One way you can foster a sense of community is by highlighting the amazing staff you work with in your senior living newsletter. Writing an article about an outstanding employee is a great way to showcase the talent and dedication of your staff while also engaging with your residents. In this post, we will provide some tips on how you can write such articles and make them interesting and engaging for your readers.

Choose a candidate

The first step is to decide on the featured employee for your article. Do you want to feature an outstanding employee-of-the-month, someone new to the community, someone with a recent or upcoming birthday or anniversary, or someone you just want readers to get to know better? Once you have decided on the person, you can start collecting information.

Gather information

To write a compelling article, you need to gather information about the person you are featuring. You can start by conducting an interview with the person, asking them about their background, interests, and their experience working at the community. You can also ask for their photo and some information about their personal life, such as their hobbies and family.

Let the subject tell their story of their time working at your facility. Start at the beginning; ask when they started and what their role was. If the subject has been with the community a while, find out if it’s the same role they have today. How did they find themselves in the job they have now? If the subject is a newer employee, you can ask similar questions about their hopes and aspirations for their career in the future. For either scenario, discover if they have aspirations to advance their career or work a different role within your community. 

Let the associate tell you about any achievements, highlights and challenges they’ve had in their experience working there thus far. Additional questions you might ask are their favorite things about their job or unique aspects of their job. Anything that showcases the multitude of ways this person makes an excellent member of your staff.

Don’t forget to also ask about this special person’s life outside of work! Let them share about their family, kids, friends, pets, hobbies, anything that helps the reader get to know them better as a person. Finally, add a call to action, like; “you can find Joe in the fitness room on Saturdays,”  or; “ask Jane about her dog, Piper,” for residents to get to know the associate. Regardless of the size of your community, it might be difficult for residents to get to know the many associates who surround them. An article like this is an authentic way to build connections and familiarity within the community. 

Include quotes

Quotes from the person you are featuring can add a personal touch to the article. Include quotes that highlight their passion for their job, their favorite aspects of working at the community, or their thoughts on the impact they have on the residents.

Write, edit and proofread

Once you have gathered all the information you need, it’s time to start writing the article. Begin with an attention-grabbing headline that clearly states the topic of the article. Use the information you collected to write a compelling story about the person you are featuring.

Before publishing the article, make sure to edit and proofread it carefully. Check for grammar and spelling errors, and ensure that the article flows well. It’s also a good idea to have someone else read the article to ensure it’s easy to read and understand. When you use our service to create your newsletter, we read each article and correct any grammar and spelling errors we see.

Publish and promote

Once you have written the article, it’s time to publish it. It’s easy to upload the article and photos online using our newsletter builder. Once we have the text and photo, we our design professionals take it from there and create a beautiful newsletter you will be proud to distribute. By publishing the article in your senior living newsletter, you can increase engagement and foster a sense of community within your community. If you don’t already have an account, click here to answer a few questions and get started today!

Learn more about our activity calendar and senior living newsletter services or book an appointment to discuss your publishing needs.