I have high expectations. You don’t get anywhere in this business if you have your standards below par and expect miracles to happen. I am known to push my staff members out of their comfort zones. I don’t care what position they hold; if they’re under my wing, they will be taught, encouraged, and subsequently required to pull their weight. If they don’t know or are unsure about something, they need to ask. If they need help, they need to ask. If they want clarification, inquire. If they need to talk to me about something, my door is always open. Period. Those are not unreasonable expectations. My practice is a fined-tuned machine, and I don’t like it when the engine doesn’t hum.
However, for one particular staff member who had been in dentistry for 10-plus years and at my office for a couple of months, those expectations were a bit too much. This was no bueno. The final swing in the pendulum was when my other staff members started having issues/concerns with this coworker. It became clear that the time for me to step in was now.
“No, I’m not your previous dental employer who is going to let things slide. No, I don’t cater to proclaimed naïveté when, in fact, it was a lack of effort!” Yes, I called this person out and yes, that was their last day of working for me. Zero emotion. Zero regrets.
Also featuring Dr. Stacey Gividen:
Hoping my gut is wrong on this pathology case
An almost-vague radiodense lesion
Sometimes what may start out as good and well-intended in the employer/employee relationship, changes...and that’s when you know it’s not meant to be. Removing undercurrent is necessary. Don’t feel bad about it. Move on and keep making things happen.
I may seem callous or like a robot who lacks feeling and compassion, but I assure you this is not the case. I’ve just learned over the years what to do and not to do through experience gained the hard way. My number one piece of advice: Keep emotion out of it.
Here are some questions to ruminate over: What kind of expectations do you have for your staff? Do you push them to be better? Are you too comfortable and complacent? Are your staff? I’ve said this before: Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Why? Because then your uncomfortable becomes your new comfortable, and in that process, there is usually a betterment of self and situation.
My take-home is this: If you have staff issues—and I know this is a conundrum we all face as small-business owners—face them head-on and make the changes that are necessary to better the status quo. Do it now! Don’t hang on to those people who aren’t cutting it just because you need the employee space filled. Don’t worry about hurting feelings and as a result, be wishy-washy. Say bye-bye without emotion and move on. If your staff respects you (because you’ve earned it), they will appreciate what you’ve done and step up their game until you can find a replacement for that empty spot.
Make the hard calls, because your patients deserve it, your staff deserves it, and—most importantly—you deserve it.
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Through the Loupes newsletter, a publication of the Endeavor Business Media Dental Group. Read more articles and subscribe to Through the Loupes.
