Seasons Celebrates Company’s Most Impactful Milestones
Seasons Retirement Communities, established in 2009, is a Canadian-owned and operated senior housing provider of 23 retirement communities in Ontario and Alberta, supporting over 2,400 residents and 1,800 team members. In celebration of Seasons providing residents with exceptional care and customer service for 15 years, and in honour of ‘National Talk in an Elevator Day‘ on July 27, below is a look at the most important milestones that shaped Seasons, making compelling conversation starters!
Partnership with Disney Institute
Seasons has always aimed to provide exceptional care and customer service. When it came time to form its service culture, our leaders looked for an inspirational model and found it in Disney, an iconic company known for its excellent customer service. We partnered with Disney Institute for three years to learn business principles and employee training methods. We now talk constantly about company culture and the importance of interacting with each other and our residents.
The Power of ‘Connect Care Change®’
Our company Vision, ‘Connect Care Change®,’ was born from our Disney learnings. At Seasons, we believe that when team members take the time to genuinely connect with our residents and show them that we care, we can positively change their lives and our own. We talk about ‘wow moments’ and how small interactions, where we exceed expectations or show we’ve been listening, can significantly impact our residents’ well-being and peace of mind.
Seasons Leadership Conference
Since 2010, this bi-annual, multi-day conference has educated, inspired, and reflected the leadership principles that make our company successful. Service Team Leaders from each Seasons Retirement Community come together to collaborate with their peers, enjoy epic team-building activities, and learn from sector experts and award-winning guest speakers.
Seasons Celebrates Remarkable Residents®
It’s important to acknowledge the accomplishments of our residents. Established in 2012, the annual Seasons Celebrates Remarkable Residents® program highlights and celebrates our residents’ remarkable lives. The Remarkable Residents program has a lasting, beneficial impact on the residents whose stories are heard. It also positively affects our team members, who learn something personal and unique about the residents they serve daily.
Welcome, Mildred!
We introduced our employee intranet portal, ‘Mildred,’ to provide team members access to Seasons policies and procedures, training modules, internal communications, and directories. Most importantly, Mildred was created to keep our Service Team Leaders connected to the brand and one another. Disney taught us that we needed a place to record our company legacy and share our team members’ stories. We hosted a contest and named this spot ‘Mildred’ in honour of the many Mildreds who lived in Seasons retirement homes!
Service Fanatics & A.R.E.
Service excellence starts with our team members. The Service Fanatics program aims to recognize team members who live our culture and values. We give shout-outs when we catch team members being ‘brilliant at the basics’ or creating ‘wow moments‘ for our residents. Name tag flags are awarded at the Culture Huddle to represent the hard work of our employees. Seasons believes in the importance of Appreciation, Recognition, and Encouragement. It’s who we ARE. For details on our ARE program, click here.
Embrace Today®
The Seasons Memory Care philosophy is based on authentic relationships. Each of our highly trained service team members commits to “Embrace Today®,” which means they approach the workday with a promise to do their best to make all interactions positive and meaningful, one moment at a time. Seasons also fosters an unhurried environment where building genuine friendships with our residents and their families is prioritized over our daily routine. We strive to understand our residents so that we can adjust our interactions and respond with whatever is needed at the moment.
Kickin’ It Up!
This company-wide initiative encourages our residents to move more, improving their strength, endurance, and balance. Each Seasons Retirement Community provides regular fitness classes to help prevent falls and health decline while increasing energy levels, cognition, and more!
Yahoo, Alberta!
In 2016, Seasons successfully acquired all Sunrise Village Communities located primarily in Alberta’s Edmonton-Calgary corridor. The acquisition of this portfolio and The Gardens at West Highlands in Lethbridge provided geographic diversity for Seasons’ portfolio and laid the foundation for future growth in Western Canada.
Supporting Local Food Banks
While our retirement communities regularly give back to various charities, Seasons’ primary corporate giving efforts focus on food banks to combat food insecurity in the communities where we operate retirement homes. Since 2016, Seasons has donated over a quarter of a million dollars in funds and food to local food banks. In 2018, we established the ‘One Can Make a Difference Challenge,’ a friendly competition among our retirement communities. Each home collects canned goods for its local food bank. The one home in each province that collects the most cans receives a fabulous prize and bragging rights!
Pennies for Poppies
Seasons is proudly home to many veterans. Since 2016, each Seasons Retirement Community has participated in our ‘Pennies for Poppies’ program by collecting pocket change donations to support its local Royal Canadian Legion in November. Seasons team members ‘plant’ hundreds of paper poppies in the gardens to visually display a commitment to honouring the brave men and women who served our country.
Seniors + Generosity = Seniorosity®
Many Seasons’ residents are lifelong volunteers. To facilitate our residents’ desire to give back and enjoy the benefits of volunteering, Seasons Retirement Communities launched Seniorosity® in June 2018. Seniorosity® is a program that allows residents to select the organizations, charities or individuals they wish to support. Through creative acts of kindness or fundraising efforts, Seniorosity® teams have made a difference in the lives of many community members in need.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Seasons
Seasons is made up of a diverse group of people who are committed to advancing and cultivating a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion because we believe it helps us connect better with each other, care for one another, and be able to affect the positive change we want in the lives of those in our Seasons Community. We believe people can be more compassionate, creative, and successful when they feel supported, respected, and celebrated. In 2020, we established the Seasons Equity Committee. To read more about our commitment to DEI, click here.
‘What the Heck?!’ Education Bursary
In 2021, General Manager Donna Heck retired early from Seasons Olds. When she left, she was Seasons‘ longest-standing employee. Donna is passionate about the importance of education, having fun at work and making our residents feel surrounded by genuinely caring people. In her honour, Seasons announced the ‘What the Heck?!’ Education Bursary for all Seasons employees. Seasons awards ten employees a $1000 gift each calendar year to help pay for their tuition or education costs.
Seasons Celebrates International Day of Older Persons
In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 1st as the International Day of Older Persons. We believe #EverydayisSeniorsDayatSeasons, but starting in 2021, we acknowledge this day every year to celebrate our residents by showing appreciation for their contributions to our communities.
Partnership with the International Council on Active Aging
In 2021, Seasons became the first Canadian Retirement Community operator to have a corporate membership with the ICAA. We embrace the concept of a ‘wellness culture’ and actively participated in developing the ICAA’s Wellness Culture Audit, piloted in the Spring of 2022.
Dream It Up: Innovate to Elevate
Since 2022, Seasons’ Dream It Up Competition has been a bi-annual contest that provides a platform for our team members to become intrapreneurs within Seasons. Team members can submit an idea that proposes a new process, policy, piece of equipment or technology to improve the lives of our residents or team members. Ideas must drive occupancy, improve engagement with residents or team members, or support training and recruitment. No idea is too small or too big!
Certified Great Place to Work® and Best Managed
Since 2020, Seasons has been certified as one of Canada’s Great Places to Work® after a thorough and independent analysis based on direct feedback from our employees about their workplace experience. Seasons has also been honoured as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies since 2021. The Best Managed program award winners are among the best-in-class Canadian-owned and managed companies demonstrating leadership in strategy, capabilities and innovation, culture and commitment, and financials to achieve sustainable growth. These awards recognize our company’s commitment to excellence and the important work our team members contribute each day.
The Introduction of Sitasauraus
Sitasauraus is a symbol of friendly competition among our communities. It started in 2021 with a joking request for a new office chair shaped like a dinosaur. COO LeighAnne Voll purchased two of these chairs, one for each province, seeing the potential to spark some team spirit! She then challenged the General Managers to name it. Sitasauraus (affectionately called for being able to “sit” on the “dinosaur”) became a playful trophy for the homes that won various challenges, ranging from sales targets to signature program participation to compliance and audit results.
If you know someone you think would be an excellent fit for Seasons and is looking to make a difference in the lives of others, you can encourage them to apply today. You can find job listings in your area by clicking here. Plus, if you help us recruit someone terrific like you, we will pay you $200 once they complete their probation period, complements of our ‘Make a Friend a Team Member’ program!