In 1960, Hayley Boling’s grandfather Dr. Richard Boling had a staff of five working at his Elkhart ophthalmology practice. His son, Dr. Richard Boling II, joined him in 1986, which moved the practice forward to two doctors and about 10 staff members. Due primarily to a major push in 2004, Boling Vision Center now employs 60 staff members and six doctors. The healthcare practice includes two locations in Indiana and an ambulatory surgery center.

“He stuck a shingle on the side of the building and thought patients would come, and we have been fortunate that we have had regular business ever since,” says Hayley Boling of her grandfather.

Hayley joined the team in 2009 as CEO after earning her MBA from Taylor University. Her grandfather and father had built a successful business out of caring for eyes, and Hayley has strengthened that success as a leader within Boling Vision Center.

Hayley met Mike Yoder, Servant HR’s CEO, during a post-graduate business class at Taylor University in 2008. During this year, she was wrapping up her studies and carrying out a hands-on orientation to become the CEO of Boling Vision Center. Her father developed the process, which called for Hayley to spend a few months in every single position in the practice.

“I spent time working alongside people, to see the value of our people and their challenges. I was also pinpointing vulnerabilities and strengths,” Hayley says. “It was important to see different elements of the practice and build credibility with other people in the practice.”

With a list of HR challenges that included a growing staff, plans for future expansion and policies that needed improving, Hayley reached out to Mike to see if Servant HR could help. A business’s human resources strategy should complement and support its goals. Boling Vision Center had lofty ones, and Servant HR has served as its trusted partner during some big changes.

“Servant HR helped us completely restructure our organizational chart. This was a huge undertaking for us,” Hayley says. The new chart is based on skill-set value versus longevity. “People were inappropriately placed, and Servant HR helped me as a new leader to identify who needed to be repositioned. And if there wasn’t a position conducive to their skill set, Servant HR helped me dismiss those individuals appropriately. It was a tough situation, and it was good to have a legal perspective and a second set of eyes to support my decisions.”

Servant HR also helps Hayley navigate advances and changes in human resources and is just an email or phone call away if a sticky legal question arises. Hayley says the HR team helps Boling Vision Center stay as professional as possible and play it safe. But business risks aren’t something Hayley avoids when they are worth taking.

“In the next five years, we would like to have four locations. Our next step is moving toward the South Bend marketplace. And we are excited to partner with that community,” she says. Boling Vision is already the preferred ophthalmologist for Notre Dame, so they have luck on their side.

By Jeff C. Leffew, Founder and President

The other day, I was chatting with a friend and business associate who works in the auto-painting business. He told me that he referred us to a client in southern Indiana. When I asked him what piqued the interest of his client, he said that the guy’s time, energy and focus were spread too thinly.

“I’m the point guy for everything!” the business owner told my friend. To paraphrase his frustrations, he said a little something like this: “Yes, in reality, I make money when I run my business, you know, focusing on getting more work in and out of the shop. What I’m not is an HR/benefits/payroll/workers’ compensation/risk management guy! There has to be someone who can handle this junk.”

One man’s junk is another man’s business, I suppose. All that stuff is what we do at Servant HR. We handle those details that come with having employees so business owners can focus on growing their businesses. If you’d like to find out how your HR “junk” can be better handled, call us.

By Michael Yoder, Chief Executive Officer

The first quarter of a new calendar year is always an amazing one for an employer. Just like a New Year’s Resolution, it seems like so much begins anew. By now, you have finished up your W2s and OSHA injury reports. New hire reporting is in full swing and new federal and state forms are available. The first quarter is also the restart of FUTA and SUTA charges. It’s a lot to take care of when you’re also trying to go about your “regular” business.

The first quarter is also a good time to take stock of what you have learned from last year. What have you learned from the processes you have in place related to benefits, payroll or tax filing? How can next year’s paperwork and tax filing be handled more easily? How can you refine your process to make things better? Reflecting on each quarter and really getting organized so that you’re prepared for what’s around the corner is really the best way to effectively handle all of your HR responsibilities and obligations.

For our clients, the answer to these questions of process and best practices is to let us handle it for them. Human resources can be a never-ending world of change. That is where Servant HR thrives. We do all of this “stuff” for more than 50 different employers — who then have the “freedom to focus” on getting their new sales or production year off to a great start. As one of our long-term clients says: “It’s done!” You don’t have to do it on your own. We wanna hold your hand! Please contact me directly if you have any questions.