Growing Up to Lead Senior Living

Chief of Staff Tamra Godfrey, SHRM-SCP joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders radio show from Chateau Boston Landing in Washington State. Tamra discusses how employees are hired and developed at Chateau Retirement Communities so they can be supported and mentored.Tamra describes growing up at Chateau and gaining her background. "I kind of grew up at the Chateau, so my very first job was as a server at Chateau Pacific. During college, I was a prep cook, so I was just working part time. I was going to school full time and then post-college, I became a full time cook in a community in Renton, so I was cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all of our veterans down there. And then I made the move to our home office as an executive assistant. And then I started as an H.R. manager at Chateau Valley Center. Eventually I moved into a community relations director position, then into a marketing position at our home office. And then that's when I decided to jump out of the nest and go do things on my own. I went to work for a property management company out of Seattle, and I did that for about seven years. And that's amazing background to for coming into that now where you're going to be managing these properties. I learned so much. It was really complex and I had a great time there. [Eventually] I understood how to do it, I got a little bit bored. And so I called my dad and I'm like, I think I'm interested in learning more and possibly coming back to this business, and taking it to the next generation.""I think it all comes from our shared values. In addition to being a family-owned and operated company, really focusing on people and investing in people. We see so much value in this. If our employees are happy and engaged and feel valued, they are going to take care of our residents exponentially better than if they were not engaged. So, really investing in them, in their emotional, physical well-being, in making sure our leaders are great leaders and taking care of the employees at work. That's been a big investment and a big value."We have three nurses at every single one of our campuses. It's incredible, and nurses are not cheap. They are truly an investment. And what we've done to support them is, we have resident care coordinators, who are really focused on the staff management alongside their nurse, so that all of the caregivers can be a cohesive unit and have the right support for managers, while nurses are really focused on the nursing care that they're specialized in."Chateau Retirement provides independent living, assisted living, and memory care services. They have been locally owned and family operated for more than 25 years. Chateau Retirement has three communities in Washington's Seattle/Puget Sound area: Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Bothell Landing in Bothell, and Chateau Valley Center in Renton.Visit them online or call 800.960.1944. Also visit Chateau's specialist page on Answers for Elders to hear more of their shows.Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks.