weeks, Trilogy avoided serious trouble. But the company and its people did not emerge unscathed from what experts in elder care have described as “the perfect killing machine.”
In late March, a Trilogy facility in Indiana had an outbreak. Numerous residents experience respiratory difficulties.
“They’d come from the hospital, and there was no testing at the time,” Barney recalls. Trilogy at that point was dependent on local health department testing. Results required waits of several days.
“For a week period of time I remember being on telephone at office, at home, outside on patio—talking constantly,” Barney says.
Unfortunately, several residents died. In the course of the year, across Trilogy’s entire operations, three employees also died of COVID.
Although Barney believes the company did all it could at the time to prevent COVID-related casualties, Trilogy nonetheless aimed to learn from the tragedies.
It beefed up safety procedures, including creating its own weekly testing system for residents and employees. Trilogy’s charitable foundation supported the families of the victims. And the company launched a chaplain service to supplement the counseling available through its Employee Assistance Program.
Although Trilogy and its people have been buffeted by 2020, the company and its culture are proving to be resilient. Employee scores on the Great Place to Work Trust Index survey have dipped just 3 percentage points from 2019, with 80 percent of Trilogy staffers calling the company a great place to work. Similar skilled nursing facilities have seen their employee Trust Index scores fall more than 7 percentage points.
The opportunity ahead
In fact, with the U.S. population aging at unprecedented rates, Trilogy’s leaders believe that dark times in 2020 have pointed to two bright opportunities ahead.
One involves the relative status of the elder care industry. “For a long time, we’ve been the stepchild of health care,” Barney says. “With the spotlight on aging services during the pandemic, we’ve shown how central our services are.” She goes on to note that that elder care has arrived “at the forefront in people’s minds and has found a natural stage.”
In other words, the opportunity now exists to transform the narrative of aging services from clinical backwater to pioneer showing the way to blend customer service and hospitality with health care, starting with service to our elders. In this way, the industry and leading workplaces in aging services can overcome the trials of this year and continue to blossom as businesses.
Trilogy’s Chief Human Resources Officer Priscila Mattingly takes it a step further. She highlights the opportunity of attracting more and better talent to the workforce. “One of the best things about COVID and the challenges of this year is that if you care to make an impact, you can see that you can make as big an impact here in senior living as you can in pediatrics.”
These opportunities require work on the part of industry leaders. At Trilogy, the work of leaders includes investing in employees’ growth and continuing the “rounding” that has long kept executives close to what’s happening at the front lines.
This holiday season, Barney will be out at Trilogy facilities. Physically distancing and wearing a mask but still connecting with residents and employees.
One of her favorite stories is a visit during a prior December to Trilogy’s Wellbrooke of Carmel campus in central Indiana. She chatted with a company chef, pointing to the four stars on the chef’s coat. The stars signified that the employee had completed all four chef apprenticeship courses, elevating her cooking skills and enabling her to earn a $3,000 annual wage increase.
The chef responded that she had four children, and this was the first holiday season where she did not have to worry about paying for Christmas.
“This is what we strive for,” Barney says, “to let our employees know that we care about you, we invest in you, and we want to make your life better.”
Dr. Jacquelyn Kung is CEO of Activated Insights, an elder tech company and Great Place to Work affiliate. Ed Frauenheim is senior director of content at Great Place to Work and co-author of A Great Place to Work For All.
