Strengthening the senior living workforce is top of mind for most owners and operators, particularly in the wake of COVID-19 and the toll it’s taken on community staffs. And in an effort to further lean into initiatives that establish culture and inspire engagement, the industry is placing new focus on the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), as well.
In fact, the Senior Living DEIB Coalition, a partnership among Argentum, the American Seniors Housing Association, and the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, recently conducted a survey to capture industry trends on the topic.
The inaugural Senior Living DEIB Survey, conducted by Ferguson Partners, is intended to provide baseline data that can now be tracked going forward. “Up until now, DEIB hasn’t traditionally been the priority for many organizations in the industry. For those that have focused on it, it has been through an individualistic approach, rather than a concerted effort within the industry to gather information and provide tools to improve,” an executive summary states.
Results of the survey, for which respondents were primarily operators and owners, were released in November and show that, overall, the industry isn’t in a bad place when it comes to DEIB. In fact, organizations show they’re already diverse, but areas for improvement include developing diverse employees for advancement to higher ranks.
The coalition introduced a DEIB Action Toolkit for Operators to further support the industry in its efforts.
And when it comes to nurturing a more diverse workforce, senior living designers certainly can and should have a place at the table. Creating spaces that help communities’ employees feel secure and supported is critical to the process (ideas for this from a more general perspective are shared in our Community Column .
More broadly, though, the design industry has the opportunity to look inward, just like operators.
How diverse is the senior living design workforce? Are project teams demographically representative of the building users they’re designing for? What initiatives have been adopted to encourage diversity in firm recruitment and—like senior living—make sure diverse employees are making their way up the leadership ladder?
There’s no doubt the industry is evolving, and recognizing shortcomings in diversity and inclusion efforts is certainly a timely and necessary step forward—for all of us.
