Garden Terrace applies lessons from Disney

Home aiming to enhance pride

July 30, 2010 -- Michelle Strutzenberger

A presentation on the principles behind the Walt Disney Co. success has inspired Garden Terrace administrator Carolyn Della Foresta to take action at the Kanata long-term care home.

The 2010 Ontario Long Term Care Association (OLTCA) convention in April included presentations by the Disney Institute on its best practices in motivating and managing staff and working with customers.

Della Foresta says she walked away with a few key messages which have led to a new practice at the home.

One of the messages emphasized the importance of staff having a vision of themselves as crucial players in the organization as a whole.

When staff members focus on their specific tasks, as well as the big-picture purpose of the organization and how they can help realize that purpose — even if means stepping outside their allotted roles — they will be more inspired and inspiring to others, and the result will be a much more attractive environment.

The presenter also noted that an organization can have a culture by design or by default; either way, there will be a culture.

And a principle that has long had an impact at the Disney parks was also highlighted: If you keep the place clean, they will respect it; if you don't, they will make it worse.

Taking these messages together, Della Foresta asked her management team if they would be willing to work in pairs with each pair responsible for keeping one floor of the five-floor building clean.

"Everyone was very positive. I could see this instant ownership," she says.

For about a month now, the managers having been taking a weekly walkabout through their designated floor, picking up dead leaves, straightening furniture and throwing out old newspapers.

Della Foresta has drafted a simple quality improvement sheet indicating the areas to check and spots to tidy. Some tasks have to be handed back to the housekeeping staff but many of the managers do it themselves.

The administrator says the ultimate vision is that as staff members see their management team leading the way, they will be inspired to think about the big picture and how they can help keep the home a place of pride.

Already, front-line staff members have mentioned they're happy to see others pitching in to take care of the home.

An added benefit is that managers are getting to know the residents on their floors at a deeper level. Della Foresta notes that as she straightens up a sitting room, for instance, she chats with the residents around her.

The administrator says this new practice is about "letting everybody know that every job is important. We all have our very specific roles that we're responsible for but at the same time they do kind of blend into the next one."

For instance, if laundry services or the dining room needs help, no one is above lending a hand.

"To me, that is the culture of being supportive of one another, of being creative in our ideas of how we're going to get the job done, and then it all ties in to OMNI's mission, vision and values — that we demonstrate what's possible together," she says.

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