Investing in Professional Growth at Leisure Care

Jan 24, Alissa Sauer

At Leisure Care, we believe in investing in our people. We know that our communities are unique places where seniors can live better than ever, and that’s only possible when our employees are fulfilled and happy! We invest in our employees through a program called Guiding, Recognizing, and Inspiring Talent (GRIT). Learn more about this program and how employees like Savannah Long from MacKenzie Place – Colorado Springs are leaning in to ensure Leisure Care communities continue their legacy of excellence!

Leisure Care communities are not just a great place to live -they are also a great place to work! We have developed unique programs for our employees that identify future leaders and invest in them accordingly. Two professional development programs offered through the Leisure Care home office are the Management Associate Program (MA) and Guiding, Recognizing, and Inspiring Talent (GRIT). The MA program strives to identify future general managers, while the GRIT program helps employees build personal and professional skills in different areas of the community.

GRIT is divided into four courses; freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. The freshman course is a 15-week course that takes participants through leadership courses, online discussions with fellow peers and our home office team, and three online classes led by top executives at Leisure Care. The sophomore course is self-paced and exposes the staff member to operational training content and a final capstone project that makes a positive impact on all of Leisure Care.

Savannah Long, an employee of MacKenzie Place – Colorado Springs, is a new graduate of the sophomore course. Her capstone project focused on developing a programs’ guide to better train programs staff across Leisure Care because, as she said, ‘programs are the heartbeat of our communities.’

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“Participating in this program has helped me learn about different skills and about our industry. It also helped me learn about myself personally, and how I need is experience and I now have the confidence to seek out more opportunities to learn and grow. Thank you so much for all you do and for allowing me to participate in this program. I look forward to how this program will continue to educate and inspire others.” – Lea P, Leisure Care employee and GRIT participant

The junior course takes them through additional operational content and leads one of the weeks of the Freshman GRIT course – exposing their leadership style and knowledge to our participants. The senior course includes the same development components as the junior course but also allows the student to travel on an operations site visit with their community Operations Leader and provide meaningful content to our freshman class.

The GRIT program is just one way to identify and invest in employees. We love providing opportunities for employees to learn, grow, and build their dream job. What’s the next step for you? We are here to help you get there! Check out our career opportunities or talk with your supervisor today. We can’t wait to welcome you home to your dream job at MacKenzie Place Colorado Springs independent living, assisted living, and memory care community!