{"id":38389,"date":"2024-08-20T03:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=38389"},"modified":"2026-02-27T02:36:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:36:37","slug":"changemaker-gottfried-ernst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/changemaker-gottfried-ernst\/","title":{"rendered":"Appreciating Gottfried Ernst"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s Changemakers series<\/a> is nearly coming to an end \u2014 we\u2019ve celebrated several phenomenal honorees so far! We\u2019re pleased to be the series\u2019 sponsor for the sixth consecutive year, partnering with Senior Housing News<\/a> (SHN) to bring you exclusive, detailed interviews that cover each leader\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

Each honoree has brought a unique perspective to the table, sharing how they\u2019ve grown throughout their career, navigated industry obstacles and most importantly, driven positive change.<\/p>\n

The Changemaker celebrated today is Gottfried Ernst, COO at Cogir Senior Living<\/a>, one of our dedicated senior living clients<\/a>. Through his interview with SHN, Ernst speaks to the value of technology, the unique ways Cogir navigates change and more.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Learn from Changemaker Gottfried Ernst<\/strong><\/p>\n

SHN:<\/em><\/strong> How have you changed as a leader since starting in the senior living industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ernst:<\/em><\/strong> When I started in this industry, I was more focused on learning and adapting to the tasks at hand. My focus was more on understanding the industry better and developing my skills to best fit. Over time, I\u2019ve developed a deeper understanding of team dynamics, effective communication and the importance of empathy in leadership.<\/p>\n

As my leadership style matured and I became more confident, empathy and vulnerability has helped me over the years to really connect with people. I\u2019ve learned to delegate tasks more efficiently as well. I trust my team\u2019s expertise and provide support where needed. That has worked for me. Additionally, I\u2019ve become more adept at navigating challenges and conflicts and finding constructive solutions that benefit both the team and the organization as a whole.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve evolved into a more confident and compassionate leader who strives to inspire and empower those around me. That\u2019s what I believe and that\u2019s what I stand for. I continuously try to improve how I can be the best leader for my team and for others.<\/p>\n

SHN:<\/em><\/strong> Can you provide an example of a change you\u2019ve made in operations and why you made that change specifically?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ernst:<\/em><\/strong> In a former company, I changed the way we gather feedback from residents using technology. I\u2019m a firm believer that successful businesses don\u2019t just give a survey once a year to the customers and allow them to weigh in. I believe in continuous serving of our residents, team members and customers to be able to really get a holistic and full picture of what we can do better. That was an area that I dove into and made a change to and it worked really well.<\/p>\n

Another example is I worked on a program that allowed our Illinois customers to choose what package they would like to be part of when they move into the community, what service package they want with housekeeping and more. It was a dynamic senior housing concept where the customer is in the driver\u2019s seat in what we offer, not us. It was not easy to execute economically, but certainly something that I\u2019m very proud of.<\/p>\n

Then in the post-Covid era, it\u2019s important to give team members more flexibility and truly allow them to be in control, similar to the residents. I implemented different ways of providing shifts, applying for schedules, and allowing our people to actually tell us when they can work versus the other way around. That made an impact on the retention side and certainly helped us with staffing on the clinical side as well.<\/p>\n

SHN:<\/em><\/strong> In your opinion, what is the single greatest driver of change in the senior living industry today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ernst:<\/em><\/strong> Change in resident demand, desire, and what they\u2019re looking for as we continue to gain occupancy, margin compression, and staff retention. Those are the three main drivers that drive change in our industry today and will continue to do so.<\/p>\n

Read Changemaker Gottfried Ernst\u2019s entire interview<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out the full Changemaker interview with Gottfried Ernst<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve followed the series since the start, we hope you learned something valuable from each honoree. New to the series? Read all the 2024 interviews<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s Changemakers series is nearly coming to an end \u2014 we\u2019ve celebrated several phenomenal honorees so far! We\u2019re pleased to be the series\u2019 sponsor for the sixth consecutive year, partnering with Senior Housing News (SHN) to bring you exclusive, detailed interviews that cover each leader\u2019s story. Each honoree has brought a unique perspective to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":782,"featured_media":38391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2952],"tags":[2855,2438],"class_list":["post-38389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senior-living","tag-changemakers-series","tag-yardi-senior-living-suite"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYardi Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how Changemaker Gottfried Ernst drives positive change in senior living in this 2024 series by Yardi and Senior Housing News.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/changemaker-gottfried-ernst\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Appreciating Gottfried Ernst\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how Changemaker Gottfried Ernst drives positive change in senior living in this 2024 series by Yardi and Senior Housing News.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/changemaker-gottfried-ernst\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Yardi Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-20T10:05:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-27T10:36:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/08\/blog-1920x1080-2.png?w=1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Natalie Mahn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Natalie Mahn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/changemaker-gottfried-ernst\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/changemaker-gottfried-ernst\/\",\"name\":\"Meet Changemaker Gottfried Ernst - 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