Most dentist become very close friends with their staff.
Luckily, most staff members treat the dentist as both a friend and still respect
them as the boss at the same time. This fine line between the dentist being a
friend and the boss can sometimes get strained.
The dentist is put into an awkward position of having to
enforce his authority as the boss if the staff member tries to abuse the
friendship relationship. I know a number of cases where experienced, long-term
staff members have turned from respectful staff to taking advantage of their
friendship with the dentist. The staff member starts to come in late, leaves
early, takes longer breaks, doesn’t pull their fair share of the work load – in
essence, the staff member starts leveraging their friendship with the dentist
to take advantage of the long standing rules. The dentist typically responds by
very low key requests for the staff member to go back to the correct behaviors.
In some cases this is enough to redirect the pattern but in many cases it is
not enough.
When friendly requests for the staff member to get back in
line with their job requirements fail it is a tough moment in the friendship
for the dentist and the staff. The dentist must now put on their ‘boss’ hat and
have a serious talk with the offending staff member. This is a challenging
conversation because the two have not needed this type of chat for a long time.
The dentist must say how much he likes and values the staff member but that the
individual must get back into the required office norms. You must say that this
is a tough conversation for you to have but that you feel it is a talk that had
to be had and that you expect a change in behavior.
Often this talk ends with an apology and a change in
behavior – the staff member might even feel bad about taking advantage of the
relationship once it has been pointed out. Other times the staff member is not
at open to the coaching session and we learn during this conversation that the
individual has many other issues they want to address with you and that these
behaviors have been a sort of passive aggressive conduct. If the staff member’s
complaints are legitimate – then it is an opportunity for you both to take
corrective actions.
At the end of the day, you need to have your staff members
follow the established rules of the office. In most cases the staff member will
go back to their regular and positive working format. In the odd chance that
the staff member continues to act against the rules of the practice it might be
time for you to let that staff member go. Their acting up even after a
conversation about the poor behavior might be their way of forcing your hand in
ending the employment.
Sorry – no one ever said being the dentist / boss was going
to be easy.
Dr. Corey Gold
President – advanced Continuing Education Systemswww.aces4ce.com
