How to Hire and Keep a Rockstar Team

In Your Weight Loss Practice 

Building a thriving weight loss practice isn't just about the clinical protocols you follow or the marketing funnels you build. At the end of the day, it's about the people who show up every single day to serve your patients. As I always say, your team is your reputation. The right people can elevate your brand, free you from burnout, and keep your business growing in ways no system or strategy can do alone. 

I know this firsthand. At our practice, Dr. Clark’s Center for Weight Loss Success, we've been extraordinarily fortunate to have a team where many of our staff members have been with us for 20 or more years. In fact, we recently had to hire an employee for the first time in 12 years. Not because of turnover or dissatisfaction, but because one of our long-term team members decided to join the Navy. We were very sad to see her go, of course, but we always support our people's dreams, even when it means cheering them on to their next adventure. 

That kind of loyalty doesn't happen by accident. It's built, intentionally, over time. 

And in an industry where turnover is a very real and very costly problem, the stakes couldn't be higher. Healthcare organizations currently face an average hospital turnover rate of over 20%, and the financial burden extends well beyond the immediate cost of replacing a staff member.¹ It ripples into patient care quality, team morale, and overall operational efficiency in ways that are hard to fully quantify, but impossible to ignore. Building a team that genuinely wants to stay is one of the most valuable investments you can make in your practice. 

So how do you do it, even with limited resources as a small or independent practice? Here's what I've seen work, both in our own practice and in the practices I coach. 

Hire for Attitude and Train for Skill 

This is the principle I come back to again and again, and it rarely fails. Skills can be taught. 

Empathy, initiative, and genuine curiosity about your patients? Those are much harder to develop in someone who doesn't already have them. 

During interviews, don't just run through a checklist of credentials. Ask questions that reveal character. Try something like: "Tell me about a time you solved a problem for a patient without being asked" or "Describe a challenge you faced in a previous position and how you took ownership of solving it." Then listen (really listen) for answers that show creativity, compassion, and accountability. The candidate who lights up talking about how they helped a confused patient navigate a difficult process is often a far better hire than the one with the polished résumé and rehearsed answers. 

Of course, for clinical roles, the right credentials are non-negotiable. But within that qualified pool, always lead with character. 

Onboard with Intention 

The first 90 days set the tone for everything that follows. New hires are evaluating you just as much as you're evaluating them. And, how you welcome someone onto your team tells them exactly what kind of place this is to work. 

A strong onboarding experience includes a clear role description with concrete definitions of what success looks like, a written onboarding checklist so nothing falls through the cracks, and shadowing opportunities with senior team members who are already doing the job well. Make sure every new hire understands not just their tasks, but how their work contributes to the bigger picture. To your mission, your metrics, and your patients' outcomes. 

And don't underestimate the small touches. A handwritten welcome note on the first day. A team lunch. Something that signals, simply and sincerely: you matter here. Those gestures cost very little and communicate a great deal. 

Recognize That Culture Is Your Retention Strategy 

Here is something I want every practice owner to really sit with: your workplace culture isn't separate from your retention strategy. It is your retention strategy. 

Constantly recruiting because people keep leaving will cost you far more – in time, money, and morale – than investing in the kind of environment that makes people want to stay. Hold regular team huddles where you celebrate wins, share patient success stories, and give credit where credit is genuinely due. Address challenges openly and offer feedback (both praise and gentle course correction) early and often. Don't let issues fester until they become problems you can't fix. 

Make professional development part of the job, even if that just means monthly skill-sharing sessions where team members learn from each other. And be fair, consistently and visibly. Your team notices when you're not, and it erodes trust faster than almost anything else. 

Keep Communication Clear and Consistent 

Healthy employment relationships, like all relationships, run on clear communication. Set expectations for performance and growth, and revisit them regularly during one-on-one check-ins. Consider implementing stay interviews which are structured conversations where you proactively ask team members what's working, what's not, and what would make their experience better. (If you want my list of stay interview questions, just reach out — I'm happy to share them.) 

Create space for your team to offer ideas for improving patient experiences or operations. The people closest to the work often have the best ideas for improving it. And when they feel genuinely heard, they tend to stay. One of the best investments I've made has been in team members who are naturally gifted at creating that culture of inclusion, the kind of person who remembers birthdays, celebrates milestones, and makes sure no one feels invisible. You don't need a large team or a formal HR department to cultivate that environment. You just need to be intentional about it. 

Start with One Thing Today 

Building a rockstar team isn't about luck, and it isn't reserved for practices with big budgets and HR departments. It's about having consistent systems in place and creating a culture that attracts great people, and rewards them for showing up fully. 

If you're not sure where to start, pick one thing. Rewrite a job posting to better reflect your mission and the kind of person you're looking for. Build or update your onboarding checklist. 

Schedule your next team huddle or individual stay interviews. Any one of these moves signals that you're serious about investing in your people. 

I was reminded of this recently during a conversation with a practice that had a relatively new employee who was just past her 90-day mark. She was struggling in her role despite having gone through orientation. Rather than making it a punitive situation, her supervisor approached it as a problem-solving conversation. By the end of that discussion, the employee had generated some genuinely smart ideas for streamlining her workflow, and things started turning around quickly. That's what a culture of open communication and trust actually looks like in practice. 

If you already have a rockstar team, congratulations. You've done the work. And if you're still building toward that, through some trial and error, through a few hires that weren't quite the right fit, through the bittersweet moment of watching a treasured team member leave to join the Navy, know that the effort is absolutely worth it. 

Your patients feel the difference. Your bottom line reflects it. And every day you walk into a practice filled with people who genuinely want to be there, you'll feel it too. 

If you'd like to explore how to implement these strategies in your practice, I offer discovery calls, membership in the Bariatric Business Accelerator, and private consulting. Reach out at karol@weightlosspracticebuilder.com.

Reference: 

¹ NSI Nursing Solutions / Becker's Healthcare. (2025). 2025 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report. Cited in: Accurate Background. "Addressing the High Cost of Turnover in Healthcare." Available at: https://www.accurate.com/blog/addressing-the-high-cost-of-turnover-in-healthcare/