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Comment on Beneath The Veil of Holiday Retirement Corp/Fortress Part 2

JR — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:57:06 GMT

I have talked to several of the old markerters (fired) Not one of them felt cookie drops were worth the time & trouble involved. I can tell you over the past 10 years,we have done our share of them & while we enjoyed meeting people,there were a lot of doors that we knocked on that they were home but would not come to the door. The policy is not to make appointments,too drop in on them,now they want one person to do these & I will not let my wife go alone! Who knows what you will run in to. From the other side, what smart woman will open the door to a stange man?
Most of the communities I have worked in have been in large cities. I do see more advertising today then in the past.

Comment on Beneath The Veil of Holiday Retirement Corp/Fortress Part 2

Concerned — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:37:14 GMT

Cookie Drops were a very successful tool of us. We started it several years ago after Bart Colson introduced the idea at a mini-convention in Orland. However, I must say we may have been successful because of the down to earth people in our town. Again every community is different and I can see where it might not work as well in a large city where people are generally more skeptical of strangers. We did have a problem when Fortress got involved and demanded more than was reasonable. The same with the number of DI calls. At some point you have to tell them what they want to hear and go on doing the best you can.

Comment on Beneath The Veil of Holiday Retirement Corp/Fortress Part 2

everydayisaholiday — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:21:18 GMT

Welcome Newbie!
You better not let anyone higher up hear your opinion about cookie drops! That is GRASSROOT MANAGEMENT, the basis to Holiday. That is the idea that is constantly thrown in your face as the proven method of getting residents to move in. My hubby and I agree wholeheartedly with you, but the powers that be will not listen.

Holiday spent a fortune last year to do photo shoots at the communities, but I haven't seen anything online with those photos. The photos were taken from certain angles and only in certain model rooms for the best look. I know in our community they made sure that the missing ceiling panels and the buckets catching the water from leaking pipes were not seen. They also made sure that the dining room photos were taken so that the huge cracks from "the building settling" could not be seen.

Your "luxury" apartment is usually 525 sq ft and does not include extra storage. Some buildings have a closet that you can store a couple of suitcases in. Other buildings do not.

As far as living in a cottage -- that kind of defeats the purpose of live in managers. The ecalls, phone calls, and buzzers are wired into the existing manager and comanager apartments. Also, residents can come and knock on your door at any hour since you live right around the corner from the office. For them to have to go outside to get you isn't feasible. Since the doors are locked nightly, you also have to be available to let people in after "curfew."

Your ideas are what most of us have said over and over, but that would mean spending money and that is not what Fortress is going to do with Holiday. Updated decor is not going to happen unless you are due for a re-core. And as the years move on, re-cores are moving further and further along. One building we were in still had all of the original furnishings from their opening of 16 years ago.

We also thought the idea of the "touch" was great and that was the selling point, but when you are told that you have to kick out a 99 year old and his wife because they can't pay the rent increase (they also had no relatives to help take care of them) that tells you everything you need to know about the new Holiday.

Good luck in your new job. I hate to say this, but you and your husband are going to have to change your way of thinking of Holiday used to be to thinking like Fortress.

Comment on Beneath The Veil of Holiday Retirement Corp/Fortress Part 2

Concerned — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:25:36 GMT

Newbie,My advice to you is visit as many communities as you can and have a very frank discussion with the managers. Just make sure they understand your status and not spies from home office. The sad part is when they finally get rid of the "older" managers the new ones will not know the difference. If you have not resigned from your old position I would hold off until you make these visits. I hate to say this because the residents need good managers, but I really do not believe it will make a lot of difference under the present management in Salem. Nearly all the good people have fled Salem or been fired as well as the RDs and many managers. Before Fortress this was a good company to work for. Good Luck.

Comment on Beneath The Veil of Holiday Retirement Corp/Fortress Part 2

Newbie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:36:38 GMT

I stumbled onto this blog and WOW! Now I'm scared, having just been hired as a future management team with my husband. I am due to go into a training program soon, under another manager, not in Salem, then work as a co-manager for 6 months somewhere and finally on to a management position at our permanent community. This is what we've been promised, but we do not even know what property or where we will end up yet, which is very scary.
We are experienced in this field and love working with seniors. My husband and I are kind, hardworking people who value our good employees and especially our residents, so hate to hear stories about mean micro-managers, making it hard for good, new managers to get the benefit of the doubt when they walk in the door. We understand what is involved. The "touch" philosophy was what sold my husband and I on the job offer, but now we have concerns, especially after reading nearly all of the above comments and looking at the properties in our state. The websites don't show many, if any, interior shots and of course I can't find info on occupancy figures. We definitely won't be happy to be forced into moving around a lot. We believe residents need the stability of a staff who stays and cares.
We are also concerned about our living conditions,especially after reading your comments, as our home is a very important sanctuary for us, and should be for all managers and on-site staff. Do all facilities have any extra storage, anybody know? It only seems to be mentioned online at a few properties in my area. Are managers ever allowed to negotiate for a cottage with full kitchen, or is this just a pipe dream?
As for their marketing strategy, I know from previous experience that the way they are doing it now doesn't work (taking cookies to people??? Really?) What does seem to work is investing $ in nationwide, innovative advertising in a variety of places that their target demographic and their families will see: Senior publications, apartment guides, better web site designs with lots of clear pictures of everything that is offered at each place, inside and out, even a few well placed tv ads, or ads at local movie theaters would be worth the investment in the long run. Beautifully updated decor & clean properties help immensely, along with your warm personality as you show it.
Do they understand that resident retention efforts help keep the ones you have happy, as well as incentive programs offered to your current residents for their referrals and offering something to the new move in, too, at least while occupancy is low is helpful. Raising rents during this economic time is suicide. These tactics combined are what helped us stay 99.99% occupied at our last property. Can anyone offer us hope? Answer my above concerns? Normal corp. procedures for: Housing? Assignments to properties? Marketing changes from corp possible?
Thanks and hope you all are well and happy now.

Comment on Beneath The Veil of Holiday Retirement Corp/Fortress Part 2

Ca girl — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:51:06 GMT

I agree. The disconnect btw. the field and Salem is real. They know not what we do,or how we do it.

The feel of your buiding can make or break a deal. If there is tension between staff or if residents are unhappy you can feel it as soon as you walk into the door. And who would want to live there. Many management teams are feeling the stress of the new GM's coming into the buildings and if they are going to be replaced. Salem approached this program with bad communication into the field. But, it's still all about the residents and doing what's best for them. Keep the building clean. (I had a woman on a tour run her fingers along the top of pictures in the hallway. My picture frames are clean and she commented this place is really clean. Thank You, to all housekeepers.) Keep your residents active and happy. You do all the marketing promotions and still do for your residents at the same time. Your chances for a move-in will be much better.

Mail-outs haven't worked for my community either. Newspaper ads do not seem to help either. Word of mouth is best here. We have a good rep. in the community we live in and if we can lend a hand anywhere we do it.

Comment on Beneath The Veil of Holiday Retirement Corp/Fortress Part 2

AnotherExManager — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:50:09 GMT

Well said,Concerned! I agree with the mass mailing mess. Our RD and RSL insisted on sending out 2000 mass mailings to a low income area. We pleaded with them not to waste time and money. We did not get ONE response back. By sending out the mailings the RD and RS can then tell us they are helping us to market without ANY effort on their part. We know our communities...Salem is clueless.

Comment on Beneath The Veil of Holiday Retirement Corp/Fortress Part 2

Concerned — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:34:48 GMT

At the risk of sounding like a know it all I will identify for Salem what I believe is their biggest problem and even if they agree it is probably too late to fix. At least this might generate some debate.

All communities are not the same. Like people, communities develop a personality. Some communities are in small towns or neighborhoods with “down home” folks that appreciate everything you do for them. At the other end of the scale is the more aristocratic who expect superior service. Most communities are somewhere in between with a mix of residents. You also cannot discount the impact of present and past managers. The marketing and social programs that work great in one community may be a total waste of time and money in another community.

Over time I realized that the greatest marketing tool was a happy building filled with happy residents and a staff that pulled to gather. Without happy residents it is difficult to build census. Even with happy residents you have to have a marketing plan that works for your building. The one shoe fits all that comes out of Salem can be a waste of money and time for some buildings. A few months before retirement my RD instructed us to do a mass mailing. I was fortunate to have an RD that understood that for some reason mass mailing did not work for our community, advertising did. Although I had the money in my media advertising budget it had been frozen and we were not allowed to advertise. The RD finally said that the mailing was a directive from above and he agreed with me, but would I rather be in a position of doing the mailing and census declining or not do the mailing with a declining census. We spent about $1200 on the mailing with no positive results. This RD was later fired to make way for a new hire.

The problem now is that few if any RDs and those of authority at Salem have the experience and knowledge to direct a community for what is best for that community. Those with the knowledge to turn things around have either been fired or resigned. I particularly feel for tenured managers that agree at least in principle with what I am saying, but are powerless to do any thing about it. We were fortunate to be in a position to retire before it really got bad, but we feel the pain of our residents, co-managers and staff we left behind. We had 8 good years out of 9 so me have more good memories than bad.

Comment on Beneath The Veil of Holiday Retirement Corp/Fortress Part 2

ITGuru — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:06:15 GMT

From all appearances, there are so many complaints coming into the Resident Relations department they are buried. I would suggest the residents start calling directly. Have them call Jack at (888) 370-7071 ext. 7320 or email him at Jack.Callison@holidaytouch.com Post this on your walls right at the mailboxes!!! Let's all get his attention.

Comment on Beneath The Veil of Holiday Retirement Corp/Fortress Part 2

Achmed — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:32:22 GMT

I have been watching this blog for a couple of weeks and not posting any messages except for today. I guess things must have dramatically improved at all the buildings as other than the small complaints posted, no one is writing anything anymore.
We were told that we would be able to read additional changes coming but nothing has been posted about that.
So I guess all is good at Holiday Retirement. If that is true, fantastic and I am happy. That means this blog served its purpose however, I highly doubt that is the case.
So please who ever knows anything about more changes coming, please inform all of us. I am sure the residents/vendors and past/current employees would like to know what is going on or what is going to happen?
What about the new community leaders? Is that in place and if so, how is it working out?
How about the new Regional Directors? Are they working out? Is Holiday Hotels the new motto now?
Enquiring minds wish to know.