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Retire Air – Ready for Take-off

Retire Air ready for boarding 

We recently came across an enlightening story amongst all the crazy Covid times that we believe will delight found on Retire Australia’s website.  Here is an excerpt from the story.

Glengowrie Retirement Village residents have their boarding passes ready to take in a taste of Cairo, Auckland and Athens.

No, they haven’t found a loophole in Australia’s border closures, instead Village Manager, Debbie Dean, created an around the world trip through a little bit of imagination and a lot of cardboard and crepe paper.

The Flight for Fun event transformed the village’s community centre into a boarding lounge, complete with a ‘Retire Air’ plane, offering all the perks of travel, including complimentary champagne, hot towel service and duty free.

On booking their trip, residents receive a very detailed travel pack, including a passport, travel itinerary, boarding passes, and immigration forms.

“The residents think I’m a bit crazy – but everyone has a lot of fun,” Debbie said. “These events are important to lift everyone’s spirits.”

On arrival at the community centre, residents produced their special passports and boarding passes to make it onto Retire Air.

Onboard everyone received first class treatment and experienced all the usual flight features.

I am sure there are many fantastic resident activities that have been done through Covid to keep your residents engaged and enjoying our fantastic communities.

To read more on this story click on the link.

https://thedcminstitute.com.au/industry-news
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Reporting Results Things to watch Village Operator

Building trust with the new customer remains key

As reported in our sister publication SATURDAY, last weekend, the pandemic and isolation has seen a buoyant sales market for many operators however the focus needs to remain on the customer relationship.

We are seeing new village customer’s as being older, now 76 to 80, compared to 10 years ago when 73 was the average age.  This means a shorter time in the village and more frequent rollovers, with the integrated model of care becoming more increasingly a game changer.

Today’s customer is wanting more, so therefore with 65% of Australian villages older than 25 years, the pool of potential customers open to older stock is shrinking.  Insert Community Apartment Projects (CAPS) and Land Lease villages who are targeting the younger over 55 population.

Village operators are continually having to lift their game in extra services and facilities to attract residents.  Christopher Rooke, Partner and Managing Partner of One Fell Swoop comments “People are cashed up and spending more wisely, with much higher expectations around the built form and lifestyle experience”.

https://thedcminstitute.com.au/industry-news

First Impressions are Everything

These higher prices and demand for quality product are growing higher expectations of the customer.  They are demanding a more authentic and open communication approach, therefore educating prospects, throughout the sales process and right through to making their chosen village their new home is essential.

The article continues to explore how one operator in particular Village Glen founded by Chas Jacobsen and managed by Peter Nilsson, Chief Operating Officer explains the buyer journey can take years and therefore building a long-term relationship with the new customer is key.

Peter also says “In my view the brand is the village manager and the village staff, because they are the ones who can make a difference to the resident’s life. So for that reason we have the management team involved in the sales process.” 

As you all know in building these long-term relationships, you are building trust and by the time they move in feel part of the family.

To read the full article please click here. 

https://thedcminstitute.com.au/industry-news
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Facility Manager

Trevor Beattie: Resident Happiness is my job satisfaction

In my time in the sector, I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet and cross paths with so many wonderful industry stalwarts, that continue to inspire my passion for the sector.  Trevor Beattie, Senior Village Manager, Lendlease is just one of them who’s path I am grateful to have crossed.

This week I had the great opportunity to spend some time with Trevor as he celebrated the commencement of his 23rd year as a Village Manager.

Prior to becoming a Village Manager, Trevor was a Sargent in the Victorian Police Force for some 19 years, working in the Video Operations Unit where he was part of the Hoddle Street investigations and other Homicide Scenes.  He finished his career in VicPol at the mounted police, so I asked him what made him think to be a Village Manager?

Trevor’s Journey with LendLease

He shared that he realised when his kids hit school age, he wanted to be present. By chance he had developed a great friendship with the Village Manager, Brian Robinson, at Pepper Tree Hill village where his mother-in-law lived.Brian suggested he give it a go.

So that he did. In 1998 Trevor started with Retirement by Design as Village Manager at Forrest Hill. He went onto manage Fiddlers Green Village and has now been the Village Manager at Waterford Park Village since 2012.  Trevor said, since the early days of Retirement by Design, he has been part of Lendlease Retirement Living as they’ve grown to be one of the largest, and arguably one of the best, village operators in Australia.

The new landscape

I asked Trevor what he thought had changed for Village Managers since 1998 he shared “as technology has improved out of sight and safety & risk are understandably a much higher priority, we do spend more time at our desks these days. The media’s role has evolved too, it seems to have a larger influence on resident opinion and the communities view of villages”.

Trevor also shared that resident knowledge and expectations have changed with residents being made more aware of their rights and their entitlements. They ask a lot more in-depth questions, and don’t hesitate to seek further information or get advice to ensure they are well informed.

Trevor has seen the industry move from broad acre villages to high-rise, the introduction of important industry frameworks like Accreditation, and witness to the retirement of many industry characters and contributors that were key to his own learnings.

It is obvious his dedication to community and the residents is paramount when I asked him what keeps his enthusiasm for his role it was simply “to make a difference in others’ lives”. 

He went onto share he thinks he is “addicted to the happiness that evolves from the resident community”. “It’s the fun times I look forward to – the functions with Elvis impersonators, singing, line dancing and the good old fashion fun we have as a community”.  There is also the annual Commemorative Anzac Day Service which the residents cherish being a part of.

https://thedcminstitute.com.au/industry-news

Trevor shared how his family have been on this journey with him from the age of 6 his children have joined in community events. For the past 3 years his son an ex-serviceman has participated in the Anzac service at the village.

https://thedcminstitute.com.au/industry-news

Trevor’s Advice for the future Village Managers

He went on to share that he also believes it is important to be an active participant of the industry.  Whether it is by:

  • Attending industry events
     
  • Maintaining a strong peer network to remind you of where you’ve come from, reminisce with and to be inspired by
     
  • Becoming an accreditation surveyor
     
  • Keeping abreast of industry activity or having the opportunity to mentor others

All of the above has been important to stay engaged with the wider industry.

I had to ask him if he had any advice for new village managers….

  • Acknowledge the experience of residents – if I have 255 residents at an average age of 84yrs old that is 21,420 years of experience I can tap into!
     
  • You can keep some of the people happy some of the time but not all of the people happy all of the time! And that is OK.

In our wrap up I jokingly asked Trevor, or Fossil as he is warmly known by his team, would you ever live in a village (I know I would)

And with the biggest smile he said, “well, Jodie, I will be. Pam & I have just put a deposit on a beautiful new home to be built at St Johns Rise by Benetas, just 20 minutes from the village”.

And with that I knew instantly why Trevor & I had bonded so quickly!

Our true joint love & belief in the benefits of community and long-term passion for the industry!

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Key things to help you everyday Things to watch Village Operator

Getting consultation right is vital in building happy communities

Consultation is something most of the Retirement Village Acts around the country refer to as being a useful practice to achieve change.   

However, in my experience the consultation process can be an area of misunderstanding and even result in disputes between operators and residents.    

In a recent newsletter put out by Office of Ageing Well – SA they shared some great considerations around consultation, included below. 

“Consultation in its most basic meaning is the act or process of formally discussing something. Discussion means the act or process of talking about something in order to exchange ideas”.  

It is worth noting consultation, as an act, does not have the same meaning as an announcement (a public statement of fact, occurrence or intention) nor is it a negotiation (a discussion aimed at reaching an agreement).

Keeping residents fully informed about what is happening in the village and providing opportunities for them to provide feedback and ask questions is vital to creating trust, preventing misunderstandings or disputes, and creating a harmonious community.

Why is Good Consultation Important in Villages?

Good consultation practices include three main areas:

  • Making residents aware of the matter that is being discussed
     
  • They are given a proper opportunity to express their views
     
  • That these views are taken into consideration when a decision is made

It is recommended that the matter which residents are being consulted about, is provided in writing prior to a discussion, so as to allow residents to consider and discuss the proposal with each other and family members.  

It can also be useful to follow up written consultation with individual/s and/or group meetings to allow residents to discuss options, ask questions or to clarify any issues which may be causing confusion. 

Office of Ageing Well also provided some great tips below, they suggest you do for improving consultation practices.  These are all ones I can fully endorse.   You may want to consider including these activities in your annual consultation plan to do several times a year.

Improve the level of resident satisfaction, by increasing the number of opportunities provided for residents to have their say 

  • Make consultation a habit 
     
  • Keep in touch with your residents on a regular basis   
     
  • Aim for dedicated Q&A sessions on a regular, planned basis  
     
  • Embrace positive and negative feedback—you will learn from it. Don’t ignore feedback or dodge complaints.  
     
  • Find out what aspects of life in the village are most important to the residents and then measure how well these are achieved
     
  • Consult before making changes and before any decision is finalised, otherwise it is not consultation, merely information provision
     
  • Very early on in my career in this sector I learnt the importance of regular, transparent, honest and two-way communication.  

I always tried to recognise the community is the residents’ home and therefore they should have the opportunity to input into how their community is being shaped.