The Challenges of Exponential Growth

In the early 2000s, Dr. Rick Workman, founder and Executive Chairman, turned to Bell Leadership as a trusted partner to help Heartland Dental navigate key challenges the organization was facing as a result of rapid growth:

• Staying True to Their Culture
  Geographical dispersion presented hurdles to maintaining a consistent company culture and core values.
• Embracing Change
  Heartland Dental needed to develop the systems and skills necessary to embrace a growth strategy which inevitably meant change.
• Developing Key Leadership Skills
  As Heartland Dental expanded, it needed to enhance the skills of senior leaders to grow with the business. A proactive approach to leadership development was paramount.

Bell Leadership Solutions

Heartland Dental’s remarkable growth trajectory was and continues to be supported by its prioritization of its people and their development, underscored by the company’s implementation of Bell Leadership. Working with a diverse leadership landscape, Heartland Dental leverages the full range of Bell Leadership’s solutions to address the unique challenges faced by leaders at all levels of the organization.

The Impact

Over the past two decades, Heartland Dental cultivated a thriving organizational culture that remained steadfast through rapid expansion. The organization’s partnership with Bell Leadership and implementation of strategic Bell solutions at critical points has been a key factor to Heartland Dental’s success, enabling the development of:

1. A Shared Leadership Language

The Achiever Model of Leadership™ quickly became the foundation of Heartland Dental’s approach to building leadership competency. By utilizing Bell’s Achievers™ programs in Chapel Hill while also licensing trainers within Heartland Dental, the organization was able to cascade knowledge and adoption of the model throughout a geographically diverse business. This created a shared leadership language—a common set of words, concepts, and leadership aspirations that team members use to communicate and hold each other accountable.

2. Critical Leadership Skills

Heartland Dental increased the fortitude of leaders by incorporating key concepts and frameworks from the Bell Leadership Mastery Series™ teachings. This enabled the creation of a bench of leaders well-versed in communication, teamwork, time management, selection, and goal setting. Critical to rapid expansion, leaders developed the skills to successfully navigate change and help their teams develop the resiliency to thrive in the midst of it.

3. A Scalable Goal Setting Framework

Heartland Dental was an early adopter of Bell’s Achiever Goal Setting System™. The organization embraced this annual approach and, with Bell Leadership’s guidance, was able to scale the system throughout a period of rapid growth. This annual process incorporates a thorough review of the external environment and renews goals to meet new challenges. The process allows for team members at all levels of the organization to provide valuable feedback and insights.

4. An Effective Hiring Strategy

Like any organization experiencing rapid growth, Heartland Dental faced challenges in hiring at the rate needed to keep up with increasing demands. They combined the shared leadership language developed through the Bell Achiever Model™ with specialized training for leaders on the skills needed to identify, hire, and promote the best matches for the organization. This helps Heartland Dental build a robust hiring strategy with lower rates of turnover in leadership roles than the industry average.

5. Deeper Employee Engagement

Perhaps the most meaningful impact of Heartland Dental’s partnership with Bell Leadership is its contribution to employee engagement. Heartland Dental always recognized that its people power its business and maintained a deep devotion to their development. Utilizing the full range of Bell Leadership solutions, they built a strong culture of continuous learning that emphasizes not only technical skills and competencies but personal and leadership skills as well. This commitment to their employees’ growth has fostered a culture of continuous improvement that consistently drives high results.

The Impact

Over the past two decades, Heartland Dental cultivated a thriving organizational culture that remained steadfast through rapid expansion. The organization’s partnership with Bell Leadership and implementation of strategic Bell solutions at critical points has been a key factor to Heartland Dental’s success, enabling the development of:

1. A Shared Leadership Language

The Achiever Model of Leadership™ quickly became the foundation of Heartland Dental’s approach to building leadership competency. By utilizing Bell’s Achievers™ programs in Chapel Hill while also licensing trainers within Heartland Dental, the organization was able to cascade knowledge and adoption of the model throughout a geographically diverse business. This created a shared leadership language—a common set of words, concepts, and leadership aspirations that team members use to communicate and hold each other accountable.

2. Critical Leadership Skills

Heartland Dental increased the fortitude of leaders by incorporating key concepts and frameworks from the Bell Leadership Mastery Series™ teachings. This enabled the creation of a bench of leaders well-versed in communication, teamwork, time management, selection, and goal setting. Critical to rapid expansion, leaders developed the skills to successfully navigate change and help their teams develop the resiliency to thrive in the midst of it.

3. A Scalable Goal Setting Framework

Heartland Dental was an early adopter of Bell’s Achiever Goal Setting System™. The organization embraced this annual approach and, with Bell Leadership’s guidance, was able to scale the system throughout a period of rapid growth. This annual process incorporates a thorough review of the external environment and renews goals to meet new challenges. The process allows for team members at all levels of the organization to provide valuable feedback and insights.

4. An Effective Hiring Strategy

Like any organization experiencing rapid growth, Heartland Dental faced challenges in hiring at the rate needed to keep up with increasing demands. They combined the shared leadership language developed through the Bell Achiever Model™ with specialized training for leaders on the skills needed to identify, hire, and promote the best matches for the organization. This helps Heartland Dental build a robust hiring strategy with lower rates of turnover in leadership roles than the industry average.

5. Deeper Employee Engagement

Perhaps the most meaningful impact of Heartland Dental’s partnership with Bell Leadership is its contribution to employee engagement. Heartland Dental always recognized that its people power its business and maintained a deep devotion to their development. Utilizing the full range of Bell Leadership solutions, they built a strong culture of continuous learning that emphasizes not only technical skills and competencies but personal and leadership skills as well. This commitment to their employees’ growth has fostered a culture of continuous improvement that consistently drives high results.