Case Studies Schweiger Dermatology Group Reduces Turnover by 57%

The Challenge

Schweiger Dermatology Group operates over 50 medical offices that offer comprehensive dermatology services. To staff these locations, Schweiger employs a wide variety of roles, from medical assistants and patient coordinators to medical coders and call center representatives.

In 2016, the company took stock of their turnover rate and realized it was a lot higher than they would like, at 60% annual turnover. According to Ana Welsh, Schweiger’s VP of Employee Experience, the company was looking to “reduce our turnover and ensure that we are bringing on intelligent, computer savvy people who are a good personality fit for our organization.”

The Solution

In a targeted effort to reduce their turnover, Schweiger implemented a number of tactics. First, to improve retention of current employees, they transitioned to becoming a more engaged management team with their employees. Part of this involved rolling out a compelling mission and values across the company and developing employee retention programs.

Second, to ensure that they were hiring the right people in the first place, Schweiger revamped their interview process, and they partnered with Criteria Corp in 2017 to administer pre-employment tests to incoming candidates. The assessments included the Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT); and the Employee Personality Profile (EPP), a general personality inventory.

Schweiger Dermatology Group now administers the assessments to candidates for every single type of job, from entry level all the way up to executives. The company places the assessment stage after the phone interview as a way to ensure that the right candidates are being invited to the more time-consuming in-person interview.

The Results

Lower Turnover

Turnover was what originally led Schweiger to use Criteria Corp’s assessments, and within a year, the company experienced a dramatic reduction in turnover. In 2016, before they had started using testing, their turnover rate for the year was 60%. After they started testing in 2017, their turnover rate went down to 26%, representing a 57% reduction in turnover. This improvement remained consistent over time, with their annual turnover rate reaching as low as 21% in 2018.

Better Candidate Quality

Schweiger Dermatology Group has experienced a noticeable improvement in the quality of candidates that ultimately come in for an interview. “We are definitely bringing on stronger employees,” said Ana Welsh. “It helped us upgrade our population of candidates to a more professional set of people.”

Strengthened Employer Brand

By incorporating assessments into the hiring process, Schweiger Dermatology Group also experienced an enhanced level of credibility and strength as an employer brand. Ana Welsh found that candidates who take the assessments have a “respect for our interview process because they realize how serious and comprehensive it is.” This contributed to Schweiger’s ability to surface a stronger group of candidates from which to select future employees.

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