Thursday, October 28, 2021
Measuring satisfaction in Senior Services Residences: What are the issues? What approaches?
According to INSEE, nearly one third of the population will be over 60 years old in 2060. The ageing of the population can be explained in particular by the progress made in health over the last few decades and is accompanied by new expectations on the part of senior citizens, both in terms of comfort of life and social relations.
Aging well" is a real challenge for society, and the choice of where seniors live is a key element. Among the housing solutions, Senior Services Residences provide a turnkey solution to the new aspirations of these demanding baby boomers. Most of them want to age at home, in autonomy, in an adapted and secure home, while maintaining social ties and conviviality.
This market is growing rapidly: the number of senior residences has already more than doubled in eight years in France. At the end of March 2021, there were 922 residences*.
And with a booming market and a growing target population, players are interested in resident satisfaction and quality of service and accommodation.
What are the Senior Services Residences?
The principle of the Senior Services Residence is to provide 2 types of services to the residents (tenants or sometimes owners, depending on the residence model):
- Services included (continuous presence of reception staff, animations, festive moments...)
- A la carte services (housekeeper, laundry, catering, hairdresser, etc.)
But who says Service says Quality...and who says Quality says Experience!
As in the traditional hotel industry, the operators of the Senior Services Residences must create a good resident experience at all the "key moments" of the resident's journey.
The senior's residential journey begins as soon as they find their new place of residence and continues after they move in:
- Information gathering and comparison of offers
- Moving into a residence
- Experience of place
So many steps and moments of truth not to be missed for the satisfaction of the resident, who will become a potential ambassador.
A very demanding target
Seniors who take the plunge and decide to move into a senior residence have clear expectations : they are first and foremost looking for suitable and secure housing, social ties, and a range of services to simplify their lives (home help, catering, etc.) without giving up their independence.
They are more and more familiar with digital tools and, even if they are not all adept at social networks, they know perfectly well how to make their voice heard by their family, relatives and friends (visits, recommendations, word of mouth...).
This strong requirement obliges the actors of the senior accommodation to distinguish themselves by :
- offering services that are as close as possible to the needs of the residents
- taking care of the quality of service
- communicating transparently on the quality process and results
How do you know if the resident experience is satisfactory?
Well, you have to ask him! Every year, senior residences organize an annual cold survey to measure the satisfaction of their residents. Very often, the results of this satisfaction survey are published on their website. This survey is still often carried out in paper format with the residents.
This cold survey allows us to take a step back and ask residents not about their last interaction with the residence's services, but about all the interactions they have had over a period of time, such as the last 12 months.
It is a survey that allows us to collect the resident's feelings on his or her overall experience, as well as on different themes such as communication with the residence's teams, activities, services, comfort, security of the residence...
In some cases, these annual satisfaction surveys are a regulatory requirement**.
The weak point of this type of survey is that they are quickly "dated" in terms of communication to the public. They are often published several months after they have been carried out, and it will be several months before the results are updated.
Another weakness is that these annual surveys do not allow for continuous operational improvement. It is difficult to manage quality and to lead teams with the cumbersome nature of an annual barometer, which does not allow for the reactivity expected by residents and introduces a time delay bias in the responses.
For example, if we measure the quality of the catering service in an annual barometer, we can imagine that the resident will naturally rate the quality of the service over the last two weeks rather than over a full year. If the service was correct over this period, he will tend to rate this theme a little more generously, whereas in reality he may be moderately satisfied with the service and this basic dissatisfaction limits his regular use of this service... It is a pity not to capture this signal more accurately, because it means less revenue for the residence.
Is another vision of satisfaction measurement possible?
What other tools can help you measure resident satisfaction?
How to have a more responsive listening strategy on action plans?
Find out the answers to these questions, thanks to the replay of our webinar by completing the following form:
* according to CBRE data.
** for residences integrating a SAAD (Services d'Aide et d'Accompagnement à Domicile) which comes under the medico-social sector and is therefore subject to authorization by the Departmental Council.
This article was brought to you by H&Care Impact
H&Care Impact helps you to improve Quality and Satisfaction by engaging all the stakeholders in the service of your business:
- Monitoring of satisfaction / e-reputation
- Audits / Diagnostics / Service standards / Certifications
- Customer culture / Customer journey and experience / Relationship signature
- CSR
At your side, a business expert in sectors where the human element is at the heart: retail, restaurants, hotels, senior accommodation.
