143 Right People, Wrong Seats: How to Build a Stronger Clinic Team

Welcome
Hello and welcome to the Treat Your Business Podcast. I’m Katie Bell, and this week I’m diving into a situation that so many clinic owners face, what to do when you realise you’ve got the right person, but they’re in the wrong seat, or perhaps the wrong person in the right seat. It’s something I see all the time in our Thrive community, and it’s a challenge every growing business has to navigate. 🌱

Episode Summary
In this episode, I’m sharing why team churn is so common as we grow and why it’s not always a bad thing. I talk about the early days of hiring, when you just need someone with a pulse!, and how, as your business grows, it’s vital to focus on getting the right people in the right seats. I introduce the GWC framework (Get it, Want it, Capacity to do it) from the Entrepreneurial Operating System, and I break down how to analyse your team, set your cultural bar, and have those tough but essential conversations when someone’s not quite fitting. I also share my own experiences of getting this wrong, what I’ve learned, and why intentional culture creation is the real key to sustainable growth.

Key Takeaways

• Your business will only grow as far as the strength and alignment of your team
• It’s normal to outgrow team members or find they’re no longer the right fit
• Use the GWC framework to analyse roles and people: do they get it, want it, and have the capacity?
• Setting a clear bar for your values and culture helps you make objective decisions
• Don’t avoid the hard conversations—leadership means making decisions with empathy and clarity
• Regularly review your accountability chart and delegate where possible so you can focus on growth

Resources & Links

• Sponsored by VBS Medical Limited: Exclusive distributors of K Laser and Indi A therapy in the UK and Ireland. Find out more and book your free trial at www.pbsmedical.com
• Want to dive deeper into team building and leadership? Join our Thrive coaching community for more support and resources: https://thrive-businesscoaching.com 

Episode Sponsor

VBS Medical Ltd, exclusive distributor in the UK and Ireland of K-Laser Therapy & Indiba Radiofrequency Therapy.
To learn more about K-Laser Therapy, visit: https://klaseruk.co.uk/why-klaser/
To learn about Indiba Radiofrequency Therapy, visit: https://vbsmedical.com/product/indiba-radiofrequency/
Book your free trial at https://vbsmedical.com/contact/ – quote "THRIVE" to receive a fr

Treat Your Business podcast is proudly sponsored by MBST, the groundbreaking technology revolutionising recovery and rehabilitation. Offering a non-invasive, drug-free solution for musculoskeletal conditions and nerve injuries, MBST works at a cellular level to stimulate regeneration. Expand your services and deliver long-term patient improvements without increasing your workload.

Learn more at mbstmedical.co.uk. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 The Hiring Trap: Warm Bodies and Quick Fixes
• 3:05 Welcome to Treat Your Business: Empowering Clinic Owners
• 4:30 Sponsor Message: VBS Medical Limited
• 6:05 Right Person, Wrong Seat – And Vice Versa
• 8:15 The GWC Framework: Get It, Want It, Capacity
• 10:27 Culture, Values, and Making Tough Decisions
• 13:14 Having Hard Conversations With Empathy
• 15:36 Accountability Charts and Delegating for Growth
• 18:19 Leadership, Churn, and The Path to a Stronger Team

Transcript

Treat Your Business EP143

[00:00:00] Katie Bell: We are going to tackle a really common and uncomfortable situation in small business teams that we hear more commonly than I possibly would like to hear, but. An entrepreneur who needs to grow their team. And in the early days we tend to go on the the plan of anybody that has a pulse and that is warm and alive.

[00:00:26] We will bring into our teams. Because we need to hire quickly. We need to hire fast. We're burn out, we're exhausted, and we just need to get somebody in the role. But what tends to happen is as your business grows, and we see this happen in Thrive all the time, as we're encouraging team to recruit right people into right seats, we get a huge churn of their team and.

[00:00:53] There's lots of reasons for that, and it's something that they just have to navigate and they have to go through and all teams will go through this challenge, but what do you do when you've got someone. Who maybe was just, warm and had a pulse and has grown with your team, but as you've hit a certain level, they're now not rowing in the same direction as you or they're now somebody that you would probably class as not in the right seat.

[00:01:18] And this tends to be when we put people into management or leadership positions, or clinic leads or operation managers or integrators. And because they've been with the company the longest or because they've got, length of service, but not necessarily because they've got the skills.

[00:01:34] So this episode isn't about blame, it's just about making sure that your team are absolutely aligned because your business will only grow to the quality of the team that you have got around you. So if you feel like your business is stagnating, then it's stuck at a certain level of revenue, turnover, sales, whatever word you want to use.

[00:01:58] The problem is probably not you, but the problem will be your plan and the people around you. So let's dive into this week's leadership episode.

[00:02:10] Welcome to the Treat Your Business Podcast with Katie Bell. I'm Katie, and this is the place where clinic owners like you learn the strategies, tools, and mindset shifts needed to transform your clinic into a thriving business. One that gives you more time, more money, and more freedom. Born from a passion to challenge the idea that average is normal.

[00:02:33] We empower clinic owners to create extraordinary businesses, incomes, and lives through our world class coaching programs. We help you step out of overwhelm and into confidence, turning your clinic into a business that fuels your lifestyle, not drain it. So are you ready? Let's dive in.

[00:02:51] Today's episode is sponsored by VBS Medical Limited. It's the exclusive distributor of K laser therapy and indi a radio frequency therapy in the UK and Ireland. K Laser and Indi A are non-invasive therapies that enhance and accelerate the healing process complementing standard of care. Broadening therapeutic opportunities, improving clinical outcomes, generating new profit, and distinguishing your clinic from the competition.

[00:03:19] Kay Laser and Indi A have a medical device regulation approval, meaning they have scientific publications to validate their clinical applications in practice. To learn more, visit www.pbsmedical.com and book your free trial today.

[00:03:35] Okay. Let's get clear on what we see when it's not working. We generally see decisions are being bottlenecked. We might have lack of leadership through follow through. There might be tension or kind of confusion in the team. If you're getting lots of questions around I just don't feel clear, or I'm not sure who I should be going to.

[00:03:57] Or maybe that you are trying to get them to. Meet certain performance measurables or metrics, and they're just not month on month. Or there's a gut feeling of misalignment. It's i'm going to go back to tree analogies because my book is based on a tree analogy, but it's like having a really beautiful apple tree, but planting it in piss poor soil.

[00:04:22] It might sur survive, but it just won't thrive and neither will anything therefore around it. So this is the concept of having a, the right person, but they're in the wrong seat. So it might that you have elevated them into a position in your company. Is, something that the business needed as you were growing and you were desperate to delegate this role because you were, you're just overworked and you're too busy.

[00:04:51] So you've taken that they were loyal, they're committed, they're that you like them, you get on and you've promoted them into a wrong seat because we didn't get clear on what their zone of genius was, what their strengths are, and we've just shoved them into a role and they're not performing and they're not performing for the company.

[00:05:10] Or it might be that as your business grows and as your business develops, they actually are the wrong person, but they might be in the right seat. So this is where we know what the company needs from a role. But we've elevated the wrong person into that right seat. And that might be that you have somebody that is just not aligning with your values.

[00:05:37] And it could be that you weren't clear on what your values were when you first started recruiting and employing people into your company. So it can happen, you know that it can be right person, wrong seat, and it can be wrong person in the right seat. There is a framework that we talk about quite a lot, and it's the GWC framework and it's from the entrepreneurial operating system.

[00:05:59] And I won't go into too much detail around that, but the EOS system is what we base my clinic and thrive off. We have implemented the EOS system in both companies and the gwc. Framework that sits in the EOS system is do they get it? Do they want it, and do they have the capacity to do it? So when we are people analyzing and we are looking at our company, we first of all list the values and we say, do they.

[00:06:32] Behave in that way with that value a hundred percent of the time. It's a big plus. Do they do it? Sometimes it's a plus minus, or actually they never display that value. It's a minus. And you go through all the values and you people analyze, and then you have the GWC at the end of it. So you then say, do they get it?

[00:06:52] Do they really understand what this role is and. What is required of them? Do they really want it? So are they passionate about this role and the company? Do they want to develop skills and the knowledge in this area? Are they, like buzzing for it? And then do they have the capacity to do it now?

[00:07:20] The capacity to do it is we split into two different, avenues do they have the capacity from a time point of view? See this all the time. You try and delegate roles and you give people no time to do them 'cause you just shoehorn them, shoehorn those things into their current roles.

[00:07:39] Typically, example is taking a therapist and giving them social media content to do what the. Chuff. Most therapists are not social media in influencers. They haven't got a clue what makes social media work, but we delegate the role 'cause we think it's something that they should be doing. And we then give them no time to do it because they generally are seeing clients or they're trying to drop it in between little bits and they just, and they don't have the skills and they don't really get it.

[00:08:07] They don't really want it and they don't really have the capacity to do it. So time. But also capacity from a knowledge and skills perspective. So if they don't gwc the role, then no amount of positivity or effort can change that, and that is okay. So when we've got our values plus minus or minus, we have a bar and we call this what is your minimum that you will allow in your company?

[00:08:34] So we have four values in kb, for example, and in Thrive. And our bar would be three. So we would need three pluses and a plus minus for that person to stay in the team If there are any minuses. They are not going to be on the team. That Okay. Feels maybe quite strong for some of you, but this is what you are trying to do intentionally create a culture.

[00:09:03] And it's that intentional creation of culture that is going to allow your business to grow and thrive. And then we have the gwc, and again, we want plus or plus minuses. And again, you might have a bar there. Any minuses for me? They have to go. So what can feel very difficult is when you have somebody in your team that maybe you've delegated and elevated into a position because that's all you knew.

[00:09:32] You, you didn't really know how else to navigate the situation as you were growing as a small business owner. Trying to then demote them. Trying to remove them is really tricky because we fear hurting their feelings. You might have some close-knit dynamics. You worry about the team morale, but avoidance doesn't protect your culture.

[00:09:55] It actually just corrodes it really slowly. And real leadership means making the uncomfortable decisions with empathy and clarity. Now, don't get me wrong, even after nearly 11 years of running a clinic, five years of running Thrive in my clinic in particular, there has been times in the last year where we have seen staff come and go.

[00:10:25] And I've had to really lean into like why is that happening? And it's because we are leaning into an intentional culture creation even more than we've ever done. So everything is to do with our values, how we hire, how we fire, how we review, how we performance, manage, how we train it. It all comes back to the culture that we are creating.

[00:10:49] And what it actually does is it makes people stand out like a. Sore thumb. And a part of it was that we were hiring too quickly because again we've grown at a pace year on year over the last 10 years. But significantly in the last 18 months, we've had a big a big change to how we do things and.

[00:11:08] We, we had to get people in and we weren't far enough ahead. Like I'm teaching you all the time to be six months ahead of where you need to be. Really in my size business, we need to be a year ahead of where we really want to be in terms of our hiring needs. So with all of these things, the reflection and the learning is absolutely crucial.

[00:11:28] And we still don't get it right a hundred percent of the time. And that's okay. That's about being a leader. That's about learning still after 11 years, but also. As I've delegated and elevated my role and I'm really sitting in the visionary seat. I have an integrator that's coming in or or has been working with me for many years now, but she is moving up into that integrator ops manager, COO, really of the business.

[00:11:55] I have to elevate her approach. To avoidance, to protecting culture, to really sitting in making uncomfortable decisions with empathy and with clarity and putting the business needs first. So when we have a situation where we have a somebody that might be the right person in the wrong seat. How do we approach this conversation?

[00:12:19] Where do we even start? I thought it'd be helpful to break down the conversation, maybe into steps. So the first step is about affirming their value. Now remember, this is the right person in the wrong seat.

[00:12:33] Start by telling them what they are doing. Make it clear that they matter to your company. Then you need to name the tension. Be honest, but kind. Avoid the fluff. Be clear that it's about the fit it. It's about fit, not failure. Number three, then offer the a new opportunity. So frame it as a realignment rather than a rejection.

[00:13:03] And then number four is collaborate on the transition. Then ask, how can we do this well together? So this isn't about a demotion, it's about setting you and the team up to succeed. What you should not do is delay this conversation until something breaks. You should not make it personal, and you should not ignore the ripple effect on the rest of the team because a wrong seat leader or person creates these micro frictions all over your business.

[00:13:35] So leadership is about aligning people with the purpose. That really includes hard conversations. If you are not having hard conversations in your business, then you should be able to confidently say that every single person in your business is pluses. They are all high performers. They are all absolutely aligned with your values.

[00:14:06] They all GWC it. And you have 110% strong culture. If that is the case, truly the case, then you should be Chuffing flying as a company. And I congratulate you because this is not an easy thing to do. When we are looking for our people segment. We are aiming for 80% and strong across the board, not a hundred percent.

[00:14:36] 'cause you're never going to get a hundred percent, but we're aiming for 80% strong across the board.

[00:14:41] So coming back to. Thinking about who is in the seats in your business. First of all, when we are deciphering, have I got the right people in the right seats? The clarity that you need, first of all is what are the seats? Because this is called your accountability chart. It's like an organizational chart, but better.

[00:15:05] And your accountability chart is about listing all of the job roles that have to go on all the. Responsibilities, the little bits, the big bits, the small bits, everything that goes on in your company, and putting them into roles. And those typically sit in visionary ops manager sort of integrator. And then you have sales role, a marketing role, finance role, HR role, service delivery role.

[00:15:31] So these tend to be the typical headlines that we see within a company. Now, it might not be that you are anywhere near having anybody in any of those seats yet, and your name is in all of the seats. Then we need to think about. What are the things in your business right now that you could delegate and elevate to somebody like finance or hr, or have a VA that could come in and do some of those operational things for you so you can lean into the sales and marketing seat more?

[00:16:02] Especially if you are a business owner that is not yet making 10 KA month to get to 10 KA month in your clinic. You need to be focused on sales and marketing, period. Above that we have massive team things to learn, leadership to develop. And we have to make this a process driven company, and we have to elevate your sales and marketing, and we have to get you out of more of the seats because you are going to have to spend time in leadership.

[00:16:29] So really thinking about what roles your company needs, not the people that do the things because. People can change, . The roles are the roles, and then we fit the person into the role rather than the other way round, which is what many of us have done in the past. So the first thing for you to really think about is what are the key roles and responsibilities that my business requires on a day-to-day, week to week, month to month basis.

[00:17:02] And then who are the names that I've got in those seats currently? And let's do a people analyzer. Let's look at the values and let's look at GWC. And are they, do they meet the bar? If they don't, you are going to quickly know in your company and your organization, and I'm going to guess that all of you have one that.

[00:17:24] You are like, I'm putting up with this person, I'm tolerating them. They are not the right fit. Because you don't wanna have that hard conversation. You don't do anything about it. And this is not about making it all happen at once. Everybody, you need to aim for one a quarter. In terms of some team change, not try and do everything all in the same quarter because you are, trust me, you are going to collapse in a heap if you try and do that.

[00:17:50] Leadership is challenging. It is hard. It requires your time and your energy. So really thinking about if you're in that zone of I've got a massive churn and turnover I'm really happy for you because that just means that your energy is elevating for you to. Create the next level in your business is going to mean you need different people around you.

[00:18:10] And we don't hire people for us to tell them what to do. We hire great people so they can tell us what to do. I hope you've enjoyed. This week's leadership podcast. I love talking about leadership. I don't think we get enough of it in our we don't get any of it in our training, do we? But I really love leaning into developing our leadership skills because the moment that you all realize.

[00:18:36] People operate your processes. People are the people that like sell in your company. People are the ones that are going to implement the marketing. People are the crux and the key to you growing your business and having more time, more freedom, and more money. So we've gotta get better at it as an industry.

[00:18:56] Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox. I will see you all again next week for the next episode of the Treat Your Business podcast.

[00:19:04]