Why Does MovementX Make Money?

Recently, we had an exceptional physical therapist candidate take an unexpected turn.

She made it to the end of our interview process and it was clear that she would be a great contributor to MovementX. Just before we were set to make the offer, we received an email from her expressing appreciation for the process, but sharing her decision that she decided to pursue her own business.

While this happens from time-to-time (and we always wish those candidates the best of luck!), it felt unusual in her case. The connection we had with her was too deep, our values too tightly intertwined, our shared vision too clear, to just let her go without understanding more of what was going through her mind.

So, we set up a call with her. She had some well thought out and beautifully articulated reasons to go on the journey on her own. And then, she expressed a sentiment that surprised me:

“I’m tired of making money for someone else.”

Some people are highly motivated by money, which is great! We are proud to boast that we have the best compensated PTs in the industry and as we move to implement strategies such as profit-sharing and stock options, we believe the long term revenue potential for providers is greater at MX than anywhere else in the profession.

But for this candidate, I didn’t think this was the underlying driver of her decision. This is someone who clearly:

• Wants to make a big impact
• Has a strong sense of her values, which we share
• Did not seem driven/motivated by finances

What I realized was that it wasn’t about the money; rather, it was about the trust.

What her comment ultimately revealed was a loss of trust for her previous employers. And that distrust was being extended to us. She didn’t believe the funds she was bringing to her past employers were going to good use; the social contract she made with them had been broken.

That comment made me deeply reflect: what do we make money for and why do we make money at MovementX? What is our philosophy towards our finances? And how can we do better to ensure our team is fired up every day to make money for the right reasons?

MovementX’s Philosophy on Finances

Here are a few of the important areas we have been focused on in our growth journey thus far:

Money as Fuel for our Mission

At MovementX, we view money as fuel towards our mission of helping people move their best so they can live their best. If we use our fuel wisely, we can more effectively pursue our mission; if we run out of fuel, the journey comes to an end.

And when we think of our mission, we first think of our providers, our incredible physical therapists and personal trainers. We believe that empowered providers will empower their patients—that if a provider has the right tools, resources, and environment, they will make magic happen with their patients.

So, the primary place that money gets spent is creating a great environment where our providers can thrive. From there, we also focus on the patient experience and do everything we can to ensure our patients get moving and living their best. Each dollar spent should be measured against our mission and our team should know it…

Radical Transparency

Philosophically speaking, I believe everyone in our community who wants to be informed about where our finances go should have the ability to see and understand the finances. We recently launched our Financial Transparency structure at MovementX that incorporates:

• An orientation to MovementX’s finances along with basic financial and accounting education
• Monthly Open Book Finance meetings, which all MXers are welcome to join. There, we review how we are performing and where each dollar is going.
• Follow up reports, with action steps identified after each meeting about how we are going to improve (we are big on the concept of kaizen at MovementX- it’s one of our four core values).

We are realizing that more of our community invested in our finances makes us stronger. If someone feels passionately about investigating an area we are spending money on, and finds new ways to save money, that makes us all better. And a big net bonus is that as we all learn about finances, it positively impacts our personal lives as well.

Where You Spend is What You Value

Organizations can preach positive culture, equity, and empowerment all they want, but if their spending habits don’t match the values they encourage, their social contract is broken.

We see this frequently with large corporations, whose leadership view their responsibility as ‘maximizing shareholder value,’ rather than delivering on their mission or having a positive impact on the world. This mismatch creates cultural trauma that leads to frustration and burnout.

At MovementX, we are doing our best to spend money in ways that reflect our values. For example, one of our values and our theme for this year is Community, so we have found new ways to unite our community more so than ever, including:

• Connecting providers and staff for MX sponsored coffee dates each month, facilitating more one-on-one connection.
• Introducing Community Huddles monthly with sponsored lunches, Location Meetings with transparent management practices, and Local Events to bring providers together in person at least quarterly.
• Bi-weekly newsletters with content specifically devoted to and designed for helping our providers thrive.
• Impacting our local community, through initiatives such as PREP, educating individuals of diverse backgrounds about career paths in health sciences to promote diversity within the profession, and various fundraising efforts.
• And mini games have been a fun and exciting addition, as we compete for prizes as small as free coffee days and as big as trips to Disneyland!

Conclusion

When done well, financial growth should be something every team member is excited about. It will lead to a sense of being proud of where they work, who they make money for, and how that money is spent. After all, if you believe in the mission of your organization, and you believe in how the organization is pursuing it, money should be a simple (albeit important) tool on the journey towards positive impact.