11 September 2023
 |
At Silvera, you don’t have to move out to move up. Ryan Morrison, employee scheduler, is a prime example of how individuals can progress into a variety of roles throughout the organization.
Ryan started at Silvera in 2011 as a Community Evening Attendant at Westview in a one-year contract position. After his contract ran out, he left the organization to work as a standby emergency medical responder in the oilpatch. He returned to Silvera in 2014 as a casual Dining Attendant, again at Westview, and learned other roles too. “My career goals shifted,” Ryan says. “I didn’t want to be involved with EMS anymore, so I took a role as a housekeeper at Westview. I trained in reception and dabbled as an active aging assistant. I was also a dining attendant and a community night attendant. I did a little bit of everything!” Ryan became a full-time floater and had a chance to work in every Silvera supportive living community. He was trained in every service level. |
“In these community-based roles, I got to talk and learn from everyone in the organization — employees, leaders, residents, families. It helped me learn the organization very well,” he says.
He became employee scheduler in February after being encouraged to branch out by a few different supervisors. “I had a lot of support throughout the organization, several people suggested I should apply,” he says.
Ryan credits excellent mentorship from these supervisors for helping him learn a variety of skills and by giving him “a lot of good advice.”
When the employee scheduler role opened up, he applied for it within an hour of the post going up.
The role was a great fit for Ryan because of his keen understanding of community needs after his many years at Silvera.
As employee scheduler, Ryan is responsible for scheduling casual and full-time floater employee coverage at all SL communities.
“My job is to ensure every community has adequate coverage and that there aren’t holes in the schedule,” he says. “It can be busy, especially when we are still dealing with post-COVID structured chaos, meaning that we need to have a plan but also have contingency plans in place.”
Ryan identifies organization and adaptability as the keys to his success. “Not everything is in your control. You need to be ready to face the unexpected.”
His best advice for employees who are looking to grow their careers is to “be genuinely curious, take an interest in learning about the organization and speak up. Don’t wait for opportunities to come to you. Talk to everyone, let people know you want to develop your skills. If you don’t tell anybody what suits your interests, nobody is going to know.”