CEO bids Farewell to Retirement Village Industry

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The Retirement Village Association CEO Jane Holdsworth bid farewell to RVA members and staff last week after 12 months of achievements.

Ms Holdsworth said she was leaving with a sense of accomplishment and fond memories gained at the centre of one of the fastest growing industries in Australia.

“This has been a fantastic experience for me to work with so many passionate and committed people.

“Few people outside our industry realise how vibrant it is as well as the commitment and dedication displayed by our members and staff. It has really been my pleasure to serve and lead the RVA over the past year,” Ms Holdsworth said.

Acting CEO and President of the RVA Board of Management Simon Owen said Ms Holdsworth left the organisation in better condition than when she started.

“Jane came to the RVA in March 2008 and built upon the solid foundation left by her predecessor.

“Significantly she worked with her team to increase membership by more than 8 percent with a 38 percent increase in National Associate memberships,” Mr Owen said.

Other achievements include: the implementation of a national fee structure; the establishment of an RVA office in Queensland giving the RVA a truly national industry representation; instituting the first Australian wide industry investment forums, that are proving highly successful; the establishment of the inaugural RVA National Business Excellence Awards to be held next year and significant advocacy work delivering benefits to both owner operators and residents in retirement villages.

“I think it’s a credit to Jane that Victorian seniors will now be spared major payments in stamp duty thanks to the solid work that was done by her and in conjunction with other stakeholders,” Mr Owen said.

Ms Holdsworth said the accomplishments of the past 12 months were part of a wider team effort.

“I will be very sad to leave my colleagues, staff and all the wonderful people who have been so supportive. 

The valuable time, skills and effort that so many members have and continue to contribute has absolutely assisted the RVA to achieve so much of its success. 

Of the memories that will stay with her, Ms Holdsworth said it was her visits to villages around the country that left the strongest impression.

“Of the many retirement villages I’ve been to, what really struck me was the pride and enthusiasm held for their villages, by every village manager that I met.
“I think that enthusiasm rubs off because along with the managers I was most fortunate to come into contact with many residents enjoying a happy and healthy village lifestyle,” she said.

Mr Owen will act in the role of CEO until a replacement is recruited later this year.

For further information or to make comment on this story, please email communications@rva.com.au

The RVA News Monitor is a weekly feature on the RVA website, and will provide updated stories on issues involving the retirement village industry.

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Accreditation means continuous improvement for villages

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RVA Accreditation is underpinned by continuous improvement, however, what that exactly means seems to be open to some interpretation.

Gary Medcalf, the RVA standards manager, explains his view on how continuous improvement works with the accreditation process and why it’s important for Retirement Village managers and operators to incorporate it into their planning.

“The first point, I think managers need to understand about continuous improvement is that it is a pro-active process.

“It needs to look forward into what will happen and present a picture of how that will look at the end of the process rather than looking back at individual problems,” Mr Medcalf said.

Continuous improvement is an integral part of the accreditation process and all RVA accredited villages are supplied with a template to help integrate the process.

Mr Medcalf said many villages adapted the template to suit their particular operation and needs.

“One thing I stress when I’m speaking to managers is the difference between the continuous improvement process and maintenance programs.

“Maintenance programs can be a part of continuous improvement but they often tend to be reactive or in response to a one off problem,” he said.

A good continuous improvement program will take a holistic approach using facts and data to manage the outcomes required and deal with the overall operating of the village. This includes policies, procedures and processes.

“I think good examples would be the updating of promotional material in a growing village to reflect the anticipated changes, or the decision to improve signage within the village to benefit eyesight impaired residents,” Mr Medcalf said.

Continuous improvement is about looking into the future and anticipating the changes that will need to come.

Sometimes these changes are related to administrative functions or rather than physical problems like landscaping or electrical systems.

“Often continuous improvement is linked directly to the procedures carried out in the office and the paper work managers face everyday.

“It’s really about making things more efficient today to achieve the improvement tomorrow,” Mr Medcalf said.

In retirement villages seeking accreditation there are 29 separate standards which must be achieved. These range from communications between village management and residents through to emergency services.

“When we issue the continuous improvement template it’s with the standards in mind.

“Retirement villages seeking accreditation must comply with all standards and the criteria. The continuous improvement plan provides a tool to assist villages in making these processes more efficient,” Mr Medcalf said.

Continuous improvement is covered in detail in the RVA How to Prepare for Accreditation course which is run twice per year in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth Adelaide and Brisbane.

Click here for more information about Accreditation

For further information or to make comment on this story, please email communications@rva.com.au

The RVA News Monitor is a weekly feature on the RVA website, and will provide updated stories on issues involving the retirement village industry.

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WA forum sheds light on retirement trends

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Perth is a major destination when considering retirement living options and investments delegates to the RVA Retirement Villages…the New Investment Frontier forum heard recently.

Western Australia is nearly one percent higher than the national average of retirees who choose the retirement village life style.

General Manager of Macroplan Australia’s Communities and Research Group Andrew Giles has more than 15 years experience in conducting market research into local communities and their housing needs.

Mr Giles said it was important for investors and developers to understand people wanted to remain close to their families, facilities and networks through their retirement and that usually but not always meant remaining close to major population centres.

“We are looking at 2011 being the next upward climb in retirement living so we’ve got a couple years to really plan our approach,” Mr Giles said.

At the forums, the first of their kind to be held throughout Australia, presenters from Macroplan presented a range of data designed to help investors and developers understand their demographics.

“In the next two years we’ve really got an opportunity to get to understand our market better and start to understand our consumer better.

“Knowing your market and knowing your product is really critical. You can’t know one without the other.

“You must know the product you are putting out there and how you match it to the various target segments that are available to you,” Mr Giles said.

He said the retirement village industry was not a homogenous industry where one method of roll out worked every time.

“This is a location driven or environmentally driven industry and different communities require different responses,” Mr Giles said.

For further information or to make comment on this story, please email communications@rva.com.au

The RVA News Monitor is a weekly feature on the RVA website, and will provide updated stories on issues involving the retirement village industry.

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