Having a well-oiled team is a crucial piece of any successful business. Medical practitioners running their own practices are no stranger to the impact of employee turnover. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, Shane Tenny, CFP®, speaks with Dr. Michael Neal about the importance of building a strong team and hiring and retaining the right people.

Dr. Neal practices optometry alongside his wife, Dr. Amy Neal. When they first opened their practice, he began to experience the challenges of developing a team alongside a growing business.

“We were approaching hiring team members the wrong way. We were approaching it completely upside down. And unfortunately, we got the results that we deserved because of how we were approaching it,” Dr. Neal says about his first hiring challenges.

A desire to streamline the hiring process and evaluate candidates more effectively led Dr. Neal to develop assessments that determine a candidate's suitability for a role and their ability to learn quickly. These assessments are delivered via text message and filter out 97% of applicants, removing a significant administrative burden from the hiring process. This was the starting point of his other business venture, Build My Team, which delivers better people faster.

Later in the episode, Shane and Dr. Neal discuss the benefits of bringing in a professional manager to oversee the operations of a medical practice.

“It's the team that's providing the care for the bulk of [the time]. If you want to advance in healthcare, one of the ways to do it is to adopt that mindset and bring on these A players,” he says.

💡 Featured Guest 💡

Name: Dr. Michael Neal

What he does: As the Chief Executive Officer at Build My Team, Dr. Neal is the face of the company. He founded Build My Team as a result of his own practice’s hiring struggles.

Dr. Neal is a practicing optometrist alongside his wife, Dr. Amy Neal, at Lakeside Vision in picturesque Hawley, Pennsylvania. They are celebrating their 20th year of servicing patients in Northeast Pennsylvania.

Company: Build My Team and Lakeside Vision

Words of wisdom: “I like to grow businesses. That's one of the things I get most excited about. We serve people, we grow, and do as good a job as possible.”

Connect: Website

💰 On the Money 💰

Top takeaways from this episode

• Resumes don’t do what you need them to do. Traditional interviews often leave candidates feeling intimidated and unable to showcase who they really are. Dr. Neal did not find success when relying on resumes as the primary tool for hiring, as they do not effectively assess a candidate's potential performance. A shift in approach puts the focus on identifying candidates who can excel in their roles based on their abilities.
• Streamline hiring with targeted assessments. Dr. Neal developed assessments for candidates to quickly determine their suitability for the role and how fast they can learn on the job. Candidates receive the assessment via text message after applying for a position. He shares that they now reject 97% of applicants.
• Select from a roster of A players. Build My Team streamlines the hiring process by writing and publishing the job description for the physician, screening applicants, and conducting one-way video interviews with promising candidates. This process reduces costs and saves hiring managers time.
• Hire candidates who are...