STP 175 | How Practice Owners Can Improve Hiring, Onboarding, and Retention
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[00:00:00] Brie Chrisman: The average retention for an employee, the average amount of time that an employee stays at a practice is one and a half to two years, which is not that long. And if you think if it takes six months to get someone, six months or longer to get someone like with a full caseload. That six months that you are spending money on them, that they're not bringing any money in for you or minimal, and then turn around in a year, you have to do that again. That's crazy.
[00:00:28] Today we are talking all things onboarding, retention, and hiring with Bosco. Bosco is a company that helps therapy practices with their organizational systems.
[00:00:42] And what better system to start with than the one that impacts you almost the most from day one? Hiring, firing, retention. We don't really talk about firing. We talk about getting that first step right. And, uh, I'm so grateful for Bri and Allison for coming on [00:01:00] today. We talk about things like company culture.
[00:01:04] What do you do in your first 30 days? How do you help people onboard in so they don't feel like a checklist? Uh, that's the worst feeling. So you're really gonna enjoy this conversation. You're gonna learn something about hiring, onboarding, and retaining your best therapists.
[00:01:22] James Marland: Before we begin, there is a slight audio issue in the conversation, but the conversation's completely listenable to, and it doesn't detract from the great content. So I decided to keep it in, um, just so that you could get the full picture
[00:01:37] Now let's listen to our conversation with Bosco
[00:01:43] Hello and welcome back to The Scaling Therapist Podcast. If this is your first time, I'm James Marland and this is the show where I help you take your clinical wisdom into online income today. I am, I am thrilled to have two guests with us today [00:02:00] from Bo Bosco, and it's Brie Chrisman, the CEO. And Allison Dixon, the operations manager.
[00:02:08] And today we're gonna talk all about hiring and culture. Hello and welcome to the show.
[00:02:14] Brie Chrisman: Good to be back. I'm very excited to talk about this. I.
[00:02:17] Allison Dixon: Hi James. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
[00:02:21] James Marland: Yeah, this is great because this is one of the, the topics I love. Brie and I were talking about systems last time they were on, and we started talking about hiring and culture and just how important getting the right people in the right seats. Are for your company and how it can make and break your job or at least make it more enjoyable or less enjoyable.
[00:02:43] And so I, I wanted to bring them on to talk about this important topic. So we're gonna get right into it. We're gonna pretend that I, I'm just, we're just sitting down for coffee and I just ask them, so what do I need to do to go, to become a group practice? I'm a solo practitioner. [00:03:00] I wanna hire, I wanna become a group practice.
[00:03:02] What do I do? So can you help us, help us go through that? What, what do you, what do you consider when you're hire, starting to hire for a group practice?
[00:03:12] Brie Chrisman: I'm gonna let Allison take this one, but I just first wanna say congratulations because that's a huge step toward your growth, toward what you want to build. I mean, you know, when someone goes into therapy in general, you're create, you want to create a space. feels right for you to take care of people and to support people.
[00:03:36] And so the fact that you're going from solo to group, you want to extend that care, you want to make an impact in more people's lives, and that's, that's awesome. And that's, you did not become a therapist to run a practice to run a business. But guess what? That's part of the package and that's why we're here.
[00:03:51] So but Allison is our amazing ops manager at Bosco. She is our HR guru. And so I'm just gonna pass it off to her and she can. Go to town.[00:04:00]
[00:04:01] Allison Dixon: Yes.
[00:04:02] James Marland: Hey Alison. Welcome. So what do you, what do you do at Bosco?
[00:04:05] Allison Dixon: I am the operations manager of Bosco. So I have the pleasure of working not only with our internal team and growing our company and building a beautiful company culture. I also get to help our clients with this as well and guiding them through building their practices and helping them run their practices efficiently.
[00:04:26] And with like, you know, a little less of a headache. Than they would have on their own.
[00:04:31] James Marland: And hiring is one of those major growth bottlenecks. Especially if you're, you're, you're in demand and you're helping people. So how do I hire, how do I hire my first therapist? Like I'm a, I I'm doing well. People are coming in. I, I might have a waiting list and I'm thinking I need to expand, but I really, as Brie said. I, I got in to help people. I didn't necessarily know how to, how to hire, how to run a business [00:05:00] multiple employees. What do I do?
[00:05:02] Allison Dixon: the first question that you have to ask yourself, or I'm going to recommend that you ask yourself is why do you want to. I wanna practice. Why do you wanna be a practice owner? I think that is a question that we often kind of skim over because we are so excited to start a practice and build this, you know, exciting.
[00:05:26] Business where you're helping your clients. You know, you mentioned having a wait list, right? So you are eager to get started and it's a goal that you've had and the dream that you've had. But we get lost in all of the things that we need to do. It's can be very overwhelming which is sort of where Bosco comes in, right, is to help with that.
[00:05:47] But I think the biggest question you really gotta sit with is. Why do you wanna be a practice owner? Is it to develop young therapist and sort of be like this training practice, [00:06:00] right? Giving them kind of a fresh ground to start to get that experience. what are other reasons you've seen?
[00:06:07] Brie Chrisman: Being able to make a bigger impact in a specific. Area in a specific community. We have a couple clients that focused on, focused on marginalized communities and have very specific areas that they practice in. And so creating, creating a space that's safe for those communities. And op it's, you know, open and honest and frankly, closing a gap in that care too. People who just have the Dr the entrepreneur drive, honestly, that want to that which honestly, to be fair, we don't get a lot of therapists that are like, I wanna run a prac. Like, I wanna run a business and
[00:06:45] Allison Dixon: Yes.
[00:06:45] Brie Chrisman: It's more I wanna, I wanna be a therapist and I wanna make a huge impact. And because I wanna make a huge impact, I have to have a group practice and I'll just figure it out as I go. Which, no, hey, that's how everyone starts a business. But I think Allison, you're [00:07:00] on, you know, you're right. And knowing what your goals are and not just, oh, I'm gonna start a practice because that's the natural next step, like as a group practice.
[00:07:10] 'cause you, you're already a practice owner. Even if you are the, you are the sole person at your company. You are a practice owner already. And so. If you're just starting a group practice, 'cause it's the next natural step. I would definitely take a second to be like, okay, what are my actual goals? What do I wanna do?
[00:07:25] And so that really, if you've got into that question, you're like, okay, no, I know what I wanna do. I know what my goals are. It definitely includes group practice ownership. Then I'm gonna kick it back to James's initial question of, okay, what's next?
[00:07:38] James Marland: one of the current books I'm reading is The Science of Scaling by Benjamin Hardy,
[00:07:43] Brie Chrisman: Good book.
[00:07:44] James Marland: about. Your goals, focus your present behavior. And if you have a big goal, it limits the other choices that you make. So if your big goal to let, let's say you wanna make $200,000 a [00:08:00] year, bring home $200,000 a year, that's your big goal.
[00:08:02] You're, you're making like 60 now or something, and you wanna bring it, you know, you wanna double or triple what you bring in. A big goal that, that seems like a big goal to me if you wanna do it in like three years. So what do you gotta do to get there? Well, you can't have paths to get to that goal.
[00:08:22] You have to have a singular. Path that guides your behavior today. Not like a 10 year goal. I love the book. The book is great. And it's not like, oh, in 10 years I'll do it. 'cause 10 years is too far. So what do you gotta do in the next three years to hit this big goal? And so to your point, Allison, setting up why you wanna do this is not, it is something we skip over, but then it leads to paths that won't get us there because we just don't know what our yes is and what our no is. We don't know where, where does, where the boundary is and what can I do and what is gonna help me get there. So
[00:08:58] Allison Dixon: Yes.
[00:08:59] James Marland: and [00:09:00] I would say having 20 people in your practice will probably get you to that 200 or even more a thousand goal, but that, that's way different than having a money goal.
[00:09:12] You know, you're,
[00:09:13] Allison Dixon: Absolutely.
[00:09:15] James Marland: Your, your path is gonna be different. So I love, like, I loved your first point of setting up your goals and why you do this and that. We often skip over it because we don't think it matters, but it, it's a, it's a big difference on how you're gonna get there. So,
[00:09:33] Allison Dixon: So I think what we've seen is. We've seen successful and thriving practices but they're dealing with a retention issue. And I find that it circles all the way back to the elementary question of why do you have a practice? You know, why did you start this practice?
[00:09:51] That is the thing that is the basis of your company culture. So you can set all of these financial goals. You can say, I wanna scale to having 20 therapists, [00:10:00] you know, in my practice in a year, in two years. But if you don't know why you started the practice, when you're building that team, you're gonna see some misalignment happening, and then you're gonna see that, that lack of retention, you're gonna see the turnover with your employees.
[00:10:17] So it's about fearing out your why and carrying that into your hiring process. Because if you know your company values, you know your company company's mission, right? Your practice's mission, your practice's values, you're gonna be able to hire. In a much more specific and, and intelligent way, in a way that's going to set your company up for like real true longevity.
[00:10:40] So yeah, I would say that is a huge question. That sounds so basic, but it really has one of the greatest impacts over time when you start the hiring.
[00:10:49] James Marland: as you were saying, it ripples through. Who's gonna be attracted to your practice too? Like if you have your vision and vision and value set up and say, this is clearly why we're doing this. The right [00:11:00] you're gonna get have a better chance of attracting the right people. When you send out those clear signals, and it all goes back to why you're doing it.
[00:11:08] Allison Dixon: Absolutely, and I think this goes into building a real true hr. You know, you may think, okay, I'm the only. I wanna be a practice owner, or I am a practice owner. I'm solo right now, but I wanna grow my practice. It's very easy to skip over write your practice handbook and filling in those spaces of what is my mission, what are my values, what are my goals?
[00:11:31] It's very easy to skim over that, but I think starting with a solid human resources, like a hub for your human resources of knowing. Okay. I mean down to like having a time off policy. Right. It seems so
[00:11:47] James Marland: I
[00:11:47] Allison Dixon: logistical.
[00:11:49] James Marland: done before I hire anybody? Remember, I'm, I'm the new, new therapist. I gotta have a handbook.
[00:11:56] Allison Dixon: It's, it's.
[00:11:56] James Marland: have policies
[00:11:58] Allison Dixon: Right?
[00:11:59] James Marland: [00:12:00] people.
[00:12:00] Allison Dixon: Yes. How haunting. Right.
[00:12:02] James Marland: sounds like so much work.
[00:12:03] Allison Dixon: much work. We we're living in a time though where we have so many resources at our fingertips where, you know, it's, it's really just about starting, I would say. It's just getting something out there, getting some basic structure. It doesn't need to be perfect, right?
[00:12:20] Like just starting. Is a huge piece. And then as you go into the hiring process being very knowledgeable on what you need, a compliance standpoint, right? What, what type of therapist do you wanna bring on? What is their licensure? Taking a look at your wait list, you mentioned right, your therapist with a wait list and you need to grow your team quickly.
[00:12:47] Hiring therapists that not only are in line with your, your vision for your practice, but also making sure that they are going to serve your client base. I mean, that is, that is a, [00:13:00] an ultimate goal, right? Is to serve the clients.
[00:13:03] Brie Chrisman: So I, I'm always, this is why Allison is our our people person, because she is all people ops. She's amazing at culture and leadership and making sure those mission and vi vision and values match what the practice is doing. And then I'm in the background being like. and rules, details and rules and like we need to get, and that, not that, you know, Allison makes sure all, all of that is done.
[00:13:25] She keeps me in check and everything as well, but I'm just like, okay, we need compliance. We need licensure, we need CEEs. We need, we need to make sure that you know what the supervisory rules are in you state. If you are bringing on pre-licensed clinicians, There are, there are so many random, nuanced rules and laws in mental health in every state. Like we had one, for one example, we had one of our clients is an LCSW and she's A-P-L-L-C in New York State, found out after she had had a psychologist under her supervisory for an entire year. [00:14:00] That she was not allowed to with her specific PLLC, even though everyone on the board and everything signed off on it.
[00:14:07] And so they were threatening to take this person's whole supervisory year away. It just who would've thought of that? Especially because all the boards signed off on it and everything, so like. I know that's very overwhelming and that's a very specific instance, but so many of those things of you need to not only know the compliance from the therapy side, but also from the HR side.
[00:14:28] You need to have, you need to know what you want your commission structure to be. You need to know whether you want to hire them as a W2 or attendant 99, and that's a great question for an accountant. You need to have actual contracts, so hire a lawyer. It doesn't have to be, you know, you don't have to be spending thousands of dollars, but you do need to have a, an actual contract and need to know what your, you might not need to have like time off policies right off the bat, but you need to have policies of commission and, and all of that.
[00:14:59] [00:15:00] And knowing, you know, knowing what the role from a logistics standpoint will look like. And then you can, you know, take it from there. Highly recommend hiring one person at a time and seeing how it goes. Don't
[00:15:11] Allison Dixon: Yes,
[00:15:12] Brie Chrisman: people at a time, 'cause that will always end in disaster,
[00:15:15] Allison Dixon: yes.
[00:15:15] Brie Chrisman: as a seasoned therapist or seasoned business owner I mean it, it's just never a good idea because then you can't give the time and attention to those people to onboard them successfully. To make them feel supported, to give them the resources they need. Also, you're gonna burn yourself out and make your life miserable, and nobody wants that. So as much as you have a wait list and you're gung-ho ready to start this group, practice and bring someone on, just hire the first good person, hire the person that's really going to make an impact that you. You know, fit all the qualifications of what you need, but also vibe, right? Because you're gonna be working together, even if it's telehealth. Our entire company is virtual, and yet we very strongly on company culture because [00:16:00] virtual, it's even harder to have that, that company, you know, for lack of a better term, company culture.
[00:16:06] Say it again.
[00:16:07] James Marland: Yeah,
[00:16:08] Brie Chrisman: it's, it's so important.
[00:16:09] James Marland: hard to make water cooler moments. It's
[00:16:11] Brie Chrisman: Yeah.
[00:16:12] James Marland: check in. Oh, I, you know, oh, you were, you were late today. You looked rushed. Anything I can help you with? You're like, you don't know. Like
[00:16:19] Brie Chrisman: Yeah,
[00:16:19] James Marland: any of that. You can't, you, I miss
[00:16:21] Brie Chrisman: yeah,
[00:16:22] James Marland: Really?
[00:16:24] Brie Chrisman: yeah. The, the or the donuts. The donuts in the, in the break room and the, yes. I mean, we're all sitting here with our coffees and, but like, you don't know what pants I'm wearing. I mean, you know, we, we don't, we don't know. We don't, you know, you don't know if I'm fidgeting over here. You don't know if I'm super stressed out.
[00:16:42] You don't know if my desk is a mess or not. It is for the record. But, but yeah, it's you have, whether you're in person or telehealth, it's so important to make sure that you get along with that person, that you vibe, that you have similar [00:17:00] values, that they can basically drink the Kool-Aid of your business too, because. You know, as you're, as you're filling their caseload, as they're filling their caseload, that's another thing you have to think about is who's doing the marketing. You wanna make sure that what they are doing aligns with your company and what you are doing, because then it just, it just makes everything smoother and easier and makes life better for not only you, but your clinician and then your clients feel that too.
[00:17:27] James Marland: do you have steps for reviewing resumes? Do you have steps for interviewing? So you make sure you're not just like, oh, I feel good today, or, I have more energy today.
[00:17:37] They seem to be like, they have more energy. I, I feel like we're vibing. And then, you know, a month in, you're like, oh, what, what did, what did I even see in this person? Do you have ways to help with that?
[00:17:50] Allison Dixon: Yeah, absolutely. We, so we have broken it down into, I would say about like a three step process. Really depending on the practice. Of course there's the [00:18:00] initial application, right, which is getting your resume sent over a cover letter, filling out all the details about your licensure status, where you live, all the details, so that way you can easily kind of filter out some things, right?
[00:18:14] There are just some non-negotiables when hiring. You have to check those boxes. And so that's a very easy way to figure out, okay, is this someone that I want to sue? Is this someone that I want to meet with? We've seen a lot of success with step number two being a video, like a self video interview and going through
[00:18:36] James Marland: send you a video that you watch.
[00:18:38] Allison Dixon: Yes.
[00:18:39] So we actually.
[00:18:39] James Marland: Why do you do that?
[00:18:40] Allison Dixon: Yeah, because it really gives us an opportunity to kind of see them well, one, you get to see them in one light where they're a little more comfortable because it's not a live interview. They're getting to especially if it's a remote practice, they're getting to mess around with some technology, [00:19:00] right?
[00:19:00] Like telehealth. We want that to go smoothly.
[00:19:02] James Marland: technology
[00:19:03] Allison Dixon: The technology piece is huge, especially if you're doing a lot of telehealth in your practice and then getting to see their personality, getting a vibe check getting to see how they respond to different questions, hearing about their experience.
[00:19:18] You learned. So much through that. And quite honestly, it's going to filter out anyone who is just like not ready, who's not there for the right reasons, who didn't read your, you know, a little bit about your company or your mission, your goals, your values. It's gonna like weed out, you know, some folks that maybe just like aren't right or aren't ready or aren't in it for the right reasons who are not genuinely excited about what you're building.
[00:19:44] James Marland: Yeah. Somebody who's not excited won't even make
[00:19:47] Brie Chrisman: Do it.
[00:19:48] James Marland: They'll be
[00:19:48] Allison Dixon: They won't.
[00:19:50] James Marland: what am
[00:19:50] Brie Chrisman: Yeah.
[00:19:51] Allison Dixon: Yes.
[00:19:52] Brie Chrisman: that at practices because we've had such success with Bosco. Not only are we looking at their answers, 'cause you know, every time you have a [00:20:00] question, if it's an open-ended question, you, you have a sense of what you're looking for in an answer. But I'm also looking at did they answer all parts of the question and did they do it in the time that I gave them?
[00:20:11] Like, if I tell you, do a two minute video, don't give me 30 seconds and don't give me five minutes. Like do as close to two minutes as you can, you know, and that's, and if you can't answer. The two questions I give you or the five questions or whatever, then that's, you know, you can't follow simple directions and that's a huge red flag.
[00:20:29] And
[00:20:30] James Marland: Yeah,
[00:20:30] Brie Chrisman: off,
[00:20:31] James Marland: love
[00:20:31] Brie Chrisman: ahead.
[00:20:31] James Marland: for the virtual assistants or people who are doing like. Administrative work
[00:20:37] Brie Chrisman: Yeah.
[00:20:38] James Marland: you know, timeliness, technology did they read and understand the directions and did they ans you know, did what is their attention to detail and doing the questions. It hits so many.
[00:20:50] Brie Chrisman: Yeah.
[00:20:51] James Marland: things for when you're assigning tasks and handing off responsibilities. It, it's it's a very clever way to get a lot of [00:21:00] information in a very brief amount of time and.
[00:21:03] Brie Chrisman: Yes.
[00:21:04] James Marland: All you have to do is, is it 30 seconds? Well then maybe I don't need to watch this one. I don't. You like, long, how long do, do you have? That, yeah, that's cool. So you, you do that to help filter. Are there other things you do in the filtering process?
[00:21:20] Allison Dixon: I think making, like, being very intentional about the questions that you're asking of them, even in that video interview. Being specific about it so that you're gathering as much. Data, honestly, information that you can from them at that point. But the round three, I will say is very important is actually getting to, 'cause sometimes you see a video, you watch a video interview, and you're like, well, it's on the cusp.
[00:21:45] I'm not really sure if this is going to be a good culture fit. I'm not exactly sure if this is going to be a good fit for the clients on our wait list or on my wait list. But step three is so important. I mean, sometimes we've seen it brie, where like, [00:22:00] not quite sure, but you know what? They're checking all the boxes.
[00:22:03] Let's, let's meet them. Let's schedule that meeting. And sometimes that will answer your question, whether that's green flag or red flag for what you're looking for. But also having the opportunity to set the tone. For how you work and what you're looking for. Set the tone for your p your practice.
[00:22:23] 'Cause they're also, you know, especially if you're, you're interviewing with someone who is feeling like such a great fit, they're also interviewing you too. And that's something you have to keep in mind. It can be a little daunting especially if you're just starting out growing your practice or hiring your very first clinician.
[00:22:39] I would say that's the time to create a. A culture of transparency. I think that's the time.
[00:22:50] James Marland: What do you mean? What do you mean by that? And how do you do? Do you do that?
[00:22:54] Allison Dixon: I think you, I think you, you lead by example to be very honest about where you're at [00:23:00] in your, in your process. I think this really comes in handy when you are starting out to be very transparent and be honest and say, this is where I'm at and this is where I'm looking to go and X, Y, and Z may not be where I want it today.
[00:23:14] I may not be, be able to offer as many maybe a healthcare benefit right now. But that's part of the goal in the dream. So, you know, finding ways to. It can be intimidating. Interviews are are a little scary. They're nerve wracking. I think that's the time to, to level it a bit and to model transparency.
[00:23:35] James Marland: If you start out with trust
[00:23:37] Allison Dixon: right.
[00:23:38] James Marland: that's, that's the best foundation for a profitable, productive, smooth working relationship.
[00:23:45] Allison Dixon: Absolutely.
[00:23:46] Brie Chrisman: if you start with authenticity too, I mean it's, I will say our. Most recent hire, she's been with us since October of 20. So she's been with us for about six months and is like fully drank [00:24:00] the Kool-Aid. She's like, I'm in for forever. I had to take an interview from. Like my car from a playground because my kids were off from school and I, they were going crazy.
[00:24:10] I was literally sitting in my trunk of my car while my kids were screaming for snacks in the parking lot of a playground. She was like, I love this vibe so much, and like, that's But I'm like, that's also me in half of our team meetings because my kids are crazy and I have, you know. is what it is.
[00:24:28] And that's, we lead by example. We lead with authenticity and in a human first light. And so like if that, is not your vibes and that's probably not the best company to work work with, but if you show that from the get go, you know, it's So not only does it make people feel more comfortable and like, oh, I can be myself. gives the right, like Allison was saying, they're interviewing you too, so they have. If you just put up a front of like, I'm super professional and this is me and I [00:25:00] dress in suits all day, and you don't, then that's not, you know, it's not gaining that trust and the authenticity.
[00:25:06] James Marland: really, I really connect with that because for the longest time, I, I hid, I hid the Legos and stuff on my back desk. And like my plant, like I have like funny plants and
[00:25:18] Brie Chrisman: Love it.
[00:25:18] James Marland: Just. lay I have a couple transformer little robots. Anyways, I, I hid that 'cause I was like, oh, I want people to think I'm professional and I am professional, but I'm also fun.
[00:25:29] Brie Chrisman: You're so fun.
[00:25:30] James Marland: I wanna, I want people when they see this, if they wanted the super professional, they will attract, they will connect better with somebody who is authentically, you know, buttoned down
[00:25:44] Brie Chrisman: Yeah.
[00:25:46] James Marland: personality,
[00:25:47] Brie Chrisman: Yeah.
[00:25:47] James Marland: if they want to do, you know, a little bit of flexibility, a little bit of fun while talking about business, while talking about growing, then they will be attracted to me.
[00:25:56] And it's the same thing in your hiring process that you're talking [00:26:00] about. If, if you present one thing in the hiring process and you're something totally different, know, and they discover it, they're gonna question a lot about should they be here? And I and I, and I think that's. As a, as we're talking about that, that's probably where some of the hiring, the, the mismatches come because you're, you're not who you, you, you misrepresented yourself a little bit in the process.
[00:26:25] Allison Dixon: Absolutely.
[00:26:27] Brie Chrisman: When it comes to employee retention in the therapy space, there's a stat that essentially says the. The average retention for an employee, the average amount of time that an employee stays at a practice is one and a half to two years, which is not that long. And if you think if it takes six months to get someone, six months or longer to get someone like with a full caseload. That six months that you are spending money on them, that they're not bringing any money in for you or minimal, and [00:27:00] then turn around in a year, you have to do that again. That's crazy. And so that comes down to that misalignment. It comes down to not knowing your goals, not knowing your mission. It comes down to not. Leading with human first intentions and leading with authenticity and trust and empowering your team. And also to what you said, James, about the misalignment with. Clinicians, if you're also like that with your clients, that's an issue with client retention too, which means that's gonna be, it's just gonna snowball into you know, your clinicians not having clients.
[00:27:36] And then that there goes your whole group practice. And that then goes into marketing. And this is why operations just touches everything. Because really if you, if you are fully aligned on your brand, if you wanna call it that, your mission, your values. All of that. When it comes to your employees, when it comes to your marketing, when it comes to your clients, when it comes to everything.
[00:27:56] If you know who you are and where you wanna go, where you are right now, [00:28:00] will shine through everything as long as you're authentic.
[00:28:04] James Marland: all right. Do you have a quick tip on onboarding and then maybe a then we'll end with creating that cult Bri you can end with like, how do you. A tip on getting people to want to stay with that culture. So, Allison, what's some, what's some things to consider when onboarding your new clinician?
[00:28:24] Allison Dixon: Oh yes. Onboarding is my favorite. So this is where I like to nerd out. But I would say my, my hot tip for this is to find the balance. Between creating an efficient and effective onboarding process while also considering the. Human aspect of it, right? It's a balance. I've seen this, especially in private practices that we've worked with who do a lot of telehealth or are completely remote.
[00:28:55] You have so many options, whether you are completely like in office [00:29:00] or. Working remotely. There's so much opportunity to create an efficient process. But we have seen it go a little too far, right? So it's feeling a little robotic. It's feeling like checking boxes, you know, knocking out the to-do list.
[00:29:15] James Marland: wants to feel like a checklist.
[00:29:17] Allison Dixon: nobody wants to fill like a check checklist. The best thing that you can do in the onboarding process is greet your new employee with a friendly face. They need to fill that warmth on day one. They, you need to loop back into what your why. Of having a practice and growing your practice, you need to have those conversations and those discussions on day one.
[00:29:44] Yes, you need to complete your I nine and your employment verification documents and all that good stuff. You need to stay compliant. That is obviously so important, but you need to be connecting on day one and never. [00:30:00] Allow employee to step away with not understanding what their next step is or having a lack of understanding of what is expected of them.
[00:30:09] Another piece of this,
[00:30:10] James Marland: feeling that that feeling of like, oh, am I doing a good job? What should I do next? I've, I'm like kind of hanging here. And then you're new, so you don't wanna, sometimes you don't wanna ask 'cause you're like if I ask, are they gonna think I I'm not listening, or they ask like they think I don't care.
[00:30:27] Like what? Yeah. It puts, it puts the new employee in a bad situation if they don't know the next step.
[00:30:34] Allison Dixon: Yeah, I think that day one just goes. Way further, you know, there's the idea of first impressions. And I, I think that it makes such a great impact. It will, it, it, I mean, I know there's studies and data that I, it's not coming to my, my head right now, to my brain right now, that time, day one. And to the longevity or the retention of that employee?
[00:30:56] I think it's their first I would say probably their first [00:31:00] 30 days that you really need to. Have a specific roadmap for them. It doesn't need to be perfect, but I think the more they know what is expected of them and understanding where we're starting and where we're headed, where we're going if that's, you will see your first client in two weeks, in three weeks.
[00:31:16] Just having that understanding and that context to know, okay, this is what it, like you said, this is what it is, what is expected of me. And, and now I know you know where we're going with this. Yeah.
[00:31:28] James Marland: great, that's a great tip. And that probably could be its own webinar or workshop.
[00:31:34] Allison Dixon: 100%, yes.
[00:31:36] James Marland: Bree, I wanna end uh, with retention. This, that could also be its own workshop.
[00:31:42] Brie Chrisman: Yes.
[00:31:43] James Marland: what, what is a, a tip on retention you have for the new, like, I'm a new therapist, I'm thinking about hiring somebody, but I'm also worried about retaining people. How, how can you help me with that?
[00:31:54] Brie Chrisman: Honestly, it goes back to just treating, treating them like a human, giving them a soft place to land. Just [00:32:00] being, being supportive. Like Allison said, that 30 day, that first three days is crucial. Having the support there, having that roadmap, but also continuing that throughout their entire time with you and really treating them. If you look at my personal philosophy and I, I'd be like a dead horse. It's, I, I say it constantly, but you treat everything in business through a human first lens, you'll have so much success. Just being able to do things in a light that. Promotes growth and everyone grows differently, and that's okay.
[00:32:38] And that's the beauty of having a practice. You don't, if you have, if you and all your therapists are the same and you treat the same and you see the same clients and everything, that doesn't help anybody. So having, you know, empowering your therapists to be their authentic selves, and in doing so, you can be your authentic self as well.
[00:32:56] And vice versa is huge with [00:33:00] retention.
[00:33:00] James Marland: Uh, So who where can people find more about your services? Is and how you help people hire and retain employees.
[00:33:07] Brie Chrisman: Yes, absolutely. So Bosco is again, an operations management agency for mental health practices, specifically that supports practices from the operations assistant kind of day-to-day, all the way up to fractional practice directing. You can find us at heybosco.com, we're on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, all the things. And, but our website has really great blogs that we don't. We don't sugarcoat anything and we don't gate keep. We give all the information. Our email list is also great. We give a lot of great info, info. We have referral partners that come on and give their expertise as well. So highly recommend signing up for that and going to our blog and seeing what you can find out and how you can help grow either your solo or your group practice.
[00:33:50] James Marland: Wonderful. Brie and Allison, thank you so much for being a part of. The show, this is what's a very valuable topic.
[00:33:58] Brie Chrisman: Thank you so much, James, for having [00:34:00] us.
[00:34:00] Allison Dixon: Thanks James.
[00:34:02] James Marland: Okay, listeners it's, I wanna encourage you to well, if you are treating your employees like a checklist, stop, stop it, Be more human and be relational. Be that place where they can they can get direction and know the next steps. So be more human and put your mission in motion. We'll see you next time.
[00:34:27] Speaker 2: before we end the show, I wanna thank our pro-level sponsors for sponsoring the show: Humor Speaks, RevKey, The Practice Co-Lab, Arc Integrated, TheraSaaS CRM, Guest Compliance Consulting LLC, Private Practice Elevation, Freedom Business Solutions, Bosco LLC, Profit Comes First, River Street Studios, Wealth and Worth Within, TherapyFlow, and of course, coursecreationstudio.com.
[00:34:54] If you're looking for businesses that can help you break through your, your therapy practice business [00:35:00] bottlenecks, go to scalingtherapistservices.com. Check out those proven businesses.
[00:35:05] James Marland: We thank them for their support
