Balancing People, Process & Profits in Healthcare Leadership with Stephen Wills

How do you create a culture that attracts top talent and inspires them to stay and thrive?

In this Leadership Levers Podcast episode, Stephen Wills, CEO of Knoxville Pediatric Associates, explores the pivotal role of culture in overcoming organizational challenges and enhancing performance.

Stephen shares his unique journey from journalism major to healthcare management, emphasizing how networking and adaptability shaped his career path. His leadership philosophy centers on learning from others, as demonstrated by his approach to transitioning into a role previously held for three decades by a predecessor.

Stephen discusses challenges in recruiting and retaining talent in healthcare - particularly in the post-pandemic era. He shares how non-monetary incentives, like enhanced PTO and a strong 401(k) plan, help attract and retain staff, with word-of-mouth referrals playing a key role.

As a relatively new CEO at KPA, Stephen highlights that he focused on listening to long-tenured employees to understand what works and what needs improvement - a collaborative approach that helped build trust and align leadership and teams with his vision.

This episode highlights leadership adaptability, employee connectivity, and using culture as a strategic advantage - offering practical insights for addressing workforce challenges.

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Transcript

William Gladhart: 0:00

Welcome to the Leadership L Podcast. I'm your host, ill Gladheart, cmo at the Culture Think Tank. At the Culture Think Tank, we empower leaders with metrics that strengthen culture, drive performance and return. We're here today to learn about the actions leaders have taken to address organizational change. Our guest today is Stephen Wills, CEO at Knoxville Pediatric Associates. Thanks for taking the time to join us.

William Gladhart: 0:33

Let's start by having share a bit about yourself with our audience, your background and also your organization.

Stephen Wills: 0:39

So I was born and raised here in Knoxville, Tennessee, Went to a small college just east of here called Carson Newman to start and then finished up at Theville, Tennessee. Went to a small college just east of here called Carson Newman to start and then finished up at the University of Tennessee. Big diehard Vols fan - was a journalism major. In college decided that wasn't the route I wanted to go shortly after and got into medical management through sales. Figured out that was the spot for me and I've worked for a few different private practices before getting to Knoxville Pediatric Associates. It's been a good group. I've been here about two years and am excited to see what the future holds for us.

William Gladhart: 1:10

Yeah, I'm looking forward to you sharing some of your insights today. So we'll be discussing three questions as a warm-up to start our conversation, would you share why you believe a healthy culture is critical?

Stephen Wills: 1:22

These times, with people you know, quiet, quitting and all that good stuff that's going on around right now, culture is top notch, most important, because if you're not keeping the people that you have in-house comfortable and safe and happy with their job, then they're going to talk to other people, they're going to start applying other places and you're going to start losing them left and right. It's becoming harder and harder to recruit nurses each year, since COVID has gone by that. You have to keep the ones in-house happy and that's where culture comes into play and it's of utmost importance for us.

William Gladhart: 1:53

That's great. So it's been our experience that leaders tend to struggle in three key areas people, process or profits. In your role as CEO, could you identify which one of these areas represented a challenge within your organization?

Stephen Wills: 2:06

People is a big one right now. I felt like things got better for a while and we were getting a lot of applicants and not having issues hiring, but it seems like the wave's coming back now that school's in and Christmas is coming and budgets are hitting and all that. So it's back to people again. Unfortunately, we're trying to think of outside of the box ways to recruit. We don't necessarily have the highest pay wage in town, but we make up for it with higher PTO rates, accruals and all that, and then different employee perks that might piggyback on top of it, and we have a very aggressive 401k plan. So I definitely would say people right now. And profits are always in the background. Without those, we can't pay our people either.

William Gladhart: 2:44

So we got to keep those close too. Yeah, so what does that people challenge look like and how has it negatively impacted the organization?

Stephen Wills: 2:54

The biggest challenge is just getting them in the door. When we get them here, they find that it's a great place to work and it runs smoothly and days are very predictable as far as the number of patients and what your duties are going to be that day. So it's not something that you don't know what you're walking into day in and day out, it's just getting them actually in the door. That's the biggest struggle we're facing right now. But advertising only works so much, so we really rely on word of mouth. We want our nurses we've got many of them that have been here 20 plus years. We want them telling their friends, telling their friends' kids, to come. Hey, come work at KPA. It's a family environment. You're going to love it there. Hopefully we get a lot of ones that can last 20 plus years moving forward too.

William Gladhart: 3:34

Yeah. So since you're newer to the role, what challenge? What is the one thing you identified to help impact the culture positively?

Stephen Wills: 3:43

Well, I had the pleasure of taking over for an individual that worked here for about 30 years. She was the only CEO that KPA knew, so I had big shoes to fill from the jump. So when I first started, I wasn't going to come in and change everything. I wasn't going to think that I knew more about KPA than they did or anything like that. I really just put on my learning shoes and tried to go to those folks that had been here for the 10, 20, 30 years and said, hey, what's working, what can we improve on, what can we do better and what should we keep the same. And I really relied on them to guide me through that.

William Gladhart: 4:15

Yeah, I love hearing that you not only went and talked to employees, but actually went and talked to everyone in the organization to just figure out what their needs were. I mean, that's a great quality in a leader. Is there anything else you'd like to add or share for fellow leaders, or any tips you'd like to impart?

Stephen Wills: 4:34

I think one of the biggest things that's helped me out through my career is networking. I didn't know anything about medical when I got into it. Like I said, I was a journalism major and then sales led me into this. Without my network I would not have gotten to where I am today. The group I started with was a general and vascular surgery group, and they're the ones that got me into the MGMA Medical Group Management Association and I attribute a lot of my success to them and that peer network that I've grown through. Then they always say it takes a village to raise a child. It's kind of the same way to raise a good employee too. You're depending on so many other people to make sure that you're successful, so don't turn your back on them once you get there, and make sure you're always willing to ask for help.

William Gladhart: 5:16

Yeah, I think that's really sage advice for CEOs and leaders that you know you're not in a bubble, the opportunity to reach out and be supported by others, and finding those organizations or associations to find like-minded individuals to bounce ideas off or to share the load.

William Gladhart: 5:33

Well, Stephen, I've enjoyed having you so much on our Leadership Levers podcast. Thanks again for your insights.

William Gladhart: 5:39

Really appreciate you.

William Gladhart: 5:42

Thank you for joining us on the Leadership Levers podcast. Find all our Leadership Levers episodes on the Culture Think Tank website at www. theculturethink tank. com or listen on your favorite streaming platform. We'd love to hear from you about the challenges you have faced as a leader. Tune in weekly as we invite leaders to share their experiences in strengthening culture and performance, one action at a time.

William Gladhart: 6:10

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