by Diane Masson | Jun 14, 2015
UN-ENGAGED EMPLOYEES HAVE CRACKS THAT NEED REPAIR!
Is there a crack in your armor? Are you living on empty and have nothing left to give your family or job? Maybe you are a full-or part-time caregiver for an aging parent or a senior with dementia? Perhaps you are in a senior living sales slump?
You can’t help anyone else or be productive at work unless you take care of yourself first. Look for joy in the moments. You may be going through a dire time. Maybe your parent or one of your senior patients is dying. Perhaps your daughter or son has some kind of health or school trauma. Possibly you just learned that someone scheduled to move into your retirement community has changed his or her mind. It may have been the one you needed to hit your sales goal this month. Sigh…they are going to stay home and wait for a crisis. You start asking why over and over.
Don’t become jaded and harden yourself with a giant wall to protect your emotions. It’s mentally checking out and called un-engagement. Your family, senior prospective residents and coworkers can feel your wall.
If you work in senior living sales, we can’t help every senior. Only the ones who choose to plan ahead. Do you feel overwhelmed with what’s happening in your personal life? Is your lack of sales getting you down? Well it’s time to go find your rainbow. Are you wondering how to get started? Feed your mind with positive thoughts. Schedule time to heal yourself!
10 Recharging Tips:
- Go to a live concert, stand in your shower or drive down the road singing at the top of your lungs.
- Sit by the ocean and wiggle your toes in the sand.
- Fly down the road with the wind in your face on a bike or motorcycle.
- Hold a baby or play with small children.
- Take a Saturday to read a book.
- Hang out with your friends.
- Spend time in nature – amongst the trees, watching the river go by or gazing at a lake.
- Soak in a bubble bath surrounded by candles.
- Go to a sports game in person. Cheer on your favorite team.
- Build a fire and make s’mores!
Recharge today, so you can change your world one senior or family member at a time.
Let your family and job see your heart when you speak. They will be moved and feel your sincerity. Seniors can tell if you want what’s best for them. Suddenly seniors who were “not ready yet” become ready to move into your retirement community. Conviction in your voice can move a mountain.
Shake off the negative. Don’t focus on the junk. I created a spiritual foundation of faith that can sustain me when I have a tough day. You can too. We all have moments of weakness. Believe in your ability to change a senior’s or family member’s life today.
In every encounter with family or at work, we either give life or drain it.
Do you give life to those around you at work and at home? Are you so worn out from working that you have nothing left to give your family? It’s your choice to be a giver or taker to those around you. Have you taken time to recharge yourself recently?
Exciting news! Diane’s CCRC teams are breaking records and hitting aggressive occupancy goals this quarter. They all participate in a weekly book review led by Diane. The book review helps the teams stay on track, improve sales skills and build team camaraderie. They just completed learning the 12 keys in Senior Housing Marketing: How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full for senior living professionals. It was written by Diane Twohy Masson.
Credit to Gallop: Only 30.5% of employees are engaged at work.
Everyone of us knows at least one senior that needs to move now. Here is a resource to help you or them make an informed decision. Diane Twohy Masson’s new guide book for seniors, “Your Senior Housing Options,” is available on Amazon.com with a 5-star rating. It reveals a proactive approach to navigating the complex maze of senior housing options. It will help you understand the costs and consequences of planning ahead or waiting too long. Learn firsthand tips from someone who is currently advocating for two aging parents.
Among the thousands of seniors she and her teams have assisted in finding the right senior living community, the most difficult case has been helping her own parent. Masson spent two years exploring senior housing options with her mother before finding the ideal Continuing Care Retirement Community for her. After eight years in this independent living setting, she helped her mother transition into an assisted living community. Seven years later, even as a senior housing expert, Masson struggled with the decision to move her mother into a skilled nursing community.
More related articles by Diane can be found at Tips2Seniors.com or like Tips 2 Seniors on Facebook.
by Diane Masson | Oct 19, 2014
Potentially a senior can save significant money by hiring a companion recommended from church or their neighbor’s friend who has been out of work. It’s a win/win for everybody – right? Wrong! What is their recourse if this win/win situation starts going badly? There is no boss or company where they can voice concerns.
Last week, I attended the Care Revolution Conference in Anaheim, CA and met over 20 home care company owners and managers. One manager shared that the majority of her potential caregiver applicants do not pass the drug screening. I was shocked. Another home care owner shared that 40% of the remaining applicants don’t pass the criminal background check. Reputable agencies have a vetting process so a senior can have confidence about who is in their home providing care.
Home care owners shared with me that seniors who hire a caregiver “under the table,” become employers and are responsible for taxes and social security of their employee. Seniors should check with their accountant and consider the ramifications of paying quarterly taxes for an employee. Initially, it may sound like a bargain to pay a caregiver “under the table.” Seniors need to consider the long-term financial consequences and legalities. It seems crazy to me that a senior needing help would become an employer and have to pay quarterly taxes.
If a caregiver claims a work injury while working for a senior, costs can climb upwards to $300,000 after surgery, therapies and loss time from work. Some caregivers work for multiple companies, so one never really knows if the injury was from working for the senior or another employer.
Here’s a shout out to those reputable home care companies who provide great care to seniors! I had no idea how hard it was for you to find and hire quality caregivers.
This is an excerpt from my new guide book for seniors, “Selecting Senior Housing for Seniors in the Silver Tsunami.” It will be coming soon to Amazon.com. If you sign up for my weekly newsletter on the right side of this blog, you will be notified when my new book becomes available. Check out my new website: Tips2Seniors.com or please follow me on Facebook
Photo credit to Moretimeforyou.com
Diane Twohy Masson writes this weekly blog to support and engage with other senior housing professionals. Her first book is Senior Housing Marketing – How To Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full. Many sales teams and organizations have used the 12 keys contained in this book for their weekly book review.
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by Diane Masson | May 26, 2013
Every time she asked where we were going, I said to lunch.
Organizing a move of this magnitude is a pile of paperwork combined with a daughter’s worry of every possible outcome going wrong.
The long story short is it took my husband Chris and I, seven hours to move my mom with vascular dementia 1000 miles. Is it the best thing for her – yes! Did it almost kill me – yes! But there were blessings along the way including moments and memories of complete clarity that I will always treasure. I still see my mom in my minds eyes as her former mentally astute self, but now she can’t remember what she had for breakfast. Why I am moving my mom is shared in Part 1.
My Mom’s Moving Day
I had a 50/50 chance that she would be having a good day, when we arrived at her assisted living community for the move – it was a BAD day for her. She was anxious, hungry and wandering around for some attention. I talked to a caregiver and took her to breakfast in the dining room as my husband packed her suitcases. The goal was for her not to be stressed out about moving and we accomplished that goal.
Two days before the move, we had organized her entire room and decided what we were taking, what had to be shipped separately and what was going to goodwill. She never knew, because we took turns with her.
On the way back from breakfast, my mom sensed that something was up. When four people were outside her door, she asked why. They scattered and a caregiver gave the morning medications to her. While she was eating we had gathered all her medications, personal affects and created a special bag to handle incontinence on the way – which was my greatest worry.
She didn’t want to get in the car, but Chris and I coaxed her in. The drive to the SeaTac Airport was enjoyable for her. My friend Stephen was the driver and he was wonderful with my mom. The arrival at the airport with the hustle and bustle created immediate anxiety for her. She thought that she was seeing Chris and I off and wondered when she would see us again. Chris said, that she was coming with us. She said that she would not get on a plane. Oh boy…thank goodness for anti-anxiety medications.
Getting through security was crazy, my mom’s bag beeped because of liquid medications. So one of us had to be tested for bomb residue on our hands. We all got separated, bags were being retested for bombs and my mom was all-alone for 3 minutes. They ended up testing her for bomb residue – seriously!!?! Then we headed out to the gate.
I ran to get lunch, because I had promised my mom Ivar’s fish and chips. Every time she asked where we were going, I said to lunch. She would immediately calm down.
We were wheeling her onto the plane and just as they were transferring her to another wheel chair to take her down the aisle, she announced that she needed to use the restroom. I just wanted to get her on the plane, but we had to go back to the concourse and use the family restroom. There was – of course – a wait for it. We took care of my mom and I thought we would miss the plane, but a security breach had happened and we had to wait another 30 minutes to board. All our bags, my mom’s medications and the lunch were on the plane.
When we finally got on the plane and I said we were having lunch. My mom said her first funny, “Are you just saying we are having lunch or are we really having lunch?” I laughed and pulled out the fish and chips. We really had a great time on the plane, she knew she was on a plane and said she was having fun. I brought family pictures for her to look at and a stuffed bear to hold.
My mom slowly processed the move on the plane. She was excited about going to California and remembered being born there and going to college at UCLA. She was happy, calm and smiling…
My mom was fantastic and the incontinence was not an issue, even after we landed – whew… The Freedom Village driver picked us up and we took her to her new home at the Freedom Village Healthcare Center. In a week or two, I will describe the transition…
Please comment to join the conversation and interact with other senior living professionals on what is currently being effective to increase occupancy on a nationwide basis.
Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available for sale at Amazon.com. Masson’s book will be required reading at George Mason University in the Fall as part of the marketing curriculum. She is currently consulting with Seniors For Living and two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California. Connection and partnership opportunities: Email: diane@marketing2seniors.net
