What Senior Care Managers Can Learn from an Andy Grammer Concert
The content in this article was taken from a 2022 presentation by Pinnacle CEO Chris Magleby at the 2022 Skilled Nursing News November Staffing Summit. You can watch the full presentation here.
Inspiration can come from the most unlikely of sources at the most unlikely of times. For Pinnacle Quality Insight CEO Chris Magleby, it came while attending a concert. Following is his account of what happened at the show and how it related to the way managers view their senior care employees.
Chris Magleby from the 2022 Skilled Nursing News November Staffing Summit:
“I want to tell you a little story. I was at an Andy Grammer concert earlier this summer. I’m in Salt Lake City, Utah, and there is a children’s hospital here called Primary Children’s Hospital. During the show, he brought up some of the palliative care team at Primary Children’s Hospital and sang to them on stage.
He had been visiting with some of the kids the night before he performed. The parents of one of the kids there were talking to him and said, “You don’t understand how these people are. Every night we have to leave our sick children here in the care of others. This is very difficult for us and these people that care for our children, they’re actual angels.”
Andy Grammer sings to palliative care workers from Primary Children’s Hospital in Utah. Photo courtesy Chris Magleby.
That phrase got me thinking a little bit. It got me thinking about the people who choose to be in this profession, who choose to be in healthcare, why they do it, and the roles that they’re filling.
I would challenge you to think about the way you view your staff members and change it a little bit. To your residents and their family members, your staff members are actual angels who are taking care of their loved ones when they can’t do it themselves.
“To your residents and their family members, your staff members are actual angels who are taking care of their loved ones when they can’t do it themselves.”
If you take a second and you talk to your staff members, try to understand their “why.” Why they’ve chosen this profession, why they’ve chosen this career. You’re going to find out some interesting stuff.
There’s a calling to this profession. There’s a reason that we’re in this line of work—because we care about others and we want to try to take care of others. When we care for others and help others, it’s fulfilling to us. That’s very important because it can change our outlook on how we treat our employees, and how we’re taking care of them.
One way we can do this is to develop a mindset that they are actual angels taking care of our loved ones when we can’t.
The other thing that we can do is understand that this is not all about money. Along with with the workforce shortage and turnover over the last two years, we’ve seen big inflation numbers. We’ve seen wages going up. There’s competition for employment. You have to remember that these people in health care might get offered more pay somewhere else, and they might be tempted to take that if they’re not feeling fulfilled in their job.
If you can help them feel fulfilled, understand the purpose of caring for others and getting a fulfillment that goes beyond money, that’s going to increase job pride and be a helpful resource to you. Maybe resource isn’t the right word. An asset to you is that the people in this field are doing it for a reason beyond just the money.
Money is important. We need money to survive. They’re going to need to get paid.
If they get a big job offer that includes a lot more money, some of them are going to take it. Most of them are. But if we’re talking about a smaller pay increase, and the job you’re offering is more fulfilling, that’s going to outweigh these financial factors sometimes.
“If we’re talking about a smaller pay increase, and the job you’re offering is more fulfilling, that’s going to outweigh the financial factors sometimes.”
So I encourage you to keep in mind the attitude we want to take towards our employees. Lift them up, thank them, encourage them. In other words, treat them as the angels they are. Doing so translates to employee continuity and fulfillment. And their continuity and fulfillment translate into better care for your residents and higher satisfaction among the residents and their family members.”