// BLOG
A true leader
September 3, 2010
Cathy is my kind of administrator.
She’s energetic. And on Friday’s, she’s in the dining room at Town and Country Nursing Home (Missouri) serving dinner to residents.
I love that she does that. It shows the depth of her caring.
When I arrived at her community I spent some time in her office, learning the issues that were preventing higher customer satisfaction ratings. Basically, it was a conversation about why she had brought me in to present my Kind Dining training.
She was discouraged that her staff wasn’t performing better.
When I asked whether she would be attending my training, she gave me a funny look.
“If I am sitting there, I’m not sure anyone’s going to speak up and be honest,” she said.
I understood where she was coming from, but I disagreed.
“The reason you should be there is so that you can hear what’s going on when they do speak up. And they will,” I assured her.
My mission is to help servers be smarter about their jobs and to find solutions to their communication problems. It takes cooperative teamwork to deliver top-notch service.
I know Cathy was glad she came to each training session and saw what it was all about. She heard from employees, found out where the lines of communication were broken, and discovered things about serving food that she didn’t know.
Kind Dining training isn’t simply a talk. It’s full of hands-on practice, interactive group discussion and thinking about how to apply it.
Afterward, Cathy told me she was ready to make changes.
“There’s things we can do right away,” she said. “We’re going to have a (staff) meeting next Wednesday to talk about what steps to take next.”
Town and Country Nursing Home is committed to improving its customer service through creating a better dining experience for residents.
I know Cathy is going to see improvement. She leads by example every Friday night.
N H administrator takes action
September 3, 2010
Every time I hear that Kind Dining training has helped make a
process run smoother, or been the impetus to solve a problem, I feel overjoyed.
There’s no doubt this training works, and the information in it has
the power to transform community staff to be more empathetic AND
competitive in this changing marketplace.
After I left Villa Crest, a Nursing and Retirement Center in Manchester, N.H., I heard from Sarah, a hands-on administrator who loves her work and leads by example.
Changes were being made quickly from the sounds of it. New checklists were implemented. Entirely new bussing procedures were put in place. Her housekeeping staff asked to participate more in dining service.
“It doesn’t always feel like we are making progress, but we really are!”
.
It’s difficult sometimes to make a switch from the status quo. But
unless we are willing to re-examine what we can do better on a daily basis, we can’t expect improvement.
Learning to identify barriers to improve service and then addressing them is at the core of Kind Dining.
The people at Villa Crest get it and I am proud to serve them.
Turtle helps break the ice
July 28, 2010
In New Hampshire, I met Turtle.
She is a teenage girl, who sat at the front table during my Kind Dining seminar. I asked each person to pause and think of one thing they could do to improve their performance and make the experience for their residents better.
That’s when Turtle raised her hand.
“I know I’m slow at serving and with some skills and help I want to improve. They don’t call me ‘Turtle’ for nothing.”
The room fell silent. Eyes widened. Turtle’s co-workers seemed floored that she was aware of the same thing they all knew about her, and willing to admit it.
One of her co-workers spoke up next. “Some residents frustrate me so much I run into the kitchen and freak out!”
That was a Eureka moment! My workbook addresses the icebergs that are part of every work environment — those hidden emotions that lurk under the surface in all of us. To witness these two particular icebergs rise out of the water and begin to thaw was one of the most gratifying experiences of my entire trip to New Hampshire.
It’s those small admissions, and the beginning of communication, that can make a difference in dining service and bring higher quality care to residents. And that’s what I’m trying to do.
Thank you, Turtle.
Kind Dining goes coast to coast
June 26, 2010
Kind Dining is going coast to coast! Tomorrow I am flying to Manchester New Hampshire to teach a Kind Dining workshop and train 2 National HealthCare Corporation (NHC) partners to teach the program to their own serving staff! I love this work! Especially to experience the willingness of servers to grow in their jobs when training is fun and applicable! Kind Dining teaches servers to deliver person centered hospitality!
What up in Spain, Oregon, New Hampshire?
May 27, 2010
Thank you for reading my Blog. I have been transforming myself over this last year in order to grow my business and reach out to a broader market via my website, my LinkIn profile and my current customers! I spend a lot of energy challenging the teenagers and adults I train through Kind Dining, to grow as people, become Smart Learners, and commit to making a difference in the lives of the elderly diners they serve.
I share that learning new skills which help us become closer to the people we love, the people we work with, and the broader community we live in, is what ultimately energizes us to be genuine in our relationships and who we are.
I am heading on a 10 day vacation. I look forward to relaxing in the sun, eating great food, and roaming through beautiful coastline. The best news is that 4 days after I return, I will be teaching another Kind Dining class in Portland and then heading to New Hampshire to teach my first class on the East Coast!!! Thank you for supporting service training. Stay tuned!
Module 1 Example Book
Here is an example of the Kind Dining Training Book.