The #4 Truth That You Cannot Ignore!

Truth #4 The Individual Resident of this Generation is Different

The younger Boomers are filling our communities today. A new ‘help-yourself cart’ on the side of the dining room will not satisfy their desires. Their refined palates want the variety of culture found in quality ethnic restaurants that their two-income households afforded them before retirement. They want espressos, lattes, and caramel macchiatos. Remember that they are the largest increase in population ever in our country and they are now moving into your dining room. Are you ready? Can you accommodate? Service must be as good as the food and the food needs to be the best. Today’s residents expect it and are willing to pay for it.

Kind Dining © training and sensitivity is more important than ever and will overflow into all the other areas of your community. Courtesy, graciousness, and well-timed meals, served from friendly staff, are key factors. These residents are active, social, adventurous, sharp of mind, and world educated. The community needs to step up to offer them the respect due and to fulfill their demands in everyday living. They know what healthy eating is and recognize fresh foods direct from the farm that grew it.

Residents in today’s communities are very different than the residents of ten years ago. Times have changed drastically and the government is forcing the change to be accommodated.  When you understand the change, the government’s guidelines will easily become clear to you.  As a people, we are aware of the different cultures that now gather in our communities and seek higher standards of service to savor it. Culture change is here. The Greatest Generation resident is nearly gone from the community today. It’s time for your best effort to shine.

About Cindy Heilman

Cindy is the founder and owner of Kind Dining®, which she began in 2006. She’s traveled across the country and Canada working with and training senior living communities that want to create an exceptional dining experience for their residents and staff. In addition, she certifies select professionals in her Kind Dining® philosophy and provides tools, now in an eLearning format, that make learning stick and help people put insights into action. As a result of her work, clients often share their staff has a new sense of purpose, get along better and keep their focus and energy on what matters most. In fact, she wrote a book, Hospitality for Boomers on how to attract residents and keep good team members. In her free time, she enjoys walking Oregon trails and cheering on her favorite soccer teams, the Portland Thorns and Timbers.

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