OLDS — An employee at the Seasons Olds Encore retirement facility has won an award for making the company's operations more efficient.
Kevin Rinas, an environmental services manager at the facility, won the bi-annual competition Dream it Up competition during the Seasons 2022 conference in Toronto according to a news release issued Dec. 12.
He received the grand prize, a $10,000 travel voucher from the company.
The competition invites employees to submit an idea that proposes a new process, policy, piece of equipment, or technology to improve the lives of the residents or company staff.
The suggestion must drive occupancy, improve engagement with residents or team members, or support training and recruitment.
Rinas pitched an idea to improve housekeeping with the implementation of dryer balls in each of the Seasons’ communities. The nation-wide company has a second retirement facility in Olds called Seasons Olds.
Through his trials, dryer balls proved to improve the quality of laundry, cut down on necessary laundry supplies, enhance the performance of equipment, increase drying time and ultimately lead to cost efficiencies and redistribution of labour time to better serve residents.
With dryer balls, essential oils such as lavender can be added to laundry, which the residents loved and shared feedback that it provided them with better sleep.
“It is part of my job as a manager to find ways to save money, but to see the response from our residents after implementing this change was amazing,” Rinas said in the news release. “The smiles on the residents’ faces were the ultimate success to me.”
“The Seasons Dream it Up competition is an opportunity for us to get direct feedback from our team members. We really want to inspire them to think big,” Seasons chief operating officer LeighAnne Voll said in the release.
In February, more than 120 applications were submitted, which were then shortlisted to three finalists.
Over the last few months, the three finalists worked alongside mentors who supported their competition journey through to the in-person finalist pitches.
