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Welcome to our third edition of Dynamic Data. I have received many responses from our first two editions, and the feedback I receive helps me in my mission to keep our readers on the cutting edge of practice management.

ROLE MODELING

Have you served as a mentor to a dental professional lately?

Role models are very important, especially in dentistry. As a dental professional, we go through many highs and lows, and it is wonderful to have a mentor to look up to. Someone who is supportive, outgoing, and helps us remember why we chose dentistry as a career.

As many of you know, Dr. Richard S. Wilson of Richmond, VA is my mentor. He helped me get where I am today.

He ^GHires ^GTrains and ^GTrusts his entire staff to reach their potential.

Look at your team. Have you put your trust in them? Have you shared with them the necessary tools to allow them to feel confident in their responsibilities? Do you show them your appreciation of a job well done?

HIRE

Place an ad in your local newspaper. State exactly what your are looking for. Use words such as: enthusiastic, goal-oriented, caring and dependable. Think of words that truly describe the personal traits you are looking for, without coating the position. Let’s face it, if you make the job sound good (corporate benefits, 4 day work week, excellent salary and bonuses), the applicants reply for that reason. If you attract the right personal traits, you can teach the dental part of each position.

TRAIN

Train your staff to give the caring, meaningful attention to each patient that your practice portrays. During training, emphasize the impact of talking dentistry among the staff and to your patients. Training also includes understanding the Mission Statement of the office, and assuring that each staff member understands their part in achieving the goals of the practice.

Remember, your practice is only as strong as your weakest link!

TRUST

Having trust in your team is a necessity for a productive, harmonic office. Take pride in the knowledge your staff portrays. Know that they are working for the betterment of dentistry. Recognize them for a job well-done.

If you were to ask your staff the following question, what would their answers be? “Did you get up looking forward to coming to work today?” Too often we tend to overlook the fact that it is not only our business, but also their career. If staff members are unhappy where they are, they will find another office. Happy staff produce 3-7 times their salary, and unhappy staff will cost the practice thousands per year.

THE QUEEN BEE

Occasionally an office has an employee who thinks they are indispensable. They play havoc with office policies and management. They wield their power upon the team by keeping the under-current of turmoil at peak levels.

Dentists who fear losing Queen Bees should realize that they continuously lose other good employees because they allow QB to stay on staff. In essence, they pay her to create office stress.

On occasion, I call on my Speaking Consulting Network Members to assist me with the difficult task of informing a client “QB must shape-up or ship-out.” Here’s a peek into the case history of one practice.

Case Study

I have a favor of each of you. An office I had a teleconference with has a real Queen Bee situation going. Two great dentists, a hard working staff, a newly appointed administrator who is smart, fair and valuable to the practice. The QB is the treatment coordinator who has been there 16 years. The OA has been on staff three years and truly has all the qualities of a leader. The doctors are extremely good to the staff, but QB continues to “poison the well” with comments to other staff such as: “these doctors have plenty coming in, they need to share the wealth with us”. She continually refuses to adhere to the new office policy manual and says to the OA, “I have never answered to anyone except the doctors, and I don’t plan to start now”, or “I could leave the office sooner than two years, but they don’t want that”. (Her husband plans to move them back to his home state in two years.)

I have given the OA my sentiments on the situation, but I would like an email message from each of you to see if anyone has a better idea than mine. Anyone in the position of OA will have a hard road to hoe with QB there. The treatment coordinator makes $8-10/hr more than the going rate in the area of the practice, yet she is never happy and has many of the other staff complaining about salaries, etc.

I promised I would take this to the SCN Panel of Experts. And, I will share the results with each of you on another email shortly.

Respondent #1

I’ll give you my 2 cents worth even though I have no experience from the practice end. From the doctors perspective (since she only listens to the doctors) have they firmly established the chain of command and supported it? Have they clearly defined the OA’s responsibility and authority? If they have not, then they are a big part of the problem which needs to be addressed first. If, or once that has been established, the OA then needs to begin addressing the treatment coordinator’s behavior with examples and an action plan for improvement. Since the treatment coordinator has stated she is leaving or could leave at any time, I would begin a written documentation trail. The OA then needs to review the action plan for improvement with the treatment coordinator for implementation and progress. If no improvement is made, and she continues to be a cancer with the written documentation, you are prepared to cut her loose and you have given her every opportunity to succeed. Since her concern was “spreading the wealth”, has the practice addressed that by setting up incentive plans that reward on profitability?

Respondent #2 I had a very parallel situation in my own office about 10 years ago. My QB was one of my clinical staff….in this case, one of my hygienists. She was really undermining everything. I tried everything to turn her around, but it did no good. One day, I fired her! The result, a relieved staff, patients who commented “we wondered who was in charge?” (a lot of them!!), and an instantaneous increase in morale, and PRODUCTION. Need I say more? Thanks for asking my advice!

Respondent #3 With relation to your case study, as I am not in the specific biz like you and the others, I feel less than qualified to respond. However, from my perspective as an association exec.. and one who knows MANY dentists/offices/staff, I KNOW the ones that are “THE BEST” are those which function as a cohesive team for the betterment of all. To have a negative influence like QB is to lasso the practice and tighten the noose! I’d kiss her goodbye…the sooner, the better!

Respondent #4 About the QB situation, you know that she is not going to quit running her mouth. She has this feeling that she has been there so long that she is indispensable. She will probably try to thwart everything you say or try to implement for the good of the practice. My feelings are that she needs termination. Depending on her state (at will or not) the proper protocol needs to be followed. If this OA is good, she (along with the doctors) should have a heart-to heart with her and lay it on the line. “We need you on our team, not working against us. If you can’t work with us, you are invited to leave. We will not tolerate gossip or negative talk about the practice, and you are expected, just like everyone else, to adhere to the office manual. Consider this your warning.” This would probably anger her enough to make her get out, or motivate her to shut her trap. I do not like disloyal employees! Such hypocrisy, to stab those in the back who provide the livelihood.

I have exciting news: If you are currently receiving this newsletter and you are joining us for a SunFun 2001 seminar, you can receive a courtesy of 10% off tuition fees if you register before July 31, 2000! Call Annie at my corporate office (800.922.0866) and tell her you read it in the newsletter. If you have not yet called Executive Travel (877.524.8466) for information, I recommend you do so quickly. We have had many inquiries, and these have been sell- outs in the past!

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Miles & Associates corporate headquarters may be reached at 800.922.0866 or 757.498.0014. FAX us at 757.498.0290. On the web at www.DentalManagementU.com, or via email at LLMiles@ix.netcom.com.