Building from scratch, again –  Rockpool’s leadership team shows small providers can punch above their weight, challenge the status quo in an industry that deserves to thrive

They’ve done it once already. Rockpool’s executive team built four flag-ship homes that were snapped up by Regis for their care excellence, innovative operations and robust reputation. But Rockpool’s leadership team are striving to do it again. From planning-scratch, in a time of profound turbulence in legislation and rules, Rockpool’s leadership are aiming to bring their blend of brilliance and heart to the aged care sector once more. Hearing from CEO, Mel Argent, is a window of candour and grit into this rarity. To delve into what it takes, what’s the substance of leadership needed return to a sector that can leave veterans reeling, cannot be a more worthwhile conversation, hard as it may be, for a sector that has been consistently rocked. Rockpool’s leadership team had the opportunity to leave the sector. In the decision to return, in the months of “being back in startup land”, lies lessons, in agility and humility, and confronting frustration and tenacity by asking the hard questions about what’s not working. In staying, in showing up, in doing it again, Argent and her team share what textbooks or AI cannot. Their decisions and lessons are a testament to what is in human, resilient, at-times frustrated, leadership that continues to show up for a sector that oftentimes doesn’t love it back. And to strive to deliver anyway.

Duality of feelings

Argent shares that in aged care, there can be multiple, competing feelings. Post the sale of Rockpool’s four homes to Regis there was and is an “excitement for the relaunch of what we’re calling Rockpool round two.” Amid the exhaustion of managing a monumental sale, there continued to be an underlying thrill to dive back in, “it was really for us to keep going, to be bigger and better than ever.”

But in the push to seek bigger and better, Argent shares that there were times of feeling unsettled by what the space opened up, “it is the strangest thing to go from four operating sites, to what is this current stage, I thought it would be this quiet, reflective time, ‘what did we do well, what could we do better’ but we haven’t been able to come up for air.” What the team found was the need to wrestle with the changing legislation.

“We were wanting to take a good look at everything we were doing, is it fit for purpose, did we love it but then you throw in the new act and legislation, and we think what a privilege to be watching from the side-lines but really, it is chaos out there.”

The time of building from scratch looked to be opening up to tackle deep frustrations that had been growing. Seeking to bring about sparks to make quality change a reality, Argent steps into conversations that aren’t easy. And yet the sector needs conversations that lead it to the bedrock of sustainable and dependable brilliance it deserves. Argent honours the nature of the industry and what sincere leaders must tackle, “it is not for the faint of heart.”

When it comes to the reality of the new legislation and rules, for those sincere leaders trying to navigate it all, she shares her heart for her peers in the thick of it, “I feel it almost as guilt, seeing our peers out there, navigating rules that are changing, on Christmas Eve we were all receiving rules updates that were changing  as part of legislation that was meant to be implemented in November.”

“It’s actually not ok.”

“A beauty”

At the same time, Argent and the leadership team are deep in the pragmatics of builds. Speaking of the new builds that are underway for Rockpool round two, Argent is buoyant and shares that their Kedron site, “is going to be a beauty.”

While they’ve had construction difficulties including a lot of rain, “we’re soon to start construction on our site at the Gold Coast, which is, again, fairly exciting and that’ll be a slightly larger project for us down there.”

Part of the beauty belying this new round is that while Argent and her team are making sure they’re in line with the new act, they don’t want to, “lose sight of some of our innovations that make Rockpool great.”

“We can’t build them quick enough”

Important for the wider sector to hear, and those outside of it, heartfelt provider leadership are personally and professionally torn by conditions in the sector. As she watches the exciting new builds take shape, Argent is mindful of what the sector needs.

“We certainly know the demand is crazy, we just can’t build them quick enough.”

Argent shares that, “we had to essentially go right back to startup and so we’ve had to apply to the Quality and Safety Commission for a new registered provider status.”

In the unexpected challenges that are facing providers seeking to bring excellence into the market, exasperation can be a persistent companion.

Argent shares, “I literally had to go back and put pen to paper, around why Rockpool should be granted registered provider status. So it’s a little unsettling when we’ve got half a building out of the ground, relying on our banking partners to back us, but we actually still don’t have the license to operate. And part of that is just purely as a result of new legislation.”

In returning to the sector, in seeking to build incredible offerings again, Argent is clear, tenacity is daily required in the face of, arguably, the absurd.

“In some ways, how crazy is it? We’ve sold four of the best operating sites in Queensland, yet we’ve got to go back, really sell ourselves as to why we should be allowed to do it again.”

Innovation – relationship over rules

Rockpool’s leadership has consistently had the drive for breaking the mold, pushing innovation to deliver excellence in aged care. In doing it initially, that took risk to go about operations differently, and a grit to navigate the then rules.

With the new and seemingly ever-changing rules, Argent names what this can do to innovation, “new regulation, for me, is a scary way to stifle innovation.” As the rules remain largely uncertain, changing and opaque, this has consequences to providers, this has consequence to the ability to push for innovative changes to deliver the best.

Argent enters into this hard conversation with a conviction that wants to see the best for leadership, the best for seniors and the best for the sector. She asks, “are we now entering again this phase where we’re so focused on compliance that there is no innovation and people don’t have the energy because they’re trying to implement a new act?”

She challenges the way that current compliance legislation is playing out, “we should all be looking through the winning post and agree, that’s where we’re heading. How do we get there together?”

When it comes to encouraging new providers to enter the market, to bring fresh ideas, energy and support for a stretched sector, Argent points to a consequence of compliance burden with newcomers, “just afraid of catching up.”

For those like Rockpool’s leadership, Argent is kind in her transparency, even for well-experienced providers, “it’s getting harder and harder to do both, to build and hold the operations. But we need to because how else can you understand what our consumers really want if we can’t take charge of the design and the build?”

The gap of theory and reality

Costs of building have flown past stratospheric. Central to doing what is daunting for all sectors across Australia, Argent shares that they have needed nerves of steel, and a willingness to doggedly fight for feasibility in builds.

“We’re holding on to making sure these projects are feasible. So the threat that’s coming towards us with funding is a challenge”, she shares, and when new changes come in, the tightrope becomes more precarious, “the changes in care minutes is just a huge impact on the industry because quantity doesn’t equate to quality.”

In seeing new rules come in, and placing that against the innovative policy Argent recognises a tension keenly felt by much of aged care’s leadership and front-line staff. Cherished by Rockpool residents was being seen as a full human and honouring the basic joy of food, “one of the biggest philosophies that made Rockville fabulous was around our commitment to food, food service” and so she asks, “to think what role is accounted in care minutes across the industry, does it really reflect a simplistic approach to delivering aged care services? Because, yes, care is absolutely critical and fundamental. But what about every other part of a person’s life? Lifestyle, food, you know, where is the measurement in that?”

Argent champions the critical thinking of provider leadership, to wrestle with what legislation has meant on the ground, in the way to, or rather, in the way of, providing excellence in care.

Honouring frustration should and must have a part to play in navigating to a robust, excellent and resilient sector. That means questioning the impact of legislation, “what sort of impact care minutes made to improving our industry, aside from greater reporting? And now with the threat to take back funding, we’re an industry struggling, and to talk about pulling funding away is deeply frustrating.”

Argent shares the grit the team has in “trying to manage and still build innovative homes that are distinctly different whilst trying to overlay with all these new reporting requirements that we have.”

She advocates that within the compliance approach from government, there is a hard conversation to have about how it’s not working to fully bring about intended results. There is the need for a new nuanced approach. “[We should be ] celebrating good providers and letting them keep going and proving themselves. Yes, you’ve got to be able to show quality, and outcomes but poor providers shouldn’t tarnish the rest.”

She attests, “we know where the issues in the industry are, focus there, and let the rest of us prove excellence.”

“Compliance as it is means, for many excellence providers, squandered resources.”

Technology must be a priority

In having the time to work on the sidelines, what has cemented in Argent’s mind is the desperate need for technology updates across the sector.

“If we don’t start having a focus on technology in this industry, we are going to continue to tread water. [but] there is little to no funding for technology, for systems that help us with this reporting”, Argent says. In preparing to build Rockpool again, she sees the place technology must have in shouldering the compliance burden but challenges the lack of funding to support it.

“We’ve got to find funds from within the business. We have to do that. We need technology to give us good real-time data.”

She names that the government backend must be improved, “we also should be able to rely on those that are providing our services and our funding that their systems are fit for purpose too. And that is the biggest gap in all of this change for me.” Providers must have smooth systems that feed back into government reporting to minimise resources from within the provider going towards data management instead of care, a big lift remains.

“Everyone is just appalled at My Aged Care, looking at what is expected of every other industry, why is aged care left behind in tech? The white elephant in the room with tech is it needs an enormous amount of funding and an enormous amount of support.”

Argent names the tech challenges facing providers, “I think if you went out and asked providers, they’ll be dealing with about 42 different systems to run their business.”

Funding and government back-ends, to ensure the industry has the systems and processes to support efficiency, “we have to get better at that.”

Litmus test

Argent notes that in her leadership journey, she, “loves luring people into aged care because it’s so addictive, once you’re in, you think, this is absolutely fantastic.” Bringing in new and diverse talent is a litmus test for leadership, to advocate for working in aged care, through the difficulty and challenge, is an important heart and energy-tank test.

In this interim time, Argent and her team recognise they need each other to remain motivated and energised, but as well, the awareness is there, a bustling, vibrant, staff base is the eventual goal.

“You really need people.”

Being on the “’side-lines’” for the past few months has meant Argent has also been able to see and appreciate that leadership in aged care is encouraging at the macro ‘village’ level. Far from the dark notes of other industries, aged care is held together by the sincere people that pour themselves in across the board.

“You sort of look around and you think every day, there are incredible people that work in this industry and they are so committed to the cause.”

Kernal of optimism

While Argent is passionate and convicted to name what isn’t working and to challenge the gap of legislation to landing excellence in care in the reality, she showcases that aged care leadership must navigate frustration with tenacity, levity and a willingness to fight for optimism.

Through it all, through wrestling with compliance and reporting burdens, through frustration at backend efficiencies that swallow up resources, Argent’s bedrock is her team.

“The team I have around me at Rockpool are amazing”, Argent says.

“And the commitment of those that are preparing for Rockpool round two, our board, and the investors that back us. Because more than ever, it would have been really easy for us to walk away. And there is this deep, committed drive to keep doing better.”

“And that’s certainly what motivates me at the moment.”

Different energy

In changing from full operations to startup, Argent shares, “It’s a really big thing to be a CFO or a COO of nearly 1,000 beds and 2,000 staff, to going back to being a COO of an undeveloped couple of sites and two or three team members. And even for me, we’d go back to the startup phase. It takes a different sort of energy.”

“But that team kicking into gear and still giving 150% right up to Christmas and over the new year, just to continue to make it better is what keeps me going. And we just need to focus on maintaining that momentum to get back to having residents.”

Your people are integral, Argent shares, it’s not wishy-washy, it’s not pithy, it’s an absolute need. To keep tenaciously striving for excellence within an environment that can feel set up to make the best laid plans precarious, the people who will have your back is a professional and personal non-negotiable.

Malleability is balancing tension

Argent shares of the humility of going from CEO of a huge operation to a startup, with the proximity and intimacy of this time meaning navigating different challenges.

“It’s almost like writing down your entire business on a piece of paper for what it’s worth and analyzing every element of it.”

Argent notes the new nuances, “we knew where our flaws were, and that’s what we should focus on fixing or getting better. But let’s not completely untangle something that worked very well.”

She shares that this time is about agility to be in the now, and look to the future, “we need to not overcomplicate our systems, but we’ve also got to build our technology and systems and processes to work for now, which is, eight people in the business to very quickly getting back to a thousand people and a thousand beds. So that’s really hard designing for now and into the future and making sure the systems are fit for purpose, overlaying that with a new act, new legislation.”

Argent and the team’s journey shows being agile to changing needs is a must, but equally as important is the humility to be open to learning. The team are proud of the skillset and experience that came through the first innings of Rockpool but had to be open to learning for the next. Important to note, arrogance cements feet in place, and heavy feet don’t have the energy or agility to move to a sector that has a rapidly changing beat.

While they have been a smaller operational provider than bigger players, Argent is assured in the strength of agility, particularly in their current scrappy time, “you have to be agile in your decision making…some of our best decisions have been made on the same day we get an idea.”

“Layers and layers of hierarchy can mean you miss the opportunity.”

Self-reflection

In thinking about what qualities as a leader she has been drawing on in this time Argent shares that while motivation hasn’t ever been a problem, it’s been the question of overcomplicating.

She shares that this new phase has meant all of the team have had to wrestle with being out of their comfort zones, “are we overcomplicating it? Are we almost sending ourselves into a state of paranoia? That wasn’t an issue before.”

As a leader, Argent questioned, “why is it an issue now?” And her realisation shows the balance of corporate excellence and kindness which needs to be at the heart of aged care leadership. She muses that she had on her heart to chose showing up for her team, “to keep the team motivated, they have gone from heavy operational leadership roles to almost project managers. That’s not they’re usual skill set.”

In the interim of change, frustration with rules, being in the uncertainty of startup land, working to prove being worthy of an aged care operational license, Argent is adamant, caring for your staff and their fulfilment must be a priority. To keep the team agile and filled up with the tenacity to keep bouncing on toes, ready for the next hurdle to tackle was for Argent to keep, “making sure that they’re engaged, because we’ve still got, you know, eight months till we’ve got residents and staff coming through the door.”

“So how do I make sure that they’re happy at work? Because that’s really important to me, if you’ve got an engaged team.”

Argent shares that there has been a lot of work to do personally and professionally in this time, “we’ve just got to keep it up and we’ve got to keep digging deep for the next six months and maintain our motivation so that we can recreate something that’s great.”

But just as important, in the day-to-day, Argent continues to hold to a key KPI in Rockpool’s leadership journey as a metric of health, “I love laughing at work. It’s so critical. When you stop laughing, you have to stop going to work.”

At their recent Christmas party, Argent shares and affirms the vital nature of having a good time as leadership. It is important, and far from being shameful, it must be upheld and cherished, “we got all dressed up and created our own Christmas tree, and then we just sat around and we laughed and danced, and had connection and time together.”

To “bond over food and music, that so good for anybody.”

Humble pie nourishes

In navigating this time of re-do, Argent has found that humility has served up very well and been nourishing to boot. While they are a “sophisticated start-up”, it was still “going back to start-up world”. Argent shares that doubt can be present and not debilitating, “I did it once. I mean, I wasn’t sure I was ready to do it again, but here I am.”

Critical to navigating this new phase has been not just a willingness to be humble but to thrive in it, “it is selling your story. It’s new business relationships. We are an entire, new business.”

“At the core it’s the same Rockpool but we’ve had to restart everything from scratch.”

Argent affirms the need to be ok in the uncertain, in the personal growth period of a different skill set, and centering humility in that, “it’s the humility, I love that word”, Argent shares and good-naturedly laughs, thinking of the wrestling with what she is right now, “you’re a CEO of what? And you’re like, well, let me give you the context. We’re a CEO and a COO and a development manager and CFO of non-operating business.”

Situated within humility and learning, uncertainty for Argent has meant an ability to be agile and meet the new without losing footing.

Listening is leadership insight

Argent shares, “I think I’d forgotten how hard starting up was for me. I think I underestimated how hard it was for our people to fit.”

“Because it’s almost like your identities change a bit. We all went through a definite grieving period, handing our homes over. We all genuinely had such commitment to those homes.”

Honouring the grey feelings, those outside of the corporate scope, can highlight the depth of excellence and care that should be at the heart of aged care leadership. The team grieved for what they had sold, and what they were moving away from. Far from being crushing, it was an indication of what can be for aged care. Leaders who are truly proud, committed and cherish what they have built and run should be seen as integral as any business model.

Argent shares that in holding space for those feelings she knew the excellence of, “the groundwork and the philosophy” of Rockpool they had created, it was now to “turn my attention to what we’re creating rather than what was.”

Changing the narrative

In returning to do it again, Argent has found that she is even more impassioned to change the narrative of what residential aged care can be.

She is profoundly committed to carving out Rockpool round two to highlight that residential aged care can be excellent and joyous. She is unmovable on this, the standard of care in RAC should be one that daily brings joy and allows seniors to live full lives.

It is only through offering what most believe doesn’t exist that she sees the narrative changing, “often people think they want to stay at home until they’ve experienced fantastic residential aged care.”

She continues to champion having conversations about building providers and facilities of quality. That means continuing to challenge the impact of current legislation, that means fighting to manage construction costs. It also means striving to change the narrative on profit, “you need profit, to deliver more of these projects and we need to be ok with talking about it, how on earth can we keep building? The only way we can keep building is if we make any sort of profit or nobody would support it.”

Change means the long-haul

Argent daily works to have stamina for the long-haul, “I’ve always said that, that residential aged care isn’t bad, but we need, in order to continue to build them and build them at the quality of Rockpool, we need land, and we’re up against it with construction costs, land costs, developers.”

It means continuing to advocate for appropriate funding, “the funding’s not there on the other side for us to build at the pace that we probably could, and access to land, where people want to live.”

“If I talk from a South East Queensland perspective, where we want to build, the cost of land is just becoming completely unrealistic for us to even buy, based on the funding that we get. And then you throw in the compliance risk, so why would you do it? And I think they’re the really hard conversations that have got to be had.”

Worthwhile

In their heart of hearts, aged care leadership must be fueled by believing the work is worthwhile. In coming back to do it again, Argent and her team show the substance of their leadership. They believe it is worthwhile to carve out excellence care offerings because quality, and the care that comes with that, is worth every heart and head-ache.

Argent cherished conversations she’s heard from seniors at the original Rockpool, knowing them to be the fuel that keeps her going “they say, ‘oh no, I wish I did this years ago because I was so lonely, I didn’t have community’”.

Through all the frustration, in delving deep into humility and maintaining an almost unthinkable agility to maneuver changing laws and compliance burden inefficiencies, Argent shares having a good time on the worthwhile journey is critical, “if we don’t have a good time along the way, what are we doing? You couldn’t do it.”

 Even more so, the personal and professional conviction that quality care must be fought for, it must be wrestled for must be the bedrock of aged care leadership.

Argent and team, in returning to do it again, have shown louder than any words that sticking it out in aged care is worth it, working through frustration is worth it. Quality aged care must be a reality in this nation, and being a part of that is worth it all.

“You get to truly, really impact lives.”