Mission Accomplished

Where high performance meets a healthy personal life

With a background in entrepreneurship and innovation, Justin Satterfield set out to build a fiercely independent company where both high performance and a healthy personal life were possible. The goal was to build a firm “where the best of the best wanted to come and stay,” Satterfield says. This meant being clear on the company’s values and creating a culture that expresses them in everything it does.

The result is Norwood, an Austin, Texas-based healthcare staffing and consulting company focused on partnering best-in-class mid-revenue cycle professionals with clients who are looking to streamline operations, optimize revenue and deliver better patient care. “Our strength is our people,” the company’s website declares. “Whether that’s seasoned consultants to help implement an outpatient CDI program or perform a deep chart audit, or vetted and experienced coding and CDI staff to augment or fully staff your department, we couple unmatched flexibility with outsized performance.” Clients range from small, community-based hospitals to the largest healthcare systems in the US.

‘The CEO Knows Who I Am’

According to Crystal May, a senior risk adjustment consultant who has been in her field for seven years and at Norwood for one, Satterfield succeeded in his mission. “Norwood has a culture unlike any I have experienced before,” May says. For example, she explains that the company’s leaders and management team don’t just talk about work-life balance — they expect it and model it themselves, as opposed to previous jobs, where sending out late-night emails was the norm. “At Norwood, if I do that, my manager will ask me why I am working so late.” She also remembers feeling that she could be herself from day one, and she says the relationships she has with her colleagues are built on mutual respect and interest in each other as whole people. Further, May describes how the management team consistently makes her feel valued, giving her specific constructive feedback and engaging in real conversations rather than simply issuing directives. “The CEO actually knows who I am,” she says. “Realizing that was a shock to me.”

Kiran Ali, a recruiting manager who has been at Norwood since its earliest days, shares similar observations. “At the time when [Satterfield] got in touch with me about coming to work at Norwood, I had left staffing,” she says — she had worked as a senior recruiter at a staffing firm for two years but left for a corporate recruiting role. “I was so burnt out.” But Satterfield’s promise to create a culture that leaves people happy to come to work brought her back — and, to Ali’s delight, he delivered. “If you are having a bad day or just aren’t feeling up to making another cold call, people get it. We work hard, but we support each other and are not afraid to be honest.”

Ali also describes feeling seen and heard by management. “Our ideas are taken seriously. They are considered when decisions are being made.”

Building the Culture

Creating and nurturing an attractive company culture boils down to hiring and, at times, letting go if the fit is not right, Satterfield says. He and his team have carefully designed recruiting, hiring and onboarding processes that express the company’s values. They also get to know candidates before bringing them on. Being 100% remote, even before Covid, they also make a continuous effort to engage employees with each other. “In other companies I have worked for, some departments don’t even know that other departments exist,” May says. “At Norwood, we are expected to not just know about each other but to work together across departments to achieve our goals.” Additionally, the company emphasizes keeping lines of communication flowing well through a combination of regular and needs-based individual and team meetings, Ali explains.

The company also walks the talk in terms of encouraging downtime and having fun together. Employees connect often through activities like virtual happy hours and secret Santa gift exchanges. Each year, Norwood sponsors a three-day companywide retreat with a zero-work policy. “The point is to hang out and bond,” Satterfield says. “That’s it.” To this end, the retreat includes communal meals and plenty of downtime. It also includes team building activities like a scavenger hunt planned by an employee committee, human foosball and the “Norwood Olympics.”

Their efforts seem to be paying off: Norwood is growing and getting noticed. In addition to being recognized as a Best Staffing Firm to Work For, Norwood ranked No. 90 on the 2023 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America after achieving an incredible 5,189% growth over three years.

Looking ahead, the company is implementing changes to make it easier for internal staff and consultants to keep up with daily tasks, including developing a new employee portal. It will also focus on ensuring that its consultants feel secure, supported and supplied with what they need to be successful from the first moment they start in a position. “That initial impression is critical,” Satterfield says. “If they feel good in that first week, they are much more likely to overcome obstacles and stick with the company.”