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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Episode Transcript

William Gladhart (00:00):
Welcome to the Leadership L Podcast.
I'm your host, ill Gladheart,cmo at the Culture Think Tank.
At the Culture Think Tank, weempower leaders with metrics
that strengthen culture, driveperformance and return.
We're here today to learn aboutthe actions leaders have taken
to address organizational change.

(00:21):
Our guest today is StephenWills, CEO at Knoxville
Pediatric Associates.
Thanks for taking the time tojoin us.
Let's start by having share abit about yourself with our
audience, your background andalso your organization.

Stephen Wills (00:39):
So I was born and raised here in Knoxville,
Tennessee, Went to a smallcollege just east of here called
Carson Newman to start and thenfinished up at Theville,
Tennessee.
Went to a small college justeast of here called Carson
Newman to start and thenfinished up at the University of
Tennessee.
Big diehard Vols fan - was ajournalism major.
In college decided that wasn'tthe route I wanted to go shortly
after and got into medicalmanagement through sales.
Figured out that was the spotfor me and I've worked for a few

(01:01):
different private practicesbefore getting to Knoxville
Pediatric Associates.
It's been a good group.
I've been here about two yearsand am excited to see what the
future holds for us.

William Gladhart (01:10):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to you sharing
some of your insights today.
So we'll be discussing threequestions as a warm-up to start
our conversation, would youshare why you believe a healthy
culture is critical?

Stephen Wills (01:22):
These times, with people you know, quiet,
quitting and all that good stuffthat's going on around right
now, culture is top notch, mostimportant, because if you're not
keeping the people that youhave in-house comfortable and
safe and happy with their job,then they're going to talk to
other people, they're going tostart applying other places and
you're going to start losingthem left and right.
It's becoming harder and harderto recruit nurses each year,

(01:45):
since COVID has gone by that.
You have to keep the onesin-house happy and that's where
culture comes into play and it'sof utmost importance for us.

William Gladhart (01:53):
That's great.
So it's been our experiencethat leaders tend to struggle in
three key areas people, processor profits.
In your role as CEO, could youidentify which one of these
areas represented a challengewithin your organization?

Stephen Wills (02:06):
People is a big one right now.
I felt like things got betterfor a while and we were getting
a lot of applicants and nothaving issues hiring, but it
seems like the wave's comingback now that school's in and
Christmas is coming and budgetsare hitting and all that.
So it's back to people again.
Unfortunately, we're trying tothink of outside of the box ways
to recruit.
We don't necessarily have thehighest pay wage in town, but we

(02:29):
make up for it with higher PTOrates, accruals and all that,
and then different employeeperks that might piggyback on
top of it, and we have a veryaggressive 401k plan.
So I definitely would saypeople right now.
And profits are always in thebackground.
Without those, we can't pay ourpeople either.

William Gladhart (02:44):
So we got to keep those close too.
Yeah, so what does that peoplechallenge look like and how has
it negatively impacted theorganization?

Stephen Wills (02:54):
The biggest challenge is just getting them
in the door.
When we get them here, theyfind that it's a great place to
work and it runs smoothly anddays are very predictable as far
as the number of patients andwhat your duties are going to be
that day.
So it's not something that youdon't know what you're walking
into day in and day out, it'sjust getting them actually in
the door.
That's the biggest strugglewe're facing right now.

(03:15):
But advertising only works somuch, so we really rely on word
of mouth.
We want our nurses we've gotmany of them that have been here
20 plus years.
We want them telling theirfriends, 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 onesthat can last 20 plus years
moving forward too.

William Gladhart (03:34):
Yeah.
So since you're newer to therole, what challenge?
What is the one thing youidentified to help impact the
culture positively?

Stephen Wills (03:43):
Well, I had the pleasure of taking over for an
individual that worked here forabout 30 years.
She was the only CEO that KPAknew, so I had big shoes to fill
from the jump.
So when I first started, Iwasn't going to come in and
change everything.
I wasn't going to think that Iknew more about KPA than they
did or anything like that.
I really just put on mylearning shoes and tried to go

(04:04):
to those folks that had beenhere 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 wekeep the same.
And I really relied on them toguide me through that.

William Gladhart (04:15):
Yeah, I love hearing that you not only went
and talked to employees, butactually went and talked to
everyone in the organization tojust figure out what their needs
were.
I mean, that's a great qualityin a leader.
Is there anything else you'dlike to add or share for fellow
leaders, or any tips you'd liketo impart?

Stephen Wills (04:34):
I think one of the biggest things that's helped
me out through my career isnetworking.
I didn't know anything aboutmedical when I got into it.
Like I said, I was a journalismmajor and then sales led me
into this.
Without my network I would nothave gotten to where I am today.
The group I started with was ageneral and vascular surgery
group, and they're the ones thatgot me into the MGMA Medical

(04:55):
Group Management Association andI attribute a lot of my success
to them and that peer networkthat I've grown through.
Then they always say it takes avillage to raise a child.
It's kind of the same way toraise a good employee too.
You're depending on so manyother people to make sure that
you're successful, so don't turnyour back on them once you get
there, and make sure you'realways willing to ask for help.

William Gladhart (05:16):
Yeah, I think that's really sage advice for
CEOs and leaders that you knowyou're not in a bubble, the
opportunity to reach out and besupported by others, and finding
those organizations orassociations to find like-minded
individuals to bounce ideas offor to share the load.
Well, Stephen, I've enjoyedhaving you so much on our
Leadership Levers podcast.

(05:37):
Thanks again for your insights.
Really appreciate you.
Thank you for joining us on theLeadership Levers podcast.
Find all our Leadership Leversepisodes on the Culture Think
Tank website at www.
theculturethink tank.
com or listen on your favoritestreaming platform.

(05:58):
We'd love to hear from youabout the challenges you have
faced as a leader.
Tune in weekly as we inviteleaders to share their
experiences in strengtheningculture and performance, one
action at a time.
.