Heartland Dental’s approach to diversity, staffing and team development has led it to be recognized as a leader among employers nationwide.
The Effingham, Ill.-based DSO has won several awards over the years for its initiatives and staffing practices, most recently being ranked as one of the greatest workplaces in healthcare by Newsweek for 2025.
Kirsty Leyland, Heartland Dental’s executive vice president and chief human resources officer, recently spoke with Becker’s to discuss the company’s strategies for team building and workplace culture.
Editor’s note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: Why have workplace culture and diversity initiatives become such a core focus for the company over the years?
Kirsty Leyland: It very much is aligned with our mission, our values and our long-term vision for sustainable growth. We see our commitment to fostering an inclusive, supportive and purpose-driven environment not just as aspirational for our employees, but also really strategic. As an example, we’ve invested in programs like our employee-led communities and wellness programs, and they’ve earned us some national recognition. Ultimately, our culture is a reflection of our people — their passion, their collaboration and their commitment to excellence are really what make Heartland a great place to work, and it’s why I think we’ll continue to prioritize workplace and culture as foundational for our business success in the future.
Q: What are some of the unique benefits Heartland Dental offers that help it stand out among other employers?
KL: We offer many things smaller employers in dentistry aren’t able to offer because we’re a very large organization, but we do have a family environment. We try to keep that kind of environment similar to a small group practice. Some of the types of benefits we offer are all related to a broader culture that prioritizes care for our employees, balance and their personal growth. We offer an extensive curriculum of education and development through our Heartland University to all employees, and a tremendous amount of continued professional credits are provided every year to our employees who participate. We support team members both personally and professionally with the basics that you’d expect of an organization of our size, and then some benefits that go beyond those basics to attract certain segments of employees. We launched a daily pay, which is an on-demand pay so employees can access their earned wages in real time, which gives them a lot of flexibility and peace of mind financially. We have a holistic employee assistance program with free and confidential counseling and resources for legal, financial and emotional support. And we have a big wellness program that supports physical, mental and financial well-being. We’re really proud of that range of benefits we’re able to offer all of our team members.
Q: How does Heartland Dental measure employee satisfaction and engagement throughout the company?
KL: We have a multifaceted approach to measuring employee satisfaction. We conduct an annual engagement survey that includes indicators like employee net promoter [scores] and an engagement index, which is sort of an average of a number of different variables. Those tools help us understand how team members feel about their work, their leadership teams and the overall environment of where they work. We’ve also more recently begun to follow up on those engagement surveys more frequently with small pulse surveys to track progress and measure sentiment between those main surveys. Beyond surveys, we monitor sentiment on other platforms like Glassdoor and Indeed, and we actively encourage feedback through internal channels as well. That feedback loop helps us identify what’s working, where we need to improve and how we can best support our people. Ultimately, I think it helps team members feel heard and valued and empowered to grow. That’s our aim — to ensure every member feels heard, valued and empowered. Engagement is really a key strategy on why we continue to be recognized as a great place to work, and I think these different initiatives help us keep that flywheel spinning in a positive direction.
Q: What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned about workplace culture and staffing during your time with the company?
KL: The one major thing that stands out for me that we truly believe at Heartland is that great teams build great companies. A key part of building a thriving workforce is the element of ongoing feedback and having channels to enable that to happen, so a way to really capture feedback so leaders can help collaborate with their teams and help them refine and define future goals. I think that connectivity we have between all of our team members and leadership within the organization helps individuals to feel seen and heard and really see a difference from providing that feedback.
Q: What do you think Heartland Dental gets right about its people and culture that other companies might not?
KL: As we’ve grown over the many years we’ve been operating, we’re rooted in what we often refer to in our organization as Midwest values. What that means to us is showing up with kindness, being open, being respectful in interactions with others and celebrating one another’s successes. We believe you need to be kind to work at Heartland, and it’s that mindset that shapes how we collaborate. We lead and we grow together, and it creates an environment where people want to stay.
In addition to those Midwest values, I’d say we also encourage team members to think like owners, and I think that’s quite different in many organizations. For us, it’s a philosophy that helps everyone, regardless of their role, whether they’re working in a support office role or they’re a clinical team member in a practice serving patients. They not only understand their impact and take pride in their contributions, but they know they’re part of something much bigger and that their work matters, not just to their own team, but to the patients and the communities they serve, and that’s much bigger than just their own individual role. Finally, I’d say one thing I think we do get right is that we invest in our people, and whether that’s through developing leadership skills, creating wellness programs to help people thrive, giving back through initiatives like free dental days, or we have [our] philanthropic foundation, we’re committed to providing an environment where people can really thrive, personally and professionally. Those three things — kindness, thinking like owners and investing in people — are three of the most critical things for an organization to do to drive their culture.
Q: What are your priorities for workplace culture, DEI and staffing in the next year or two?
KL: Your culture has to be purposely driven, or it organically shapes, and you have very little control over how that shakes out. We’re very purposeful about trying to create a culture where every team member and supported doctor feels valued and heard and included. In the next couple of years, we’ve got some plans for advancing our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy through developing our education, developing our policy alignment and providing meaningful employee engagement. We’ll achieve that through enhancing our annual trainings, deepening our partnerships with external organizations and growing the influence of [our] employee-led communities, which is our version of employee resource groups. Those communities in our organization are really key in shaping our inclusion efforts, and they provide real-time feedback to strengthen our culture from within the organization itself from people who really care about these things. So that’s one of our strategies from a diversity, equity and inclusion perspective. From a staffing standpoint, we’re prioritizing inclusive hiring and promotions along with leadership development, and that’s a continual engine that cycles. So, educating to reduce bias, supporting accommodations and providing a spotlight to the diversity of our workforce in authentic ways through things like storytelling or recognition events or mentorship.
