EXECUTIVE Q & A
Human Resources and Corporate Culture
Senior Living Executive Asks…
What’s the most important element in
identifying whether someone is the right
fit for your company?
Suzanne Foley | Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Integral Senior Living LLC
“At Integral Senior Living, the most important thing
that we screen for is a ‘culture fit’ with our company.
We identified traits/qualities that our top employees
shared and we screen for these traits/attributes in
applicants. Some of these include being self-driven,
fun-loving, adaptable, and a problem-solver. In
addition, we ask all applicants for management
positions questions related to each of our company’s
Core Values to look for alignment. If someone is not
a culture fit, we will pass on them. Our culture is im-
portant to us and in order to maintain it, we ensure
that we hire to it.”
Glenn Maul | SVP, Human Resources, Brookdale Senior Living
“The operative word is ‘fit.’ At Brookdale, we use the
3C’s as a guideline (character, caring, and competency). An Ivy League education is always nice to
have, but if the reference checking/interviews don’t
establish the candidate as a person of character, do
not hire them. If the interview does not show them as
a person who will truly care about residents, families,
and associates, do not hire them. The closest people
ever get to perfection in life is when they are preparing their resume, and careful delving into backgrounds, what they really did, is paramount.
“At Brookdale, we have partnered with DDI (De-
velopment Dimensions International) to use its Tar-
geted Selection framework for certain key leadership
roles. We all know everyone has their own interview
style, their own questions, and many hiring manag-
ers trust their gut or hire people like themselves. That
is not good enough. The Targeted Selection process
establishes the core competencies of a role, which is
built into a ‘success profile’ for the job. Specific, laser-
focused questions help interviewers drill down to get
to the results actually accomplished by the candidate.
Most candidates will tell you what they were respon-
sible for—‘I managed 20 people, I had a budget of x,
we had x locations, etc.’ What you really need to know
is what they got done.
Andrea Griesmar | VP Human Resources, The Shelter Group/Brightview Senior Living
“At Brightview Senior Living, Live Vibrant is not just
a tagline or a marketing phrase. It’s ingrained in our
culture. We’re looking for people who will enthusiastically embrace the idea of vibrant living and will
support our residents in a way that encourages and
empowers them to live their lives to the fullest.
“Of course, we need to know if a candidate has
the experience and aptitude to do the job—however,
most technical skills can be taught. It’s far more
difficult to teach someone to engage residents in
meaningful ways and during every interaction with
them—to have them seek out and support ways for
residents to feel the pride and accomplishment that
springs from independence, or to help residents, even
the most frail, to feel like they have fully experienced
another fabulous day and get them to look forward to
what the next day will bring. That takes a tremendous
level of engagement from our associates, which goes
far beyond the technical elements of the job, and it’s
critical to success in a Brightview community. Is it
easy? No, it’s difficult to find, but that’s the fit we’re
looking for in every new associate at Brightview.”
