CREATING A CULTURE WHERE PEOPLE CHOOSE TO STAY
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series of articles about workforce and staffing issues brought to you by the ODA Dental Education and Licensure Committee as a benefit for ODA members. To view past articles, visit www.oda.org.
As a leadership coach, people often ask me what the secret is to finding and keeping good staff. Is it higher pay? Better benefits? Shorter hours? While staying competitive in these areas is important, it won’t create stability for your practice. Your staff will always be “poachable” if their reason for coming or staying is limited to compensation. In order to attract and retain those that could easily go elsewhere, you need to create a culture they would never want to leave.
While creating a healthy culture is hard work, the steps are actually fairly simple.
1. Hire Hard
All too often, doctors and practice managers prematurely fill a seat instead of waiting patiently to find a good fit. What they don’t understand is that premature decision is short-sighted at best. In order to retain good staff, you have to hire good staff to begin with. You need good interview questions, multiple people involved, and a working interview whenever possible. And if your gut says no, don’t. My number one characteristic I look for in a new hire is coachability. If they don’t seem like they want to learn and grow, I don’t want them. If they already think they know it all, no matter how good they are, I don’t want them.
2. Paint the Picture
A healthy culture begins with your identity, mission and values. Who are you as a practice? How are you different? And what are your non-negotiables? How is your team expected to treat each other? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, this is where you begin. You need a picture that inspires, but it must be authentic. Most mission statements are marketing tools at best, and primarily focused on patients. Your culture begins with your staff. Once you create those tools, you must incorporate them into the fiber of your practice. It needs to be the focus of meetings, huddles, reviews, daily discussions. It is your framework for both hiring and firing. To work at your practice, people must buy into and represent the picture.
3. Uphold the Standard
Once you paint the picture, you must maintain the bar. No one is above the culture, including the doctors. And to the degree that the picture doesn’t apply to everyone, it won’t work. Accountability is a word discussed often but rarely implemented well. You can’t “hold” people accountable who don’t want to be. That’s just micromanaging. If you hire well, then you have a team of people that want the picture you have painted, and are willing to grow with you. Accountability is best modeled from the top. Doctors and practice managers need to exude humility. They need to invite feedback. The team will follow. And together, you uphold the standard.
4. Fire Fast
One of the most common mistakes I see doctors make is avoiding the conflict of dismissal. In order to uphold the standard, you must be willing to let people go who choose not to meet it. I define leadership as influence. It’s that simple. And oftentimes, the strongest leaders in a practice are your most negative people. Negative people are toxic to a positive culture. Once a positive culture is in place, it must be fiercely protected, and those that threaten it must leave. Being a good chairside assistant, hygienist, or front desk person, does not qualify you as a good teammate. Never keep someone just for their skills. Skills can be taught. Attitude must be chosen.
There will always be another practice willing to pay more. But ultimately, a healthy culture cannot be bought; it must be created. Once it’s created, not only does it help you keep good people, but it also makes it an even better place for you to get to come practice your profession each day.
Jill Santiago is president of the Tappe Group. The Tappe Group has over 25 years of experience working with individuals and businesses to see their true potential and help them grow into the person or organization they dreamed they could become through training and coaching. For more information or to contact the Tappe Group, visit www.tappegroup.com or email purposed@tappegroup.com.
