It’s been said the more things change, the more they stay the same. While Atria’s revamped Exceptional Service Award (ESA) continues to honor outstanding employees who go above and beyond to serve residents and their communities, the program is now designed to recognize more individuals and provide larger bonuses.

“We re-examined our employee awards when Holiday by Atria became part of our team,” says Paige Burkey, Director of Benefits at Atria. “It was the right time to show new employees how we value exceptional service in our communities.”

Now announced once each year – in the fall – all other service awards have been combined into the ESA, which serves as the highest employee honor across Atria’s entire family of brands.

“Though we considered introducing an entirely new award, the ESA has such a rich tradition,” Burkey says. “We wanted to honor that tradition, but also enlarge the program, celebrate more individuals with bigger financial prizes and move forward as a unified team.”

Additionally, the judging of submissions has been altered to provide more authority to those most closely connected to communities.

Executive Directors and General Managers can nominate one individual from their teams, and candidates will now be assessed by a Regional Vice President who knows the makeup, history and pulse of their respective communities.

Once the changes are implemented, approximately 250 winners will be announced, representing nearly 75% of communities across Atria’s family of brands.

What isn’t changing, however, is the caliber of individual and the extraordinary efforts necessary to achieve an Exceptional Service Award.

Meticulously designed to honor those who embody and surpass Atria’s vision of service, the ESA is a testament to the dedication of employees who serve their customers and communities with excellence.

Across brands, Atria’s standards for the quality of service residents receive is consistent, so it’s natural for exceptional employees to be recognized consistently as well.

“Awarding ESAs annually ensures its prestige for recipients,” Burkey says. “And larger prizes for even more individuals is truly a win-win.”

Atria will announce the 2023 winners of the Exceptional Service Award in late October.