My dad was happy, the cook Hannah was happy, the other carers, the other residents, my family seeing this on Facebook (it’s the only way at the moment), friends, acquaintances of the home…the wave of happiness spread exponentially!
It all started with one person choosing to listen to another, truly listening, with heart. They had empathy, and understood the potential magic moment and everlasting memory that they could help make happen. And they chose to do it.
I’m sure this isn’t written into the care plan, or the home’s policies, I’m sure there isn’t a column on a spreadsheet or a dashboard for this. I am sure that it cost a few more £’s than a basic Victoria sponge cake, and took more time, but the impact of this simple act of kindness is truly immeasurable, and completely invaluable.
From the carers to the cook to the home manager, these people are all aligned and working with true purpose. Hannah the cook was able to make this moment happen – that speaks volumes for her character, but also her employer. This should be captured somewhere! Everyone felt the feels, along with the happy end-user (my dad in this instance), but can we effectively capture feels, work out strategies, implement plans, request budget? I think we can.
Employee experience is so important for me, and with my research and marketing skills I hope that one day I can work towards helping get employee experience on the dashboard. For Ashworth Grange, the metric on the CQC (Care Quality Commission) dashboard would be a huge stack of lovehearts, as is evident on Facebook.
My dad dad lives in a care home because he has behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (BvFTD).
Stripes & Trees 