Month: March 2019

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Latest industry developments Things to watch What the research tells us

Building communities through leadership – learn from Peter Baines OAM

The role of Village Manager is unlike any other. You are responsible for building communities and also leading a team that delivers a business result.

Have you considered the building blocks required to be effective against these two objectives?

Peter Baines is regarded as the leading educator and speaker on building communities and you can learn from Peter at our VILLAGE SUMMIT.

He spent two decades as a forensic investigator in communities subjected to major crises in Indonesia, Japan and Thailand.

From these lessons he learned the benefit of the ‘power of presence’:

  1. building communities and families through shared experiences
  2. engagement strategies that stick
  3. increasing your retention rate
  4. removing self-imposed limitations
  5. celebrating your victories

Check out Peter Baines HERE. Check out the VILLAGE SUMMIT HERE.

Please join us in Sydney to expand your leadership skills, Thursday 11 on Friday 12 April.

Categories
Latest industry developments Things to watch What the research tells us

Training and professional development for the Code of Conduct and Accreditation deadline: 1 January 2020

To comply with the retirement village Code of Conduct Village Managers will have to demonstrate training has been completed across a number of areas.

To comply with Retirement Village Accreditation Village Managers will require training on the accreditation program and demonstrate professional training across modules have been completed.

To fast track your training obligations join us at the VILLAGE SUMMIT. Experience 22 leading speakers as they address individual components of the village manager role.

Check the program HERE.

Categories
Latest industry developments Things to watch What the research tells us

Retirement villages sales in a difficult market – learn at the village Summit

They say that ‘sales solve all problems’. For retirement villages speedy turnover of homes is desired by residents, families and owners.

But these are challenging times with declining household prices. Every village needs more sales enquiry and conversion.

We have assembled the most successful village marketers and salespeople to give you insights and skills that work.

The VILLAGE SUMMIT offers exceptional value – increasing your sales rates by just 10% for most will repay the SUMMIT investment and more.

The sooner you join us at the VILLAGE SUMMIT, the sooner you can implement your new learnt sales skills. Please join us 11 – 12 April in Sydney. Check the SUMMIT out HERE.

Categories
Things to watch What the research tells us

‘Disruption’ and investing in your professional development as a Village Manager at the VILLAGE SUMMIT

This week we briefed Matt Church (pictured above) for his keynote speaking role at our village Summit in two weeks time here in Sydney.

He wanted to know what the job of a village manager will look like in five years’ time.

What are your thoughts? We said it will be very different; the business of retirement villages is being ‘disrupted’ like every other business.

New villages are going vertical in inner and middle suburbs of cities and regional towns, with international hotel like facilities. The building is very different as a ‘capital asset’ to the traditional village of villas. ‘Concierge services’ are being marketed.

Sales need to be fast.

Older villages require refurbishment – requiring different village manager skills, working with residents, complex building and outfitting, and budgeting.

Resident sales expectations need to managed.

Five years from now – a new world requiring new skills. Are you prepared?

We have invested in Matt Church to support you in preparing for this new retirement village sector. You can experience Matt at our VILLAGE SUMMIT 11-12 April in Sydney..

Matt is one of the nation’s best keynote speakers. He blends inspiration, education and entertainment to create world class conference presentations.

He is committed to helping people prepare for tomorrow by taking action today. His philosophy can be summed up in one word NEXT! What is the best next thing you can do to future proof your business or career?

In 2014 Matt was inducted into the professional speaker Hall of Fame. e-Speakers ranks him as one of the Top10 motivational speakers globally. The International Federation of Professional Speakers recognised him as one the top 21 most influential speakers on the planet.

Please join us, experience Matt and 21 other leading speakers on village management. Click HERE for the program.

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Key things to help you everyday Reporting Results

Home care: something to think about from the Aged Care Royal Commission

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety will roll on until at least December.

Over the next two weeks expect some ‘crisis’ news in the media given the witnesses being called.

But it is not all bad news. The people who know say that 25% of the Royal Commission is about the bad stuff, but after that is out of the way, 75% will be the good stuff – how do we make aged care better.

For retirement villages, one of the submissions is really interesting.

The big home care provider Enrich is pushing that Australia looks at Denmark. 20 years ago, Denmark had a system like ours where we accepted that people get old and simply get more frail and sicker until we die.

The Danes turned their system upside down, saying ‘let’s keep people well as long as possible’. They increased home care support from 25% of their aged care budget (same as ours) to 50%. They also said people had to take responsibility for their own health.

In 20 years, their number of hospitals has dropped from 92 to 35. They have half the people in aged care that we do (as a percentage).

People who take responsibility for their own wellness future and get supportive home care live longer and avoid hospital and aged care homes.

Does this sound like retirement villages? You would be aware that the Australian consulting firm Grant Thornton’s research shows retirement village residents live five years longer than the average Australian, and they are far less likely to go into residential aged care.

Commissioner Lynelle Briggs like these ideas. She says herself that the aged care system “needs to be turned upside down’.

‘Assisted living’ is the increasingly popular label for retirement villages supporting increasingly frail residents in their own home. It has a big future. But its success will depend on the quality of Village Managers.

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Key things to help you everyday Latest industry developments Reporting Results

Code of Conduct and training of Village Managers in your Village budgets

If your village operator is a member of LASA (Leading Age Services Australia), the Retirement Living Council or the Property Council, you will be looking to implement the new retirement village Code of Conduct between now and December.

The Code of Conduct is a 30-page document that outlines how each village intends to conduct itself with residents. If you would like a copy, click HERE.

The Code is voluntary but there is a big push coming for every operator to take it up. Ask your boss!

Village management has until December to implement the Code. From January the requirements must be operating and each village accountable.

‘Severe’ breaches of the Code will result in the village being ‘sanctioned’ – named and shamed on the industry website.

From the picture at the top, you can see that ‘training’ has to be seen to be provided to you, and for it to be real and relevant training.

Have you got training in your 2020 budget? Have you discussed with your operator who will pay for training? How much should you allocate?

A tip. A KPMG focus group of operators all said the operator should pay and nominated $2,500-$3,000 for two days training, as a start.

This is an investment in your village, the success of the Code of Conduct, and of course yourself.

Our VILLAGE SUMMIT has been built around the Code of Conduct and the new accreditation system. (More about accreditation next newsletter).

Learn more about the VILLAGE SUMMIT HERE.

Categories
Latest industry developments Things to watch

Good news: experienced and new village operators committing to the future of retirement villages

As a Retirement Village Manager, you will be thinking about your career prospects going forward.

The good news, despite the media and reactive governments, is that experienced and new village operators are committing really big funds to acquire and build new villages.

A couple of examples to demonstrate this really positive trend:

  • Glen Brown, a 50-ish veteran village operator based in Brisbane who helped build RetireAustralia from scratch, has bet his future on his new village group called Reside. He has got the capital together to build 1,500 retirement village homes over the next six to eight years – that’s worth $600 million. (Glen and his team pictured).
  • Paul Browne, a 60-ish veteran village operator who built and sold Freedom to Aveo, has created LDK Healthcare and is building 400 village homes in Canberra and just bought The Landings in Sydney (around 230 homes) for about $60 million.
  • Phil Usher, a 55-ish veteran village operator who created Tall Trees Villages, is having another go, just announcing his Odyssey Village group. The first development will be $50 million.
  • Steller Developments in Melbourne, a big residential developer, has just committed $430 million to build four villages in one go on the Mornington Peninsula, their first ever.

And there are quite a few other private people putting real money up.

At the same time not-for-profit village operators are expanding aggressively.

The message: retirement villages are growing, which means the demand for experienced, professional retirement village managers is growing too. Good news.