Informed by extensive research with its customers and their families, as well as staff, Benetas is pioneering a new Customer Experience Model that aims to redefine how aged care meets the needs and preferences of seniors. Kymberly Martin reports.

S ince July 2014, Benetas has been having a new conversation with its customers.

In its purest form, the organisation is asking: what's your ideal experience in aged care?

Then customers are asked: what is missing? What could be done to improve your experience and meet your needs and interests?

This conversation has primarily taken the form of extensive interviews with customers, in addition to follow-up conversations I with family members, as well as workshops with staff. Focus groups, email surveys and regular resident meetings also help garner feedback.

The reason for this conversation is simple: aged care is changing; the resident profile, and their needs and preferences, are changing. Accordingly, Benetas realised it had to change too.

The provider has been researching and developing its new Customer Experience Model, which fundamentally involves listening to the customer's story and ensuring their needs are at the heart of everything the organisation does.

"There are many different elements to consider when it comes to the customer experience," says Kate Barnes, customer experience manager at Benetas.

Developing the model involved gaining an understanding of customers' needs, from both an emotional and functional perspective, and then packaging these insights into a tangible guide for the organisation, which ultimately will deliver the outcome to its customers, says Barnes.

"We need to be open, by listening to each individual to

40 I MAY- JUNE 2015 I AAA

discover how we can support them in their purpose. However, unless we ask what they expect to gain from the experience, they won't think about it; they won't provide information and we won't know. Asking questions and listening to what they have to contribute is the key step."

The focus on customer experience is about striving to achieve the Benetas vision of being able to age in an environment that is positive and fulfilling, says Barnes. "Everyone has the opportunity to age well where they have choice and appropriate support. The Benetas vision treats everyone equally, but as individuals."

The customer experience focus is also about successfully responding to the changing customer demographic in aged care. As Barnes notes, the Baby Boomer generation has higher expectations;

1 they don't just want choice, they insist i on it. "They want control, are familiar

with modern technology and recognise that their world is now more globally connected. This is the first generation to demand so much and it is imperative that that our services adapt to their demands."

As an organisation, Benetas had to centre itself around customer needs, contrary to the traditional paternalistic attitude in aged care. "There has been a move away from doctor/patient thinking, replaced by an entirely new culture around aged care," says Barnes.

Successful culture change of this kind has to come from the top down, which is possible because of the strong leadership at Benetas. "Some organisations try to implement the 'customer experience' but it is just lip service. Benetas executives understand the importance of becoming part of it and what is necessary to drive it across the management teams," says Barnes.

Sandra Hills, chief executive office, says the Benetas Service Commitment outlines the provider's promise to its customers; that it will offer them outstanding levels of customer service they won't find anywhere else, resulting in a positive, fulfilling experience.

There are three components to the Service Commitment -culture, customer and quality (see box). "The commitment to customer experience extends from the Benetas Customer Centre, which is available to anyone seeking aged care, through to our approach to employment, culture and direct service delivery," says Hills.

NEW DIRECTIONS IN RESIDENTIAL, COMMUNITY The overarching commitment to customer service is driving a wave of new developments for Benetas, across its residential and home care operations.

In residential care, significant new builds, along with reviews and refurbishments of existing sites, will ensure Benetas facilities provide flexible and supportive environments so the consumer can live a life of meaning and enjoyment.

THE HOME OF QUALITY SERVICE

The Benetas Service Commitment has three components: Culture: Sustaining an organisational culture that supports important client re lationships and reflects the Benetas vision , mission and values of respect, responsibi lity, community and spirit.

Customer: Listening to each person 's story and ensuring their individual needs are at the heart of everything Benetas does ; building long-term relationships with clients and supporting them and their fami lies throughout their chosen journey.

Quality: Embedding a quality framework that facilitates continuous review, refinement and improvement to ensure the organisation can fulfil its commitment to provide great care.

Benetas has been having a new conversation with its customers to understand their ideal experience in aged care.

Benetas has developed its new Customer Experience Model.

Two new builds, set to be completed by mid-2016, will provide modern and contemporary accommodation models that meet the changing needs of older people. The $14 million expansion of Corowa,Court in Mornington will double the capacity of the site to 120 places, while the $20 million development at Frankston will see a new 80-bed facility opened, based on the new service model of eight bed clusters.

"This cluster model is aimed at increasing the social connectedness of residents and ensuring they can easily access the in-house amenities. It also means that residents have specific carers assigned to them, increasingly familiarity, and keeps the back of house operations away from residents contributing to more of a 'home' environment," explains Hills.

Benetas is also reviewing its existing facilities to investigate how the built environment can be engineered to better support older people, particularly toward the end of life.

"It means flexible environments, service delivery and teams that can facilitate whatever choices are made by the residents ," says Hills.

Like residential care, the focus on customer service is influencing how Benetas delivers its home care services.

"At Benetas, our vision for a good customer experience in consumer directed care (CDC) is about collaboration, independence and empowerment," says Hills .

Benetas started transitioning clients to

www.australianageingagenda.com.au I 41

42 I MAY -JUNE 2015 I AAA

The focus on customer service is influencing how Benetas delivers its home care services.

CDC packages in October last year, and will have all clients transitioned by 1 July.

"We're continuing our emphasis on training our staff to ensure they understand the philosophy behind the way we want to deliver CDC, and are using feedback directly from our clients to

! design our CDC packages." To ensure it can deliver what

community care customers need and want, Benetas is making a significant investment in technology, including

1 configuring all its systems and launching the client portal, MyBenetas, which will enable clients and their family members to manage their statements and services.

RESEARCH: DRIVING PRACTICE AND ADVOCACYThe aged care customer experience, the value of nursing in aged care, and sub-acute linkages — these are just some of the research projects Benetas is currently involved in. Benetas is an active and influential player in the research space. As a service provider, Benetas is well placed to identify the issues requiring further research and investigation, providing a voice and a pathway to try new things, always with the end goal of improving people's experiences in aged care, says Hills. Amee Morgans, innovation, policy and research manager at Benetas, says that research is about trying new things and the unique part of what Benetas does is applying an aged care context to existing research. "Just because something is a great idea in the hospital or disability setting, doesn't mean it is going to have the same impact in aged care settings. Not all ideas are good ideas, and even when they are, sometimes there are barriers to embedding them in care that need to be investigated and overcome. That's what we are good at," says Morgans. Given it has a small research team (two full-time staff) the organisation has nurtured several key partnerships to maximise its research work. Strong links have been forged with industry, education and partner organiations including the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Deakin University, the Royal Dental Hospital, Ambulance Victoria, the Royal Australasian College of General Practice, Austin Health and several Medicare Locals. To give greater scope to research Benetas has commissioned others to undertake research in joint partnership agreements. Underpinning its research agenda is the Benetas Innovation Strategy, which lists six primary areas of focus: innovative use of aged care service provider data; carers; building ageing research capacity; ageing and the community; healthy ageing and better practice care; and social justice. Elsewhere, Benetas was last year one of 11 partners that successfully established the International Longevity Centre -Australasia (ILC — A) with the aim of supporting longevity and population ageing in the region. "Population ageing is a significant global challenge and through partnerships like ILC-A we can contribute ideas that will develop and shape our industry into the future," says Hills.

Sandra Hills, Benetas CEO.

"The directions for home care are simple; we're replacing the notion of 'the client' with 'the customer' and reshaping our service delivery, culture and expertise to match," says Hills.

WHO WEARE The focus on customer experience is heavily reliant on getting the staff and organisational culture right, says Hills, and a broad­ranging recruitment review will look at screening, candidate diversity, development of employee value proposition and psychological testing- among others.

"Benetas employees will work with their manager and the People Development Team to create a plan that outlines what they need to do to provide the customer experience our clients want, and to develop the local workplace as something truly great," says Hills.

Benetas is in the throes of developing a workforce plan in response to the challenges facing the industry and is investing in leadership development that takes a new approach for attracting and retaining staff.

"We know that the skills people have now will be very different in the future. It is a whole new skill set ahead with a clear emphasis on customer service. Our research shows that if we want to be the leading organisation of the future we need staff who can think and act independently; staff who excel at building relationships, internally and externally."

[Subhead] A strategic vision Meanwhile, with an active research agenda (see panel), the

provider uses the results of its own work, as well as research available in the sector, to inform the Benetas Strategic Roadmap - the document that guides the organisation, its programs and future development.

Several innovative programs arose out of this research­informed strategy, such as an initiative to address social isolation, particularly among men in residential care, flexible respite options, and the delivery of irmovative support to people experiencing dementia and their families.

The Strategic Roadmap comprises four pillars - residential care, home care, housing, research and advocacy - which are designed to support improved customer focus, service quality and financial outcomes.

The roadmap details organisational development and technology as two drivers essential to meeting its goals across home care, residential and housing.

In terms of organisational development, Hills says Benetas is developing capabilities and systems that support improved customer focus, service quality and financial performance.

On ICT, Hills says Benetas is investing in innovative technologies to support staff and improve clients' lives, as well as business performance. It is investing in an overhaul of its finance and business systems,, while developing an IT plan to increase the independence of clients and

1 maximise staff efficiency. · Ultimately the roadmap, like the

many initiatives currently underway at Benetas, come down to change that is possible, achievable and evidence-based, with a total focus on the customer, says Hills.

"Our model places the customer in the centre of all we do but it is a fine balancing act to manage and support customer and staff requirements, meet government compliance and manage budget restraints." •

About Benetas Benetas is one of the leading not-for-profit providers of residential care, in-home care, respite care, housing services and retirement living in Victoria. It provides people, their families and carers with outstanding levels of customer service and individualised care when they need it. Benetas cares for more than 4,000 older people each year through an integrated range of community, home-based aged care services as well as specialist residential care and accommodation across Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula and regional Victoria. Benetas was established in 1948 when a small group of volunteers from the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne responded to the urgent need to provide care and support to older Victorians.

CONTACT US Go to: www.benetas.com.au Call: (03) 8823 7900

Kate Barnes, customer experience manager at Benetas.

®be etas

www.australianageingagenda.com.au I 43