A few weeks ago, we had some people in from corporate to tour our facility. These people handle social media type things for the company, so they needed to familiarize themselves with Heritage Greens. Makes sense to me! I happened to be helping out in the dining room that day for lunch because they were short staffed and I enjoy being in there. Somehow, I ended up taking care of our corporate guests and several of our managers who were all in the private dining room for lunch. I feel like I held my own pretty well and gave them the best service possible. I know how important it is to make a good impression on first time visitors. Everyone seemed pleased and I went about my day. A little while later, one of them was walking past the front desk and I got an almost double take from him because now I was sitting and answering the phones.
I get asked a lot at work what exactly it is that I do. That's a tough question. Technically, right now, I'm a CSR...a customer service representative. But when I stop to think about it, I do so much more. I take care of the long term care insurance claims for many of our residents. I take care of the elevator signs that let people know what's going on and keep them entertained while riding. I do the housekeeping spreadsheets so that residents and housekeepers know who gets cleaned on what dates. I run food in the dining room to tables of residents awaiting their meal when the dining room is short staffed. Basically...I AM Heritage Greens.
I am Heritage Greens because I care. Now, I am not the only associate who cares. And I am not the only associate who defines what being Heritage Greens truly is. There are lots of us. Not all of us, but more than less and that's a good feeling. There's a good connection between those of us that know we do what we have to do to ensure that our residents' daily lives do not skip a beat. The borders of our different departments are blurred for these associates. When you walk into one of our buildings and you see a CNA pouring drinks in the dining room...that's Heritage Greens. Or you see a Customer Service Rep handing out prizes during bingo....that's Heritage Greens. Or you see a housekeeper showing a resident where the activities rooms are....that's Heritage Greens. We are with our residents through the ups and downs. We laugh with them in their joys and cry with them in their sorrows. We know their families on a first name basis. Our love for our residents goes way beyond the walls of the buildings.
It's a good feeling to be able to go to work and know that most people will have my back. And to know that they can rest assured of the same from me. With all of the frustrations that came come from working in senior living, at the end of the day we can proudly say that we did our best possible job because we love what we do. Despite the headaches, despite the egos, despite the pandemic.....we simply love what we do. I can hold my head up high and say that I am Heritage Greens because I know that I am not alone in that feeling. And that's a good thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment