Rolling out the red carpet.

The Red Carpet[SM] Program for residents and employees at the Ideal Senior Living Center (ISLC), a multilevel continuing care campus in Endicott, New York, has shown a remarkable level of success. Since its implementation in 2001, the program has helped to turn around sagging satisfaction survey numbers, has reduced staff turnover, and has garnered a host of honors and awards--including a 2003 Press Ganey Success Stories Award for commitment to performance and customer satisfaction, the first time a nursing home has received this recognition from the firm, noted for its customer satisfaction surveys. And to think that it all began with a salad.

"It started while I was on vacation in Florida in 2001, and I was eating in a restaurant," explains Maria Motsavage, president and CEO of ISLC. "I'm a very picky eater--one of those people who wants all of these different things done just so. A waiter came to take my salad order and I asked for just lettuce; no dressing, tomatoes, or onions; and lots of mozzarella cheese and croutons. Traditionally, I'll get responses ranging from, 'We don't have any mozzarella cheese' to 'You have to pay extra for that' to 'The salads are already made up, so I can't do that.' But this waiter, without a moment's hesitation, said, 'When you're a guest in my house, you can have anything you want.' He just blew me away. I came back from my vacation and told my staff that this is exactly the sort of attitude we need. We need to make our people feel special. They need to feel the way I felt when I got such great treatment in this restaurant. That turned into the Red Carpet Program."

The Red Carpet Program is designed to make both residents and employees feel that ISLC is "rolling out the red carpet" for them. "We had struggled with customer satisfaction for a few years and started to measure it with a standardized national survey back in 1998," explains Motsavage. "The results were disappointing--we were below the mean. For a couple of years, we struggled with our employee turnover. We researched a lot of different customer service programs, and finally sat down with our team and asked, 'What can we do to make people feel like they are getting red carpet treatment, like the best hotel in town?'" The ISLC team brainstormed and came up with two separate plans of action. One begins the minute a resident walks in the door, and an entirely different plan of action begins the minute a job applicant walks through the door. Collectively, these plans comprise the Red Carpet Program.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

For example, on the resident side, ISLC started with simple touches, according to Motsavage: "We put red carpets at every entrance, of course! We bought brass luggage racks to help with move-ins instead of the old maintenance dollies we had been using. We make sure there is always someone to greet residents as they move in, take them to their destination, introduce them to staff--make it a really warm welcome rather than making it seem like they are being admitted to an institution. Each new resident receives a little teddy bear that says, 'Welcome Home to Ideal.' Within 24 hours, new residents get a lot of personal visits from key members of management and staff to let them know that they are available to them, how to reach them, etc."

Just as the Red Carpet experience begins for residents immediately upon their arrival at ISLC, so it begins for potential staff members. "We refinished the whole application area to make it much more friendly and welcoming," explains Motsavage. "Applicants don't just come in and fill out an application--they are always greeted by someone on staff and screened right on the spot if possible. If their initial screening is positive, they are called quickly, and interviews are done that day if possible. We make sure that when candidates leave, they know exactly when they will hear from us, whether it is to hire them or not. Once hired, the new employee receives a personal note from me within 24 hours, as well as a note from his or her supervisor within 48 hours, welcoming him or her to the Ideal team and saying we can't wait to have him or her on board. The supervisor follows up with routine phone calls right up until an employee's start date."

The process continues through orientation: "We have an interdisciplinary orientation process. All managers participate in different parts of it. I have lunch with all new employees that day to share our culture and our expectations, and to try to get to know them a little bit better. After the first month and every year thereafter, they are invited out to breakfast or lunch with me at a restaurant. Once a month I have coffee and danish in the lobby for each shift. There is much more communication in general now."

Occasionally this new attitude has resulted in some "tough love" from management, but it has all been for the greater good. "We really demanded different standards of behavior from our staff, and made them accountable," says Motsavage. "We wrote a handbook that we give to job applicants, which details the expected behavior for employees. If they have a bad attitude or don't agree with our expectations, we suggest they reconsider continuing the interview process. And we do hold them accountable to our standards. During the last two years, we've terminated people who don't want to behave that way."

But termination has been the exception rather than the rule. "What we heard from the positive, hard workers on staff was 'It's about time,'" says Motsavage. "They're tired of the bad attitudes and having to cover for those coworkers who don't do things properly. We've always given permission to managers to counsel and discipline employees, but this handbook gives managers a little more authority. We now have something in writing that explains the sort of personal attitude we want in our employees, and everyone seems happy with that."

Managers haven't escaped responsibility under the Red Carpet system either. "Managers are required to round at least two hours a week with both residents and employees," explains Motsavage. "Not just to walk through the halls and be visible, but to really talk about problems or concerns that might have come up and get involved. We want management to really talk to employees to ensure things are going well, and to find out if there are things we can do to make their jobs easier or better."

ISLC has also implemented a Red Carpet Award for staff, which is given out twice a year. Frontline staff members can nominate coworkers or supervisors can nominate frontline staff members who exemplify the philosophies and values of the Red Carpet Program. The award is very prestigious for the winning staffers, and it helps to make all staff feel more connected to ISLC and each other. "We've had fun with it," says Motsavage. "We even wrote a 'Red Carpet Rap' [see sidebar] and performed it a few times."

This healthy attitude toward staff, residents, and organizational culture change has paid off handsomely. Employee turnover has gone from 54% in 2000 to 25% today, while resident satisfaction numbers have skyrocketed--from as low as 14% in 2002 to as high as 96% in July 2003--and employee satisfaction scores are now better than the national average. "We're not just filling vacancies with warm bodies," says Motsavage. "In a nutshell, that's what has made the program successful. It is just incredible, and all it has taken is a focused, dedicated effort."

RED CARPET RAP

Welcome to Ideal
Have an Ideal Day.
We are here to serve you
In each and every way.
The carpet is red
We roll it out for you.
Your comfort is first here
In everything we do.

At Ideal ...

How can we help you?
Is there anything you need?
Let me get the door for you
We'll do a good deed.
Our dinner fare is elegant
Two entrees, wine and cheese.
The servers treat you with respect
May I, thank you, please.

At Ideal ...

Any help you need from us
We're at your beck and call.
The bus is set on Tuesdays
To take you to the mall.
The Fitness Center's free for you
"Stay fit for life," we say.
Weights and massage
Offered every day.

At Ideal ...

If there's anything you need from us
We always have the time
To stop and listen
That's what makes us shine.
Things may not be perfect here
We try to make it right.
Good morning--have an Ideal day
And later on--good night.

At Ideal ...

So if respect is what you seek
For service and for care
Ideal is the place to be
Red carpets everywhere.

At Ideal ... Ideal

For more information on the Red Carpet Program, contact Ideal Senior Living Center at [phone], or visit www.uhs.net/aboutus/islc. To comment on this article, please send e-mail to hutlock0504@nursinghomes magazine.com.

BY TODD HUTLOCK, ASSISTANT EDITOR

A collaboration of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and Nursing Homes/Long Term Care Management Not-for-Profit Report, appearing in every issue of Nursing Homes magazine, addresses issues of particular interest to long-term care's not-for-profit sector. It provides nonprofit aging service providers with an additional information resource. Topics have been identified in collaboration with the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. Nursing Homes welcomes comments and suggestions for future coverage.