SUMMER ' 18 CASE STUDY : SCHWEIGER DERMATOLOGY 23
SCHWEIGER DERMATOLOGY Group in New York City has achieved rapidfire growth in the seven years since it opened , expanding to 31 locations and 502 employees . But with fast growth came turnover that hit 60 % last year .
Remarkably , founding dermatologist and CEO Eric Schweiger , MD , and his leadership team have turned the situation around and reduced turnover at the cosmetic and medical dermatology group to 26 % in a year , thanks to a three-pronged approach . To get the right people on the bus and keep them there , they created a VP of employee experience , emphasizing this title in place of HR ; deployed Topgrading and employee testing ; and introduced an in-depth onboarding and boot-camp process .
A NEW TAKE ON HR
The first part of Schweiger ’ s strategy was rethinking the HR function . Although the dermatology group has a traditional HR director who handles functions such as benefits and compliance , Schweiger created a new position for Ana Welsh , the company ’ s eleventh hire , who was vice president of operations for four years . She took on the role of VP of employee experience .
“ We grew at such a fast pace we ended up four years down the road in our growth having very high turnover ,” says Welsh . “ We ’ d hire employees and throw them to the wolves , having them learn on the job . We lost sight a little bit about what makes our company unique , which is our employees .”
Welsh ’ s mandate was to change that . “ We wanted someone to really focus on our employees and make them raving fans of working at Schweiger Dermatology Group ,” she says . To do that , Welsh set out to revamp employees ’ journeys , from their first interview to the training process and day-to-day environment .
SYSTEMATIC HIRING
The first step was getting the right people on the bus in the first place so there would not be so much turnover . “ We weren ’ t hiring the right people ,” recalls Welsh . “ We were just hiring to fill a position .” To turn the situation around , Schweiger Dermatology began using Topgrading , a system for attracting and retaining “ A ” players , making adjustments to tailor it to a medical environment . “ We want to wow all of our patients ,” says Welsh .
In keeping with Topgrading , the dermatology group began conducting a detailed phone screening that drills down into a candidate ’ s professional background , followed by an in-person interview , and , to bring additional objectivity to the process , a final screening by an internal talent committee .
By involving call center managers and office managers in the interview process , Schweiger Dermatology Group sped up the hiring process . “ They can handpick the right candidates , based on the experience the candidate needs , the culture fit , and how they fit into the team ,” she says . A key part of the screening is looking for people with the right soft skills .
PUTTING TALENT TO THE TEST
Testing is a key part of the screening . Candidates must complete an aptitude test , a personality test , and a simple test in typing , Excel , and computer skills . As the company discovered , many people who think they are proficient in these areas are not . By finding a way to weed them out early , the dermatology group — where one of the core values is “ urgency ”— is able to find people who can work at the pace of the rest of the team .
Of course , it is hard to measure a human being with a test . To make sure the tests were accurately looking at the skills needed to thrive , Welsh asked some of the “ rock stars ” on the team to take the exams and used their scores as a benchmark .
IN-DEPTH ONBOARDING
Once Schweiger ’ s team finds great candidates , it relies on a detailed onboarding process to make sure they understand their roles and can excel . Schweiger will be expanding its current , already successful fiveday role-based training to 10 days in 2018 . There are specific training programs for team members in particular roles . For instance , doctors participate in a different program from call center workers . The company has also launched a learning management system to provide online , self-paced training courses to employees and make job-related information easily accessible .
The onboarding program was designed by an operations manager who has played many roles in the dermatology group and knows their requirements . Candidates who have taken it have given the company very high Net Promoter scores , says Welsh .
EMBRACING EMPLOYEES ’ DREAMS
Schweiger Dermatology Group has also introduced the Scaling Up system , implementing daily huddles to bring the team together in one efficient , brief daily meeting ; hosting weekly upper management meetings , and setting quarterly themes . The current quarterly theme is Dream On .
Entrepreneur John Ratliff introduced the prototype for the Dream On program when he was founder and CEO of the call center company Appletree Answers . It allows employees to submit their dreams to the company , in the spirit of the Make-A-Wish foundation .
Schweiger Dermatology group has received 120 dreams to date . The company has helped one employee pay for a $ 200 physical exam for her daughter so she could go to daycare . The program helped another team member who lost her apartment when her landlord stopped paying the mortgage to come up with a deposit on a new one and the first month ’ s rent . Another employee , whose husband has a disability , received tickets to a Broadway show and a dinner out , along with a car service there so they did not have to struggle with transportation .
“ It ’ s my favorite part of the job ,” says Welsh . Although it has taken considerable effort for Schweiger to make all of these changes at once , its persistence is paying off . Since 2016 , turnover has dropped from 60 % to 26 %— a figure that includes call center employees , a traditionally high-turnover position across industries . The dermatology group ’ s turnover rate is still above the industry average , notes Welsh , but it represents substantial progress .
“ We ’ re getting there ,” says Welsh , who is working to reduce that number further . " If it continues in the direction it is heading , I believe Schweiger Dermatology Group has an excellent chance of beating the industry average ."