How to Retain your Dental Staff
Your dental staff plays a large part in the success of your dental practice. They directly interact with patients, manage various tasks within your dental practice – essentially, they keep your dental practice running as efficiently as effectively as it should – without them, your dental clinic wouldn’t be where it is today.
Amongst the hustle and bustle of running a busy dental practice, you may not have the time to dedicate to your dental staff, leaving them to feel unappreciated or under-valued, and as a result, lead to turnover of your dental staff. So, what can you do to retain them? Create a happy, positive and inclusive work environment – here are some ideas that will help you accomplish this.
Be understanding
Yes, your dental staff work for you, but they also have personal lives so personal matters may arise. If your staff need to take time off to deal with such a matter, or to attend an appointment, or because they are ill, be understanding of that.
Sometimes staff may already feel uncomfortable or guilty asking for time off as they realize it could cause some inconveniences to the daily operations of the dental practice. Therefore, it would be best for both parties to not make your staff feel even more uncomfortable asking.
Being flexible to a degree and giving your dental staff the ability to take time off as needed or to change their hours if needed, will increase their morale and the chances of them staying.
Give your staff recognition
Your dental staff are by your side daily, from the first appointment to the last appointment. Sometimes they will even do more than their expected by making suggestions for improvement or adjusting processes to be more efficient.
Tell your staff they are doing a good job when they are doing good work. Employees are looking for your approval as their employer, so this sort of recognition will make them feel good about the work they are doing. It will make them feel like they are really contributing to the success of the dental practice and that you see it – it will make them feel like they are a part of something and want to stick around.
Show appreciation
If your dental staff are working hard and doing what they need to do to keep the practice running as should, provide your staff salary bonuses and annual pay increases as seen fit and, as importantly, take some time to show your dental staff you appreciate them.
Implement employee appreciation days, team building activities and company social events. Celebrate birthdays, bring some desserts, have a catered lunch at the dental office, or close the practice early one day and take your staff for dinner amongst many other things to say thank you to them for their commitment to you and the success of the dental practice.
Some of these gestures may seem small, but they will show your dental staff you value them, increasing their morale.
Consult your staff
As a dental practice owner, you can’t do everything within the dental practice on your own – you will need the help of your staff to get certain things done. You may be trying to determine how to improve processes to make them more efficient, or how to attract new patients and retain your current ones.
This is where you should turn to your dental staff and ask them for some assistance and/or suggestions as they are the ones carrying out various managerial processes daily, and having conversations with your patients, making them amazing sources of knowledge. By asking your dental staff you will show them you value their opinion and that they are a vital part of the team.
Each member of your dental staff is a highly valuable member of your team – they all contribute a lot to the success of your dental practice. It’s important you show them and make them realize and understand how valuable they are to you and the practice.You must be understanding, give your staff recognition, show your staff you appreciate them, and consult them for their opinions or assistance on certain matters in order to retain them. In turn, your staff’s morale will increase – making them feel good and happy about working at your dental clinic – and they will want to continue working for you, leading to a pleasant situation for both parties.
