“That’s just common sense!”
How many times a week do you hear—or say—that in your hallways?
As a workforce retention expert, I hear it constantly. We get frustrated when a new hire shows up late, wears the wrong thing, or handles a resident/ customer interaction with a little too much “casual” energy. We roll our eyes and think, “Don’t they just know better?”
But here’s the reality check we all need: Common sense isn’t common.
I recently sat down with the team at the Bridge the Gap Podcast to dive deep into this “Professionalism Gap.” (You can catch the full episode here).
I shared a story I’m not exactly proud of—a time early in my career when I unknowingly broke an “unwritten rule.” I didn’t do it because I was lazy or disrespectful. I did it because nobody had ever told me the rule existed!
In senior living and all other industries, we are managing a multi-generational workforce where “professionalism” is moving target. What felt like “disrespect” to a Boomer manager might just be “efficiency” to a Gen Z employee.
Here are three takeaways from our conversation that you can use with your team today:
- Complaints are Clues: When you hear a supervisor complaining about a staff member’s behavior, don’t just join in on the venting. Use it as a clue. It usually means an “unwritten rule” hasn’t been communicated. If it’s important enough to complain about, it’s important enough to train on.
- The “Goldilocks Mentality”: We tend to judge others by our own standards. If they work less than us, they’re lazy; if they work more, they’re “try-hards.” We need to stop using ourselves as the only yardstick for “correct” behavior and start defining clear, objective expectations for the whole team.
- Bridge the Gap with Intentionality: We judge ourselves by our intentions, but we judge others by their behavior. Before you write someone off, ask: Did they mean to be unprofessional, or did I just fail to define what ‘professional’ looks like in this building?
If we want to keep our best people, we have to stop assuming they can read our minds. It’s time to trade the judgment for mentorship.
Huge thanks to Josh, Lucas, and the whole Bridge the Gap crew for having me back to talk about how we can build more “Magnetic” cultures in senior living.
What’s one “unwritten rule” in your office that should probably be written down? Let’s talk about it in the comments!
