Does your food serving team care about your residents?

A friend of mine who lives alone and enjoys her own company often dines out on her own. She says, shamelessly, that she eavesdrops on other conversations going on around her. People carelessly reveal quite a bit over a lunch or dinner table. 

Recently she heard a woman in a blue flowered dress say, “I am so glad we placed Mother in the retirement community in the next town over! I was so worried that she might think I was pushing her just to make it more convenient for me. It turns out to be the best possible decision we’ve ever made! She no longer has to be weighed down by that big, old, farmhouse that took all her energy. Now she made lots of new friends, socializes, joins in on all the activities, and wonders why she didn’t do this after Dad died 8 years ago. She loves her modern, cheerful, little apartment that is a breeze to live in. It’s such a relief!”

Her friend in a gray business suit wasn’t about to let her off that easy. She flatly stated, “That all sounds nice but what about the food. Those places are notorious for serving bland food that isn’t worth putting into your mouth.”

“Quite the opposite,” the woman replied. “Mother was raving about the food. That surprised me since she is such a good cook herself. So we intentionally joined her for dinner to make sure she wasn’t just trying to make us feel better. Not only did the food taste great but there were varied selections on the menu and the dining room was charming!  The server behaved like family. She called Mother by name and took the time to be introduced to us. It was like dining out in a 5-star restaurant. They also have a bistro and a take-out stand.”

My friend knew I would want to hear any conversation about senior living communities and especially about the food and service. It pleases me to hear good training is being received. 

Kind Dining♥ training courses are now offered in 9 modules divided into 3 sections of 3 modules each.  The experience of dining in any senior living community is the company’s most valuable asset. Your food serving team can learn the skills needed, attitude changes from negative to positive, and build relationships within the community. Your employees caring about the residents receiving quality healthcare, complemented by quality hospitality are goals that can be reached with training sessions and practice. Knowledge is empowerment and creates the leadership you want in your employees. Good training leads them to love what they do and where they do it! The community is proud.

B♥ Kind Tip:  Food servers are important to the company; how they serve meals MATTERS!

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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