Leveraging Amazon Alexa to Improve Communication, Empowerment, and Efficiency for Carlton Staff and Residents
Carlton has been included in Forbes’ “Best Places to Work” for several years and prides itself on the investment it makes in its staff.
With staffing challenges across the industry, what many call the “Staffing Apocalypse,” Carlton has created innovative ways to reduce the staffing challenge while providing additional services to their residents and families. By deploying Amazon Alexa, Carlton has accomplished an amazing trifecta of benefits, including promoting consistency of communication between residents, families, and staff, empowering residents to voice their needs, and improving staff efficiency.
Senior Living Industry Challenges
Many senior living providers have conflicting challenges. They must operate for their existing customers while appealing to a new, more tech-savvy demographic, all while attracting and maintaining staff. While this challenge is typical for any business, it is magnified in senior living because there are three customers to consider: residents, families, and staff. You read that right. Included in the “customer” bucket is staff. While technically, staff is paid for their time and work, more and more, the successful operators are treating their staff like customers—people they need to attract and keep engaged and happy.
Identifying and treating staff as a customer rather than an employee has been a real differentiator for Carlton.
“We invest heavily in our staff. From the day they are hired to annual, monthly, and weekly check-ins, we prioritize staying engaged with our staff. Carlton provides live training, amenities, benefits, and flexibility because our staff matters as much to us as any other asset.” says President Dave Coluzzi, who has been running Carlton for 8 years and has been a leader in the industry for 34 years. “There’s a reason we show up on ‘Best Places to Work’ lists. It’s because we listen to staff, appreciate their perspective, and strive to meet their needs.”
Even with the investment in staffing, we continue to face a wall, as only so many people are available to fill roles. “We had to get creative,” Coluzzi says, “so we started looking at the tools right in front of us.”
Leveraging Amazon Alexa to Improve Communication, Empowerment, and Efficiency
Utilizing technology to help enhance communication has increased over time, and this technology has been especially useful in ensuring those we employ succeed in a person-centered care approach. “We had to apply technology, the tools people already have in their day-to-day lives, to make ourselves more efficient and attractive to everyone in the ecosystem,” says Taren Petros, VP of Business Operations & Technology. Carlton turned to Amazon for help and participated in the Amazon Device Donation program in 2020. “Amazon donated 1,000 Alexa devices to our residents to help during Covid. We jumped at the opportunity!” says CFO Chung Chow. With this decision, Carlton set itself on the path to innovative success.
Read the full story: Carlton Senior Living Meets Staffing Needs via Contextual Alexa
