How FiVE, a chain of paediatric therapy centres, is fighting a battle to retain talent

THE VENTURE

In 2005, Mathew Easow and Sowmya Surendranathan set up FiVE, a chain of paediatric therapy centres that treats children with learning and development disorders.

THE PROBLEM

In four years, the company grew fast enough to employ 18 specialists across three centres in Chennai, with a fourth one planned in Bangalore. That is when the trouble began. The founders had fostered an open work culture and would share revenue details with senior staff believing it was a relationship based on trust. But on a go, 17 senior therapists resigned. “They knew how much revenue was coming in and thought they could replicate it,” says Easow. The exodus forced the company to shut down two centres.

THE SOLUTION

The founders personally contacted the doctors and the families of existing patients, explaining the situation. “Over 80 families waited almost a month for us to get back to our feet and did not shift to other therapists,” says Easow. The company borrowed from family and friends and ran a single, until they were able to rebuild the business over the next 12 months. Now there are 35 therapists employed across six centres.

THE LESSON

At FiVE, the recruitment process is stringent and new employees go through a three-month probation with specific service-related targets set for them. “Unfortunately we have become less transparent and maintain a strictly employer employee relationship,” says Easow. All employees do not have access to information on the business model and revenue of the company.