Rehab Medical L.E.A.D.s employees

INDIANAPOLIS - Rehab Medical has formalized its professional development program to better support its fast-paced growth.

The complex rehab provider in October announced L.E.A.D., which stands for leadership, exploration and development, tapping 20 employees for an eight-month program of in-person and online education.

“We're only going as far as our people will take us,” said Kevin Gearheart, president. “We like to talk about, 'Lead where you stand.' We want and expect everyone to be leaders, given the right tools.”

The program has two tracks: one for director level and higher, and one for managers.

Rehab Medical has grown from 125 to more than 400 employees in the last four years, Gearheart says, and although it has successfully hired employees from outside the company, it has found it's often easier to promote them internally.

“What's going to propel us to grow?” he said. “It's a strong culture, and it's easier for us to take someone who already understands our culture and promote them.”

L.E.A.D is a mix of education that Rehab Medical has developed and education provided by Aileron, a Tipp City, Ohio-based company that says on its website that it's “on a mission to help business owners across the country build the business they've always dreamed about through professional development.”

“I've been through their course for presidents,” Gearheart said. “What they focus on and what spoke to what we're trying to do is: how to build a great company with a great culture.”

L.E.A.D is a long-term commitment for Rehab Medical.

“We'll do it again next year,” he said. “We'll grab another group of employees and do another eight-month cycle.”

Game-changing technology

Professional development isn't the only tool that employees need to succeed, says Rehab Medical President Kevin Gearheart.

They also need the right technology.

That's why Rehab Medical in October launched an updated version of its mobile customer relationship management (CRM) software solution.

“This has been a game changer for us,” Gearheart said.

The CRM solution allows Rehab Medical's sales force to speed up the process of providing complex power wheelchairs and improve communication.

The solution allows any employee to, for example, put notes in a patient's account and view them in real time.

“So there's a high level of accountability across the board,” Gearheart said.

Gearheart also uses the CRM solution himself to know “exactly what's going on in every location—down to every rep and every patient,” he said.

Rehab Medical made the investment early on to develop its CRM solution in house.

“The way our IT director puts it: Most companies bend their processes around someone else's tool; we bend our tool around our processes,” Gearheart said. “It's a big reason we have been able to grow so much.”