corporate social responsibility report 2015 · 2015-10-20 · 3 csr rert 2015. dear all, in the...
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1 CSR REPORT 2015
Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2015NORLANDIA CARE GROUP
NORLANDIA CARE GROUP2
INTRODUCTION
03 Introduction
04 Key figures
05 Our locations
06 The Norlandia story
08 Launch ethical guidelines
08 Approval of suppliers
VALUABLE PRACTICES
10 Digital practice in the preschools
12 Hooligan project works
12 Mini library
13 End of life choices
14 Project everyday happiness
16 Cooperation with Global Dignity
17 An inclusive workplace
18 Transition to Health-Home
19 Language development
20 Becoming part of the working community
22 Norlandia service concept
22 Innovation in newborn care
23 A comprehensive approach to fall prevention
24 Unique collaboration between hospital and hotel
24 Joyful math
25 The daring chef and the curious kids
26 The wonders of the great outdoors
28 Salutogenic management
29 Joyful freedom
29 Supporting work at Ersta Sköndal
30 Making every meal a great experience
QUALITY
32 Quality development work
34 Environment
Content
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Dear all,
In the following pages, you will find the inaugural edition of our corporate social responsibility report. We plan to publish this annually in the years to come.
The goal of the report is twofold: We seek to highlight areas of our operations which we consider particularly noteworthy. We have as a stated vision for our enterprise to be a reference point for society. Some of the examples in the following are indeed practices which other providers, both private and public, would do well to emulate. We hope we are able to convey some flavor of the rich user experiences created by our employees. A unique attribute of Norlandia is the close coop-eration between out three divisions – preschools, patient hotels and elderly care. This report provides some insights to the collaborative value creation taking place.
The second aim of the report is to pro-vide a topline view of our quality work. Tremend ous effort has been invested over the last few years in the electronic quality system which we use across divisions and countries, and significant human capital has been built to ensure the competence and the behaviors necessary to have the organization perform in a manner compliant with our quality ambitions. In 2014, we were proud to receive ISOcertification
by external auditors, a validation of the comprehensive endeavor undertaken by the company.
Tender care supported by robust systems is the hallmark of Norlandia, and we believe this report provides some colorful examples of that.
Norlandia is a good corporate citizen by providing services of great value to society and being a trusted and desired employer. We are a trusted partner in the communities where we operate and we seek to minimize the burden our operations place on the environment. Corporate social responsibility is much more than the social causes we support financially; to us it is primarily about the purpose that we serve in society.
Norlandia now consists of more than 5500 employees in four countries, and we are growing. Needless to say, the quality of our services depends on humans inter-acting with end users. Our employees are definitely our most treasured resource; systems, machines and facilities can only take us so far. Thus, this report is a reflec-tion of the immense value our employees create every day.
Sincerely,
HILDE BRITT MELLBYECEO
Introduction
«Tender care supported by robust systems is the hall mark of Norlandia, and we believe this report provides some colorful examples of that.»
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INTRODUCTION
03 Introduction
04 Key figures
05 Our locations
06 The Norlandia story
08 Launch ethical guidelines
08 Approval of suppliers
VALUABLE PRACTICES
10 Digital practice in the preschools
12 Hooligan project works
12 Mini library
13 End of life choices
14 Project everyday happiness
16 Cooperation with Global Dignity
17 An inclusive workplace
18 Transition to Health-Home
19 Language development
20 Becoming part of the working community
22 Norlandia service concept
22 Innovation in newborn care
23 A comprehensive approach to fall prevention
24 Unique collaboration between hospital and hotel
24 Joyful math
25 The daring chef and the curious kids
26 The wonders of the great outdoors
28 Salutogenic management
29 Joyful freedom
29 Supporting work at Ersta Sköndal
30 Making every meal a great experience
QUALITY
32 Quality development work
34 Environment
NORLANDIA CARE GROUP4
PRESCHOOLSPATIENT HOTELSELDERLY CARE
5500 NORWAYSWEDENFINLANDTHE NETHERLANDS
182units
130
47
5
Preschools
Patient hotelsElderly care
Divisions
Units2010
2011
2012
20
72
83
2013 94
2014 156
2015 182
Growth in units
Employees Countries
EMPLOYEES3
BILLION NOK 2,9
Growth
Revenue
45 56
48
45
5 2
38
6
Sweden
FinlandNorway
The Netherlands
Elderly care
Patient hotels Preschools
Revenueby country
Revenueby division
Sustained profitable growth provides dynamism in the organization, fresh resources to attack big challenges, and opportunities to leverage core competencies across ever wider fields of operations.
Key figures as of Q1-2015. Revenue is based on full year effect for all units.
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6
10
4
336
2
2
5
2
4
6
15
18
3
6
16
2
2
6
12
8
Preschools
Patient hotelsElderly care
Our locations
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The Norlandia story The name Norlandia has proud tradi-tions in northern Norway, and it derives from one of the National Museum’s most valued treasures: The Norlandia map. Norlandia is a poetic name for the area known since the 1500s as Nordlandene; Norlandia is probably a creation from the 1700s, inspired by Latin and similar to the terms Lapponia and Finlandia.
The story of Norlandia Care Group AS also began in the north, at Andøya, an island north of the Arctic circle. The two brothers Kristian and Roger Adolfsen bought their first hotel, Andrikken Hotel, at Andøya in 1990. They continued to buy more hotels during the beginning of the nineties and in 1995 they had a total of 13 hotels and launched the chain name Norlandia Hotels.
The Adolfsen brothers realized that operating hotels was rather similar to operating nursing homes. The guests should eat well, sleep well, do interesting activities and receive good service. The only thing that was different between hotel operations and nursing homes, was the care delivery. In 1997 they therefore decided to do a spinoff from the hotel chain, and started Norlandia Care together with Tommie Borsand og Claes Forsberg. In 1997 Norlandia Care won the competition to operate one of the first patient hotels in Norway, namely Gaustad Hotel at Rikshospitalet (the National hospital). The first nursing home
contract was won in Trondheim in 1998. Since then Norlandia Care AS has grown steadily and Norlandia Care now operates five patient hotels in Norway, Sweden and Finland as well as 46 nursing/retirement homes in Norway and Sweden.
About the same time as the Adolfsen brothers bought their first hotel, the two childhood friends from the famous Lofoten islands, Benn Eidissen and Even Carlsen built their first private preschool. This was also at Andøya, to where Benn had moved. Today, the preschool business has spread to many parts of Norway, and consists of 58 preschools in Norway mainly divided into five regions: Tromsø, Bodø, Bergen, Romerike and Oslo. In addition, Norlandia operates 27 preschools in Sweden, 18 preschools in The Netherlands and is partowner of 27 preschools in Finland.
In 2008 the Adolfsen brothers bought a 50% stake in Benn and Even’s preschool business, and in December 2011 they merged the preschool business and the care business to one group of companies, and decided to use the name Norlandia Care Group AS as the name of the mother company of the group.
Norlandia is still owned by the northern Norwegian founders of the original separate roots of the enterprise: Even Carlsen and Benn Eidissen from Stamsund in Lofoten and the brothers Roger and Kristian Adolfsen from Andenes at Andøya.
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Photo: Ola Albert Bjerrang7 CSR REPORT 2015
Kristian Adolfsen
Roger Adolfsen
Benn Eidissen
Even Carlsen
Left: The start of it all. Andungen preschool at Andøya was built in 1991.
Top: The old Norlandia map. The map was drawn around 1750.
Bottom: View of Bleiksøya near Andenes.
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In 2014, we launched a revised version of our ethical guidelines. They present realworld dilemmas and recognizable conundrums. They are meant to be a useful tool in the everyday work at our preschools, patient hotels or elderly care units. We also created an educational program which enable managers throughout the organization to lead meaningful discussions on the subject.
Launch ethical guidelines
In 2015, we implemented new practices to ensure a set of standards for the suppliers from whom we source.
Suppliers need to sign a document to attest that they comply with a number of standards.
These pertain, among others, to the following: the environment, recycling, emissions, production standards, labor regulations, discrimination, occupational health and safety, demands for certification and standards, ethical principles, nonsmoking policies, labeling and product quality.
Approval of suppliers
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Valuable practices
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Digital practice in the preschools
At all our preschools in Norway, we have embarked on this ambitious project. We use digital tools together with the children to create new learning experiences, new understanding, new creativity and new ways to play. We use iPad Minis that the kids themselves get to handle. So far, more than 280 iPads have been purchased.
Children differ: They have different interests, skills and abilities. A preschool employee should engage in play suitable to the needs of different children. We shall observe behavior and communication during play, making note of interaction patterns and relationships. Our task is to challenge the children, support them, inspire them, lift them, watch them and guide them. Some children are good at skiing, drawing, climbing, creating origami figures or playing football. Others would rather just play with pearls and gems; with these kids we need to motivate, inspire and make sure they have a multitude of experiences. Then there are children who are proud to display their mastery of a certain game – in that case they can teach it to others and be the expert in that situation. We must include everyone, because everyone should have the opportunity to shine and be seen. In order to achieve this, the preschool staff employ various tools and processes.
When we use digital tools with children in the preschool setting, we as adults need to have certain skills, so that we are able to optimally use these resources with the children. Information technology can create great value in an educational perspective in the preschools, but it is important to be aware of good educational processes in order for that to happen. All adults do not need to be equally competent, but they need some knowledge about educational use.
The project manager Cathrine Fragell Darre says: “We are providing children the knowledge, attitudes and skills related to digital tools used for creativity, play and learning, as part of the preschool mandate for leveling social differences.”
Using digital tools will especially strengthen the educational work within these areas:• Communication, language and text• Number, space and form• Art, culture and creativityThe preschool is expected to contribute to increased understanding of the creative use of digital tools. Kids get experiences from creative and social processes using iPads. In this project we are aware of group processes around games, sharing, and learning. The project contributes to social cohesion in several ways. For those who do not have access at home, preschool experiences will contribute to common references.
Phot
o: P
BL
Cathrine Fragell Darre, project manager
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We know that children act out impressions from various media, thus references from games may have meaning in play. Therefore the preschool contribute to more common references in the group of children. For those who use digital tools at home, but primarily in a solitary manner, preschools provide an experience with digital games in a social context. Children learn rules and useful habits, and they experience that iPads can be tools for creating.
In Norlandia, we give children a unique opportunity to develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills related to digital tools in creativity, play and learning.
A blog related to the project contains an immense amount of valuable information. It is widely used by people outside of Norlandia. On the blog, we document the educational work we do with digital tools. There you also find a list of recommended apps and other resources for use in preschools. Here is a lot of information on useful practices and happy children.
See the blog here: norlandiabarnehagene.blogspot.no
NORLANDIA CARE GROUP12
Hooligan project works Norlandia participates in the Hooligan Project (Pøbelprosjektet). A program created to help young people find a job. The program is designed to help those who, for one reason or another, lack the selfdiscipline and social skills required for finding employment. Participants are required to complete an intensive sixweek training program before they are offered a 14week internship at one of the workplaces participating in the program.
A number of Norlandia facilities have agreed to provide positions for the young jobhunters to complete their internships. The experience has been a positive one for both parties, and a number of interns have been permanently hired. Tjuvholmen preschool has had a number of trainees. Not all of them have been offered jobs after completing their training period, but Iqra Bibi is one who has.
Manager Eva Sand says that she quickly recognized that Iqra had potential. “I understood that she had a lot to give – and that she really wanted to succeed.”
Iqra has worked at Tjuvholmen preschool for two years now and has only positive things to say about the program. “The people at the Hooligan Project really understood me and supported me. They taught us about what was expected at a workplace and what we needed to know about applying for a job. They even came with us on our first interview.”
She is also full of appreciation for the opportunity she was given by the preschool. “Everyone has been extremely supportive. I’ve learned from everybody here, but especially from the pedagogical leader. When I first started I was very shy and found it hard to talk with the parents. Now I can talk to anybody!”
The experience has even inspired her to want to learn more. “I’m planning to go back to school now”, she says. “I’d like to be a pedagogical leader myself one day”.
All of the participants that started with the Hooligan Project at the same time as Iqra have now found jobs.
To encourage reading we have installed mini libraries at all of our preschools in the Netherlands. This is a concept that started in the United States and is also catching on in Europe. Though it looks most like a birdhouse, the mini library is open to all who would like to loan a book, or deliver a book that others might enjoy reading.
Mini library
Tjuvholmen preschool
Iqra Bibi
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End of life choices In our elderly care division, we have developed Five wishes for dignity at Oppsalhjemmet after a model from the USbased Aging with Dignity. Five wishes is a socalled living will, which facilitate conversations about end of life choices that are often difficult. Five wishes enables residents and their families to make distinct choices about treatment, care provision and end of life support.
The concept has now been implemented at all our nursing homes in Norway. Five wishes was highlighted at a conference held by The Norwegian Knowledge Centre for Health Services in January 2015. The program has received a fair bit of interest in the community of practitioners interested in nursing home medicine.
Photo: Bård Kristian Bøe
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NORLANDIA CARE GROUP14
During an unusually quiet day right before summer break in July of 2012, Hilde Halvorsen, who at the time was the general manager at Nordbyhagen preschool, had an unexpected insight. Scrolling through some articles, she came across an article about positive psychology. She became intrigued, and started delving into the topic, already having a vague idea that the concept was applicable in the preschool setting.
At startup in August of that year, Halvorsen initiated the Everyday happiness project at Nordbyhagen. Personnel was educated in the concepts and material was shared to help in the communication. The campaign originally came from the Norwegian Council for Mental Health, and Halvorsen used material developed by the council. Especially the little cards created to initiate discussions on “what is happiness” proved useful. A rabbit and a hedgehog became tools for talking with the kids about the subject.
The children at Nordbyhagen have embraced the concepts. They are developing a vocabulary to express emotions. They are able to detect and make sense of the feelings they experience. In small sessions, the preschool teachers lead sessions where the kids reflect on what makes them happy. The answers can be things like “riding the bus with my mom”; “playing in the snow”, “snuggling with my mom and dad”, “jumping in the leaves”. Fostering friendships have been central throughout the project.
Once a year, during “everyday happiness week” the children hand out heartshaped cards to nearby residents. The preschool has also made a local event out of the annual World mental health day.Everyday happiness has become a signature strength of Nordbyhagen preschool. In the years since Everyday happiness was adopted at Nordbyhagen, the initiative has received considerable press, both local and national.
These are the five key words of advice in the everyday happiness project:
Everyday happiness has been linked to the broader goal of imbuing social competence in the kids. It is also seen as an element in being a health promoting preschool.
The concepts have been well received by the team of employees at Nordbyhagen.
A “5 a day” poster has been developed for the purpose of awareness and improvement of the workplace environ-ment. A focus on everyday happiness
Project everyday happiness
Nordbyhagen preschool
5 STEPS TO HAPPINESS
CONNECTInvest time and consideration in developing them. Play, meet others and create shared experience you and your kids can talk about.
BE ACTIVEGo for a walk, go skiing, dance to your favorite song. Find a physical activ-ity that you and your children have enjoyed from the mood, endurance and mobility.
TAKE NOTICEBe alert and curious. Notice what is beautiful or unusual in your regular day. Be conscious of the world around you and what you feel in the moment, reflect on your experiences. If you are on a trip, do not focus so much on the destination. Stop and talk about things you see on the journey.
KEEP LEARNINGTry something new. Learning new things gives a sense of accomplish-ment, and it can be fun in itself. For example, say “You did it, you managed the zipper!” just when the child was able to do it for the first time, it will mean a lot for your child’s selfesteem. Celebrate small and large feats to-gether.
GIVEDo something for another person, show gratitude, smile, contribute with your time and energy. It is more valuable to hear “you are a good friend” or “you are good at sharing” than just “you hair is so nice.”
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has been linked with the work to reduce absenteeism. One example is a “Walk and talk”meeting discussing how the everyday happiness key words actually can be used every day in real life in a busy preschool setting. Parents are very sup-portive of the initiative. Many tell stories of how they have extended the conversa-tions to the home setting.
The everyday happiness project was developed by the Norwegian Council for Mental Health (Rådet for psykisk helse) based on a program developed in the UK by the think tank New Economics Founda-
tion (NEF). The program is called The Five Ways to Wellbeing. They are a set of evidencebased actions which promote people’s wellbeing. As described above, they are: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give. These activities are simple things individuals can do in their everyday lives.
Hilde Halvorsen has given presentations about the project to colleagues at other preschools in Norlandia, and elements of the everyday happiness project have been adopted by other preschoools.
Photo: Gry Traaen15 CSR REPORT 2015
Children from Nordbyhagen preschool together with general manager Anne Hønstvedt.
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Norlandia has had a multiyear partnership with the organization Global Dignity. Global Dignity is an independent ideal and politically neutral initiative thataims to promote dignity based leadershipand make young people conscious ofdignity in different contexts. These aregood and important values that are verymuch in line with the values of Norlandia.
Global Dignity Day is an internationalday of dignity held every year, which wasestablished by Crown Prince Haakon ofNorway, Pekka Himanen from Finlandand John Bryant from the US. This day ismarked in this country as school eventsfor students in the first year of secondaryschool with Norlandia employees assupervisors.
Norlandia actively supports the fundamental idea and activities of GDD. The goal of Global Dignity Day is that youth become more aware of how they may contribute to social responsibility. Specifically, the discussions are expected to stimulate thinking on how they as individuals may make a difference so that more people may experience dignity or have a feeling of being appreciated.
By employees of Norlandia taking a lead role on GDD, we hope that young people become aware of our approach to work with children, patients and the elderly and develop an appreciation of the meaningful work opportunities within the welfare sector.
Cooperation with Global Dignity
Phot
o: W
erne
r Juv
ik
Photo: From a conference we hosted together with Global Dignity about dignity in elderly care.
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An inclusive workplace Norlandia is part of the socalled IAagreement in Norway This means that Norlandia is committed to being an inclusive workplace, where we seek to adapt work assignments and methods in case of injury or illness. We go to great lengths to adjust tasks and workplace settings to accommodate the remaining performance ability of individuals reported partially or completely not in a condition to work.
We appreciate workplace diversity and believe it contributes to the dynamism of a thriving organization. A vibrant community consists of a heterogeneous mix of employees. Different backgrounds and life experiences add to our resilience as an organization and enable us to more clearly see the perspective of our diverse group of residents.
Under the IAagreement, we have a duty to facilitate the workplace according to the unique needs of each individual. At Norlandia, we often stretch ourselves beyond the limits of duty to accommodate the challenges unique to one of our employees. We value our reputation as an employer who accept that there is room for different abilities. Pluralism is a strength.
A nice example of being an inclusive workplace comes from our operations at St. Olav Hotel in Trondheim:
A receptionist came to us via an internship. She suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome (ME) and found it difficult to find a workplace where she could find some measure of peace, keep her stress level down, work alone and do her tasks in a systematic and predictable fashion.
Through good colleagues, a facilitated workload and the passage of time, she has managed to function in a 50% position. Since January 2014, she is also into a shift position with weekend work where she is alone on duty on both Saturday and Sunday. This would not have been possible just a short time ago.
This employee has in spite of her illness evolved into an increasingly important member of our work team, a positive personality that has a lot to give.
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NORLANDIA CARE GROUP18
A desire to innovate elderly care is behind Oslo city’s decision to turn Tåsenhjemmet into a HealthHome (helsehus).
Tåsenhjemmet is operated by Norlandia, the only private company chosen to participate in the program. “We’re very pleased that the Nursing Administration in Oslo has trusted us with this task”, says project leader Anne Lise Fjellet.
A HealthHome is a short term institution for elderly care. The purpose of distinguish-ing between short and long term offers is to develop elderly care, says communications manager Sofus Urke in Nursing Administra-tion in Oslo. The aim is to increase spe-cialization and expertise in both short term facilities and long nursing homes.
Short term care is designed to give the elderly who live in their own homes a best possible offer. A typical case would be an individual who suffered an acute illness and needed rehabilitation. These patients require frequent physical and ergo therapy sessions to restore them to
their previous level of health – requiring short term facilities to have greater staffing of these functions.Long term care in nursing homes should be beneficial for patients by increasing continuity, security and the experience of the facility as their home.
In practice, the project involves moving long term patients out of Tåsenhjemmet and replacing them with short term patients. This is a logistical challenge to both the physical environment and the staffing of the facility requiring a great deal of flexibility in the organization. Early concerns about staffing and routine failure have fortunately been avoided through good planning and communication.
The Nursing Administration promises that the change at Tåsenhjemmet will take place over time and that they will take into account the patient’s wishes. No long term patients at the nursing home will be moved against their will. The time frame for the transition is set for a year and is on schedule.
Transition to Health-Home
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Language development Communication skills are a necessity to succeed in the modern world. Many children today are not prepared to meet the requirements of primary school. That is why language skills are a priority in the steering document of our preschool division. Our preschool teachers help to make our preschools a learning arena for languages. Systematic training ensures that our educational personnel have the knowledge required to meet the chil-dren’s needs. We use children’s natural desire to learn and play to stimulate language development.
Language development is important at all our preschools, but especially in areas where parents often are not native speakers of the language used in the preschool.
Language skills are refined in directed learning activities such as puzzle solving and game playing. Our staff are particularly attentive to the children’s ability to name and recognize concepts and objects. Singing the same songs repeatedly builds vocabulary and shared cultural understanding. They also help kids with proper usage in the right context.
We use fairytales and books as a means for building vocabulary. The iPads are useful tools for naming objects.
During meal situations, care is taken to stimulate each child to articulate what he or she thinks or has been doing. At playtime, we nudge children to use prepositions actively: Over, under, between and so forth.
During the morning gathering, when we recount the events of the weekend or yesterday, we try to make sure that all kids are given the opportunity to be verbally active. We monitor communica-tion between kids at mealtimes to assess ability to understand verbal and nonverbal cues. Ability to express oneself is key to develope relationships and friend-ships. Vocabulary for articulating prefer-ences and emotions can be cultivated.
We measure progress and cooperate with parents. The strength of our organization allows us to share expertise between our preschools and across borders, to ensure that every child is well prepared to start school.
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At all our elderly care units, all patient hotels, and many preschools in Norway, we have the established practice of opening our institutions to individuals on the outside of the current workforce. There are many reasons why a person may have a reduced ability to get and hold on to a job. A common reason is a combination of psychological challenges, often conditions such as anxiety, depression, or social phobia. Or, there may be people who simply lack the language skills to function in most jobs in Norway. Generally speaking, half of the interns come from Norway and the other half from other countries.
In cooperation with the local labor authorities, Norlandia offers internship opportunities (praktikantstillinger) for such individuals. They acquire useful skills and experiences – performing a set of duties, interacting with other people, getting up in the morning to go to a workplace.
At our elderly care operationsThe assignments given at our elderly care units are customized to the current and expected abilities of each individual. For a person uncomfortable with the company of strangers, service as a kitchen assistant may be a suitable entry position. Others may work as breakfast assistants, setting the tables, serving coffee, preparing breakfast and contributing as a social companion for the residents. Yet another
option may be work in the reception. Our interns wear a badge which clearly specify that they are under training, so that customer expectations are adjusted accordingly.
The interns are usually paid by the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV), sometimes they are partially paid by Norlandia. Some work as much as the equivalent of a full job, others much less. We do have examples of interns who have become regular employees of Norlandia. These are individuals who over time have functioned very well and pursued the formal training required to work in elderly care in Norway.
In the preschoolsIn our preschool division, we are proud of our cooperation with HERO, a leading provider in Norway of competency development programs for refugees and minorities.
At any given time, we have a handful of individuals who participate in the preschool assistant program conducted in cooperation with HERO. This program consists of a preparatory 10week course run by HERO and a 12week internship program at Norlandia preschools. Preschools in the Oslo area are part of this program. The course builds on the curriculum of the upper secondary school, with particular emphasis on the
Becoming part of the working community
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framework plan for the content and tasks of kindergartens issued by the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training.
The interns are compensated by the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV) during the course and the internship period. Participants are originally from countries such as Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Eritrea. Most are women, many are in their forties. The program offers an entryway to a career in the preschool sector. Many start off as temporary workers in our preschools, eventually securing permanent employment. A key requirement is the exam for Norwegian language ability. HERO contributes to readiness for this exam.
At our hotelsHotel St. Olav in Trondheim is committed to facilitating internships. We see this as socially important and as a significant contribution to our hotel in the form of new ideas and energy.
Internships at St. Olav are mainly in the areas of cleaning and cooking, as these are departments that are better able to provide defined tasks for this manpower resource.
Since early 2014, cleaning has had six people as interns, coming from countries like Syria, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Eritrea
and Ethiopia. Of these, one person still works as an oncall temp and one person is a summer substitute.
In the same period, the kitchen had six people as interns from countries such as Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Romania and Norway. Of these, one person moved into a 100% position as a cook and another in a 60% position as a waiter.
The experience at our hotels in Oslo (Gaustad and Montebello) is similar to that of St. Olav: Cleaning duty and kitchen duty works best as internship opportunities. Work in the reception tends to be too complex and too hectic. We are very pleased with the intern candidates that we have had over the last few years.
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Tampere University Hospital, which created the family birth care patient hotel project, received the Finnish Medical Association Quality Award in December of 2014. This concept is unique in Finland.
The Medical Association Quality Award was granted as a recognition of improved health care operations. The award states that the positive effect on patients has been demonstrated. The families who have used the hotel have been very satisfied: patient satisfaction has been an average of 4.7 on a scale of 1 to 5.
Mothers and their families have been able to stay at the Norlandia Care patient
hotel in the hospital area from midsummer of 2013. The patient hotel has so far accommodated more than 2,200 families. Tampere University Hospital is Finland’s third busiest maternity hospital, with up to 5400 births every year.
Patient hotels accommodate the desire to keep families together. Thus, patient hotels facilitate the early interaction between baby and parents. This provides for the formation of secure attachment bonds within a safe environment. The hotel allows for several family members to stay: The father or a support person, but also siblings.
Pregnancy and childbirth is the normal course of events at the hotel. In order to stay at the hotel, both the mother and the baby’s condition have to meet preset criteria. Currently, there are 16 family rooms, and the guests are taken care of by two midwives. Pediatricians visit daily to check up on the babies. If necessary, the mother and baby may transition back to the hospital quickly.
Innovation in newborn care
”We say hello to everyone we meet”. “We knock on the door and wait three seconds before entering the room”. “It is always clean and tidy at our operations”. These are a few excerpts from the Norlandia Service Concept.
The service concept includes Norlandia´s guidelines on how we provide excellent service to our customers. The service concept is one of the clearest examples of the benefits which the other divisions derive from having hotel competence in the corporation. Every employee is expected to follow and act according to the guidelines. Through educational seminars, the concept is communicated at Norlandia´s operations. During the seminars, the concept of the term servicequality is reviewed in depth. Servicequality is defined as the difference between a customer´s expectations and actually perceived service.
Stated differently: Expectation + Perceived service = Service Quality. Basically, excellent service is usually not what we do; rather, it is how we do it.
The hotel management competence permeates the organizations in other ways as well: We strive to create an atmosphere at our elderly care units that is light and uplifting. Flowers, pictures, furniture: all play a part in creating the desired ambience. On certain days, we put together a “hotel breakfast” for our residents to enjoy.
Through a service contract, the employee commits to providing excellent service to our customers and according to the guidelines. This is part of our common objective of a good life every day to our children, guests and elderly people.
Norlandia service concept
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A comprehensive approach to fall prevention
A project at our nursing home Oppsalhjemmet has had great success reducing fall frequency among it’s residents. “The number of falls registered has declined by 20% in the past year”, reports Sverre Andersen, a physical therapist at the facility.
Implementation of our quality system (TQM) in 2010 was the unofficial start of the project. Unofficial, because the implications of systematic tracking of deviations and our efforts for continuous quality improvement were not yet known. When a resident falls – the employees are required to register it in TQM. This information becomes a tool for improving care. In his role as a physical therapist, Andersen began noticing some repetitive reasons for residents falling. By imple-menting measures to eliminate these reasons, they have been able to make the home a safer place for those who live there. Concrete examples of these meas-ures include; changes in or reduction of medications, reduced isolation in room, adjustment or change of mobility device,
use of safety rail to avoid falls from bed, and balance training.
Andersen writes a monthly report summarizing the challenges at the facility. In addition he likes to include a success story to inspire further effort. One of these stories was about “David”. David is 91 years old and uses a wheelchair. He also suffers from dementia. In a two month period he fell six times – and each time he was alone. David had decided that he wanted to spend a lot of time alone in his room. As a result of his dementia, he didn’t call for help when he needed to use the toilet or move from the wheelchair to the bed. In cooperation with the team leader on Davids floor, Andersen decided to encourage David to participate in group activities, cultural events and activities organized by the physical therapists. This has gradually helped David out of his isolation and made him a more active participant at the home. Since the plan was implemented there haven’t been any new falls registered for David.
Sverre Andersen, Physical therapist at Oppsalhjemmet
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At Folkparken preschool in the Stockholm area, teachers and children are working together in a playful context to stimulate the children´s mathematical and logical thinking. The objective is twofold; to create joy and appreciation of math-ematics and to develop an understanding for logical thinking at an early age.
Preschool teacher Helena Katila is in her fourth year at Folkparken and is responsible for educating her colleagues in pedagogi-cal methods to stimulate and develop children’s understanding of mathematics. Through frequent seminars, the teachers are presented with research
based methods which subsequently are translated into joyful and easy to grasp practices at Folkparken. The following are the main areas to which Folkparken pays attention:• Grading and classification to see similarities and differences by compar ing objects and playing games• Numbers and figures to talk about things like age and describe relations between different objects• Measurement measuring distances and sizes and compare• Time perception to discuss concepts such as today, yesterday, tomorrow• Room perception to discuss concepts such as above, below, beside, in front• Graphs and charts making graphs and charts
During the games, the usage of the cor-rect mathematical terms and concepts is important in order to develop the children´s vocabulary within the field. Children in preschool age are fast learners and Helena believes that mathematical words such as triangle and square are popular among the children.
Joyful math
We opened the first patient hotel in Finland in 2012. Since the opening we have collaborated closely with the Tampere University Hospital with regards to patient flow, satisfaction and innovation. Together we have looked at the usage pattern of patient hotels in Sweden and Norway and compared with Finnish legislations and current patient flow structure. With this in mind, we have continually developed our capacity for new patient categories to use the patient hotel, steadily increasing the proportion of patients able to stay in the hotel instead of in the traditional ward.
The main patient groups in the patient hotel comes from the following departments at the hospital: Maternity, Gynecology, Oncology and Paediatrics, Orthopedic (Hip and knee), Neurosurgery, Heart surgery and General surgery.
For each of these departments, we have engaged in dialog with staff to understand how we may create the conditions necessary for the hotel to be a realistic option for the patients. The shift from hospital to hotel has been a benefit to society as well as patients.
Unique collaboration between hospital and hotel
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The daring chef and the curious kids
Blue mussels, Children’s restaurant and education in food and meals. These are among the elements of Eventyrstua preschool’s ambitious work with food and meals. Chef Kristian Midtøy, with long experience from some of the finer restaurants in Oslo, is responsible for the preparation and serving of breakfast, lunch and snacks to Eventyrstua´s 100 children.
Eventyrstua is one of Norlandia’s preschools in the Oslo area. Eventyrstua’s objective regarding food and meals is simple: To serve tasty, nutritious and varied meals. At times, that involves preparing the food from exotic and luxurious ingredients such as blue mussels, lobster and suckling pig. More commonly, food is made from healthy, local, mainstream providers. The concept has attracted attention, not least in the Norwegian press. In 2014, one of Norway’s largest newspapers (VG) had a twopage spread on Eventyrstua´s rather different approach to food and meals to the children.
Close cooperation with Eventyrstua’s food vendors has enabled the preschool to purchase fresh food supplies every day from its Oslo neighborhood for a reasonable sum. Even though traditional courses such as Spaghetti Bolognese and fish sticks are popular, there is great interest among the children in the rather different meals that are served at Eventyrstua.
The children also show great interest in meal preparation, and enjoy learning more about food. “Children’s restaurant” is a concept where Eventyrstua’s children may participate in the kitchen during preparations, write menus and serve one another, just like in a real restaurant. The concept also includes an educational component. Prior to cooking, especially with rather different and luxurious ingredients such as lobster and blue mussels, chef Kristian educate the children about the supplies and its origin. In his opinion, knowledge is important, not least to arouse children’s interest in a more diversified diet and a more complete experience of a meal.
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The wonders of the great outdoors
Stordalen preschool outside of Bodø in Northern Norway has for some years been part of a multicounty project called “robuste Saltenonga”, literally the robust kids of Salten. The project has been aimed at showing the value of outdoor activities.
At Stordalen, the kids venture on long trips or outdoor activities every day, rain or shine. They learn to appreciate outdoor activities. The kids are outside every day; measured by number of hours, they are more outside than inside. The preschool has created a fantastic outside area, including a giant lavvo or traditional Sami tent.
“Our approach teach children a love for the outdoors. We know this has health benefits for life. The kids become mentally and physically robust”, says general manager Vibeke Mæhlum.
Foraging has been a major theme in the project: The children gather edible items from nature. Gathering foodstuffs in the wild is a way to appreciate the abundance of nature. Berries, mushrooms, herbs, leaves, birch sap, fir syrup – the kids learn to use and appreciate resources at a new level. The preschool has invested in a food drying facility, and the kids learn new techniques for storing and preserving food. They also learn to find items in nature to play with. When the kids make decorations for Christmas, Easter or other occasions, they generally use items found in nature rather than in the store.
A major topic last years was all things pertaining to moose, a wonderful animal indeed. The kids learned about what the moose eats, how they live and their historic role as a food resource for humans. The kids followed closely the hunt in the fall and had the opportunity to taste dishes made from fresh moose meat. Most intriguingly, they collected moose droppings and painted them for decorations. The result: A unique and novel way of decorating the Christmas tree at the Radisson BLU Hotel in the city of Bodø this year.
Another major project has been snow constructions. The preschool bough specialized equipment for making blocks or shapes of snow. The equipment is essentially large boxes in which snow is stamped hard in order to make building modules. Children and staff have built towers, castles, bridges and houses using the modules.
The kids learn to become very independ-ent. They chop their own wood, light their own fire and cook their own food. They assume greater responsibility for their own safety and become more conscious of potential dangers.
The kids have also been given the opportunity to push their own limits during ice climbing. While safety measures were well in place, the kids got a feel for the airy exposure of near vertical ice climbing.
On a more peaceful note, the kids have had the chance to follow life in a bird nesting box. A web camera was placed inside, so the children had a close up view of the baby birds emerging from the eggs.
One consequence of the project has been a consistently low absence rate, both among children and employees.
“A benefit of the project is that the kids grow to display a sense of control and mastery. One thing is the obvious impact on physical ability, but they also show more empathy and caring. There are much fewer conflicts and fighting among the kids”, says regional manager Vigdis Lillebjerka.
General manager Vibeke Mæhlum has received considerable acclaim on behalf of Stordalen preschool. She has visited the regional university to provide insights about the project. The learnings are also shared with our other preschools in the region.
In general, the theme of the project fit very well with the health promoting profile of the Norlandia preschool division. Outdoor activities have a high priority at preschools throughout Norway.
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Photo: PBL
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Salutogenic management
In the fall of 2014 Norlandia conducted training in the concept of salutogenesis for all its site managers in Sweden. The participants got a better understanding of the concepts, and learned some techniques applicable to everyday work situations.
Salutogenesis, from the Latin word salus = health and the Greek word genesis = origin, is a term coined by Aaron Antonovsky, a professor of medical sociology. The term describes an approach focusing on factors that support human health and wellbeing, rather than on factors that cause disease (pathogenesis). Key concepts in the salutogenic field is meaningfulness, comprehensibility and manageability; three sub-components which together form the salutogenic theory SOC, Sense Of Coherence.
Norlandia has extensive experience of a salutogenic management. Norlandia Elderly Care pioneered the adoption of the salutogenic approach; today the salutogenic way of working is common both in our preschools as well as in our patient hotels. The benefits are many, both for Norlandias customers as well as for employees. At an organizational level, a salutogenic management has enabled Norlandia to create a health promoting environment which serve to inspire,
encourage and acknowledge positive behavior. This environment also create opportunities for learning, understanding and taking initiative.
Our customers are affected by the salutogenic approach. By identifying and evaluating activities and practices that support human health, we strengthen the individual’s ability to persist and recover. A mindset of salutogenesis contributes to our approach in tending to our customers´ wellbeing.
As described, Norlandia´s salutogenic approach was strengthened in the fall of 2014 with the help of Anders Hanson, one of Sweden’s foremost writers and lecturers in the field. Through our annual management education program, Norlandia´s site managers were trained in salutogenic leadership. Our main objective with a salutogenic management as well as a salutogenic leadership tool kit is to create conditions that allow people at Norlandia´s operational sites to succeed. Salutogenic leadership makes a difference by motivating and coaching in a way that raises the individual’s willingness and ability to assume responsibility. Needless to say, the salutogenic way of working is aligned with Norlandia´s core values CARE and our goal of creating a good life every day.
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Ersta Sköndal University College in Stockholm is one of Sweden´s leading research institutions dedicated to stud-ies in the fields of social work, nursing and health care with an explicit ethical orientation. Since 2012, the Institute for Organizational and Worklife Ethics (IOA) at Ersta Sköndal has conducted a research program to shed light on the various aspects of Swedish elderly care industry. Key areas of the program includes ethical issues, social treatment and managerial aspects of social work and three books have been published by the research team; Bemötandets etik, Äldreomsorgen – praktiken, debatten och framtiden and Chefsroller inom omsorgen.
Since its inception, Norlandia has been a financial sponsor of Ersta Sköndal and IOA´s research program. As part of the elderly care industry, we strongly believe it is of great importance to support and contribute to the Swedish research community’s efforts to enhance public knowledge of the industry as well as to contribute to the national development of Swedish elderly care. In addition to an annual financial grant, key employees of Norlandia have during the project phase formed a reference group together with other people from the industry. The qualitative part of the research program and subsequent books are based on interviews and discussions with members of this group.
The first book Bemötandets etik was published in 2013, Äldreomsorgen - praktiken, debatten och framtiden in 2014 and the last book Chefsroller inom omsorgen will be released in spring 2015. Each book release has been followed by a seminar where representatives from Ersta Sköndal, the private sponsors of the program as well as representatives from Swedish municipalities have participated and discussed the scientific results. From Norlandia´s perspective, many areas and aspects of the first two books have inspired us in our daily quality work offered at elderly care units. One noteworthy example is the development of an entirely new training seminar in social treatment based on the book Bemötandets etik offered to the employees at our Swedish nursing homes. By identifying and evaluating social treatment activities and practices based on scientific results, the professionalism of Norlandia´s employees is enhanced and even greater emphasis is put on our customers´ wellbeing.
Supporting work at Ersta Sköndal
Joyful freedom
In general, in all our divisions we emphasize the benefits of spending time outside. We seize the day, and seek out the activities most appropriate for the day and the season. What better way to spend a hot summer day than by a secluded forest lake? The residents at Gullhaug in Bærum outside of Oslo made the most of the excellent summer of 2014.
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Making every meal a great experience
At our elderly care units, the meals are very valuable situations. Beyond the obvious aspect of nutrition, they offer an arena for social interaction, use of skills to maintain personal independence and a sensory experience for the eye and the palate.
Norlandia has made major strides over the last few years in ensuring consistently high quality in food related service provision. In Sweden, our elderly care division have conceptualized the Five Aspect Meal Model (FAMM) in cooperation with Örebro University. We have worked closely with prof. Åsa Öström at this university.
Historically, the five aspect model has been developed and used within the research area of culinary arts and meal science. The five aspects are: the room, the encounter, the product, the management system and the atmosphere. The original idea for the five aspect meal model was developed by Guide Michelin.
Through systematic work with our food and meal concept in accordance with the FAMM model, we ensure that all employees know how to optimize the opportunities afforded by the meal situation in our operations. With good knowledge, established routines and a clear and inspirational leadership, we strive to achieve value for our users.
The following are the primary benefits of FAMM:• A high perceived quality of food and meal situation• Individual needs and desires are appreciated; we seek selfdetermi nation for the users in all meaningful choices• Each food and meal situation should be perceived as a highlight of the day
Norlandia has conceptualized the FAMM model and implemented the practice at a number of our elderly care units. Our FAMM concept now guide food related service provision at our elderly care units in Sweden.
Prof. Öström has conducted training at our unit St. Knut in the very south of Sweden. All employees participated in the education. A major effort was to involve all employees in the education, not just the people who work with food provisions. Learnings from this training effort has been conveyed to other Norlandia units in Sweden, and increasingly we are able to deliver service at the highest level in accordance with FAMM.
Residents and the relatives have been very happy with the changes.
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Quality
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Quality pays offNorlandia is committed to delivering good quality in all aspects of our services. Doing it right the first time and according to best practice is what we always strive for. That makes economic sense both for society and for the company.
Still, each day, errors are made that must be corrected. Through planning and risk assessment potential obstacles to good quality are uncovered. High awareness of potential risks minimizes the likelihood of incorrect or substandard deliveries. In our production of services, it will be impossible to eliminate all sources of error. It is therefore important to have a good system to evaluate the services provided and follow up mistakes made.
Through the deviation management module in our quality system TQM we have a tool that allows us to follow up and learn from the mistakes committed. This allows us to develop ourselves so that we do not make the same mistakes next time around. All incidents are followed up by line management and quality assurance managers. Handling deviations is very important at all levels of the organization.
Implementation of good processes before, during and after the service delivery is important. These processes are described in our quality system, and
we are constantly looking to improve and simplify these so that we will make fewer mistakes in the future.
Succesful ISO certificationNorlandia underwent in 2014 for the first time in its corporate history an ISO audit. In 2014, the Norwegian part of the group was ISO certified by external auditor agency Intertek. After many years of systematic quality assurance work and assessments on whether to pursue certification, it was decided in late 2012 that Norlandia would seek ISO certification. Through 2013, the organization was preparing for the certification process. This started in December 2013 with headquarters and from January 2014 with audits of individual units. A total of eight kindergartens, three hotels and five elderly care units were audited in addition to head office.
The process of ISO certification has contributed to the group today having a more comprehensive and unified quality system. The system consists of an identical governing element which applies to all our operations in Norway, Sweden and Finland.
The individual divisions have common core processes that focus on customer needs and what they can expect from us. In the core processes are descriptions of
Quality development work
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processes and procedures that will help ensure that our employees deliver the quality level which our customers are entitled to.
Each country has a common supportive element to aid the operation of the various units.
Result ISO audit 2014The auditors in 2014 found 14 minor deviations for the group as a whole. According to ISO, deviations are classified as “serious” and “less serious” deviations. For less serious deviations , an action plan must be prepared which is then approved by our auditor. For serious deviations, a new audit is required.
ISO in SwedenIn the Swedish part of the group, the organization worked in 2014 to prepare for the ISO audit in 2015. A process to transfer relevant competencies between the Norwegian project team to its Swedish counterpart was completed at an early stage.
All divisions in Sweden have prepared common procedures, translated overarching procedures and developed training materials during the first half of 2014. In the latter half of the year, training and internal audits were the primary focus.
Quality teamsNorlandia has grown rapidly and significantly in terms of number of units. Ensuring appropriate structure around our quality work is important in order for the organization to grow and develop while at the same time continue to deliver good quality. The quality teams
will first and foremost make sure that “best practices” are shared within the region and division. In addition, they will participate in quality control.
Further development of our services and contributing to how services in our sectors will be delivered in the future are central objectives for the company.
Quality teams have an important role in the development of service quality. In addition, they are important to leverage the synergies between the three divisions. There is no doubt that the elderly care division can provide knowledge to the other divisions.
Our elderly care operations in Norway and Sweden have over time developed their own quality team and local teams that systematically work with quality issues, control and development. During 2014, this work is also well under way in the preschool division and hotel division.Norlandia will have an overarching corporate quality team for the entire group that will be established in 2015.
PERFORMANCE ON THE QUALITY OBJECTIVES IN 2014The following are the results for the dif-ferent quality objectives in 2014:
All employees know and live by our values.98 percent positive responses on survey.
In all surveys which compare us against competitors, we shall be in the upper third.There have been very few measurements that compare us with our competitors.
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Our quality system, TQM.
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All employees have the necessary skills and participate in corporate training.Audits support management assessment that we are in compliance with this goal.
No significant deviations in external audits. We have had a number of audits and we have received minor discrepancies at several audits within various categories. We have had no mission critical deviations that have not been closed within the auditors’ deadlines. We have not received any deviation which required immediate correction (risk of closure or similar).
Minimum 80% user satisfaction in all user surveys.There are a number user surveys in the various divisions which demonstrate that we achieve this goal.
Employee satisfaction of 3.65 (out of 4) on questions about the quality and com-petence in employee satisfaction survey. We did not reach this target in 2014. The employee satisfaction score was 3,55 across Norway and Sweden.
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QUALITY OBJECTIVES FOR 2015
Based on the suggestions from our external auditors Intertek, we have reduced the number of objectives we have set for 2015. The objectives are:
• 85% user satisfaction• All employees Norlandia know our ethical guidelines• A score of 3.50 on a 1 4 scale on question about employees’ assessment of quality.
Norlandia has worked to be environmentally conscious for a long time locally. Preschools, elderly care units, and patient hotels have been working on environmental issues. They have raised the level of sensitivity about our impact on the environment. One result of this work is that our operating units have established the practice of sorting waste. Another result is the requirements for our suppliers in terms of environmental contamination.
Children in our preschools learn about sorting waste for the purpose of recycling. Some preschools are specifically outdoororiented and therefore have a special concern for protecting nature. Other preschools are concerned with their immediate community and contribute in various ways to keep it clean. A good example of this work is Sagoskeppets Preschool in Malmö which in 2014 received the award “School for sustainable development” from the school authorities in Sweden.
In order to achieve a more systematic and comprehensive approach to its environmental work, Norlandia will in 2015 prepare the organization for the certification of “ISO 14001”. This is a specific environmental standard, which we plan to introduce from 2016.
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Environment
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Norlandia Care Group AS
Business addressVerkstedveien 18008 BodøNorway
Head OfficeØvre Vollgate 130158 OsloNorway
Norlandia Care AB / Norlandia Förskolor ABGarvargatan 9112 21 StockholmSweden
Norlandia Care OY Biokatu 14, building FinnMedi 633520 TampereFinland
KindeXBachlaan 22253 BA VoorschotenThe Netherlands
www.norlandiacare.no / se / fi
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