For Deon Steyn, caring for older people is about more than providing accommodation and healthcare.

It is about creating an environment where residents can maintain friendships, enjoy meaningful experiences and continue to feel part of a community. As a director of Riverside Lifestyle Estate, which operates Riverside Manor Retirement Village, Steyn brings more than three decades of hospitality experience to the retirement sector, having spent about four and a half years helping oversee the village’s day-to-day operations.

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His journey into retirement living came unexpectedly following the Covid-19 pandemic, which prompted him to reconsider his career direction. Having worked in the hospitality industry since 1991, Steyn built his career in the hotel sector, gaining experience with established hospitality groups, including Marriott and Protea Hotels, as well as private properties. However, when an opportunity at Riverside Manor came to his attention through a recruitment agency, he decided to embrace a new challenge. “I thought to myself, ‘You know what? Covid has brought a change to many people’s lives. I’m going to go for this’, and that’s how I ended up here,” he said.

For Steyn, the transition was not as different from hospitality as it might initially appear. “This is, in many ways, still hospitality. It’s about providing service, maintaining service levels, keeping people happy and bringing quality to people’s lives. You can’t always add quantity, but you can bring quality to somebody’s life.”

He believes caring for older people requires a particular kind of person, especially because relationships between residents and staff naturally develop over time. One of the aspects he values most about Riverside Manor is the sense of community residents gain when they move into the village.

He said, as people grow older, their friendship circles outside retirement communities can sometimes become smaller. At Riverside, however, the opposite can happen as residents meet people with similar interests and experiences. “They come from having smaller friendship circles. Now they come into a community and that starts opening up again. You make different friends and you grow older with people.”

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Behind the village’s operations is a team of 87 employees, including an in-house nursing team, catering staff, grounds personnel, housekeeping and administration. Steyn is quick to point out that the success of the village is not dependent on one person, but on the people who interact with residents every day. “Riverside is very little about me. It’s about the 87 members of staff who work here because those are the people who are directly involved with our residents on a day-to-day basis.”

For Steyn, however, the most rewarding part of the work remains the people and relationships built within the village. “You’ve got to be service-orientated. You’ve got to be a people person. You’ve got to get along with people, and you’ve got to enjoy people.”

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