by Cindy Heilman | Resident Centered Dining Service
DiningRD Acquires Kind Dining
I want to let you know that Kind Dining is transitioning to become part of a more significant movement to enhance relationships and the dining experience in senior living communities across the United States and Canada.
Please understand how critical you all are to positively affect the lives of people living and working in senior living environments.
It’s been my personal mission to fill the gaps, create the way for relationship bonds between staff and residents, and reduce the epidemic of loneliness through staff personal and professional growth through education, skill development, and consistent training.
Being acquired by DiningRD is an honor. It offers a fresh approach to breaking down barriers within and around the dining experience.
Helping people open their hearts and minds to find a new sense of purpose, love their work, and keep their focus and energy on what matters most.
This is key to building communities of belonging.
Thank you for being a part of the Kind Dining Community.
Your support, business, constructive feedback, stories, and love all contributed to the enthusiasm and resources that have contributed to our success.
I am grateful for you.
I will stay an active partner with DiningRD as a mentor and coach.
You can read more details in the press release below.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diningrd-acquires-kind-dining-302089400.html?tc=eml_cleartime
Kindness is a way of Life ~
Cindy
by Cindy Heilman | LeaveBlank, Resident Centered Dining Service
What makes your residents want to stay in your community?
Many older adults have the wrong impression of what a senior living community is like. Just because an individual moves into your community doesn’t mean he/she is happy there. It is often more difficult for an older person to make new friends. It takes time to adjust to a new environment, new daily routines, unfamiliar faces, and not all the home things surrounding them that make a person comfortable. It isn’t easy for some to step solo into a game or activity room, even if the sounds of enjoyment are carried in the air. Many, particularly women, have never entered a restaurant on their own, let alone sat and ate lunch or dinner by themselves.
Amenities in a community are useless if a resident is too shy to walk into the activity room. This is another area where the Kind Dining® training curriculum excels. Our training sessions include introducing soft skills to your staff and teaching how to use pleasant chitchat with residents.
How to greet a new resident and escort them into a dining room or to a table that will happily make room for them will come naturally after some practice. Small acts of consideration tell residents they are welcome and will soon feel like they are at home.
The goal is to make your community an excellent place for your residents to live and for your staff to work. Our training helps your employees reshape their way of thinking so they can transform their lives into positive ones, and it will let your residents know that they have chosen the right place to live.
With training and practice, all your employees will be able to recognize the body language of a resident, which will show them that caring attention is needed. They will also learn to make on-the-spot decisions that can turn a sad situation into a happy one.
All the staff must understand and be fully aware of the stress and emotions of some new residents trying to settle in.
Helping residents feel they belong and are part of a big family is the responsibility of every person who works in the community. Kind Dining® training also allows your employees to befriend each other.
Remember that the community your staff knows well is strange and unknown to a newcomer. It is a new chapter for them that can be the happiest time of their lives if they engage in it fully. Your staff can help with that and make life good for them.
B♥ Kind Tip: Staff can turn an unhappy new resident into an “I love it here” resident.
by Cindy Heilman | Build Communities of Belonging, Resident Centered Dining Service
Do your food servers know the crucial role they play as they interact with residents during mealtimes?
Do they know kindness is one of the skills needed to play that role successfully?
Many residents and even other staff suffer from an emotional disconnect in workplace relationships when kindness is ignored. We all know mealtimes are the best chance your organization has to impress your diners with an experience they will delight in repeating to other potential residents.
That experience should have kindness teamed with the serving skills each of your staff carries. They must always remember that their service enables you to have full capacity in a competitive marketplace.
Speaking of kindness, did you know Japan started a World Kindness Day, soon observed by the USA, Canada, Australia, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, and later Singapore, Italy, and India joined in?
Japan is commonly known as the world’s most polite country with its tradition of selfless hospitality. (Wouldn’t it be great to have your community known as the kindest?) They emphasize the necessity of a global kindness movement.
Think of the impact, that following their lead can have on your community when the staff accepts the challenge and agrees to support the interplay of kindness. It is also commonly known that intentional acts of kindness start a ripple reaction that will affect the thoughts and feelings of those on the receiving end. It affects the giver, too. Picture a cascade of kindness in your community.
With a career that began in the hospitality business before working in healthcare, I’m more excited than ever to work with communities that step out of the past and into the future. They transform their dining styles of service.
Skills and positive attitudes in staff behavior make a huge difference to a newcomer who is acclimating to the community.
A small kindness, even a smile extends a feeling of welcome to a new resident nervous about her choice of a home. Striking up a meaningful conversation is the beginning of building a solid relationship that will reinforce a sense of comfort and belonging. Actively listen to their reply so you can ask a follow-up question. Show that you are sincere in your interest.
Kindness is a skill that has a powerful influence yet is easily learned when introduced in training and refreshing sessions. It is a skill that can be incorporated with Kind Dining® curriculum that includes other skills going hand in hand. These are skills that can lead to making your community known as the kindest community available!
Be ♥ Kind Tip: Make every day in your community a reflection of World Kindness Day.
