Dentist Wants More Time Off – How to Deal With the Staff?

A dentist recently told me that he was going to take five weeks of vacation this year and did not know how to deal with his staff. In the past he had given his staff members two weeks of paid vacation and he did not know how to approach the situation with his six staff members.

His first thought was to give them all an extra week of paid vacation (for a total of three weeks of paid vacation) and then to take the other two weeks of his vacation time as non-paid time away from work. He felt if he closed for five weeks and increased their paid vacation by one additional week that they would be happy. He approached his staff about this idea and was nearly burned at the stake! He called me and asked for my advice.

After laughing for quite some time at the picture that he painted of the mutiny in his office, I asked him to look at the situation from his staff’s perspective. His staff relied upon their income from his practice to keep their households afloat. Two weeks of reduced pay was a hardship for them. He was asking them to take a pay cut so that he could enjoy longer vacations.

I suggested that he PAY his staff for all five weeks of his vacations. That they use that time to – clean the office, restock, clean up charts, call patients, make sure the hygiene schedule was on track, take continuing education courses, talk at elementary schools about oral hygiene (bring the big teeth) and do other activities that would make the practice nicer and run better.

They decided that each staff would get one extra week vacation (for three weeks away), that each staff member would use five days to do their continuing education units and that they would use the remaining five days to do additional work in the office pertaining to their job.

The dentist will get his five weeks of vacation, the office will be in better condition, everyone will be up to date on their continuing education needs and most importantly – there will be NO STAFF MUTINY!

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Inappropriate Staff Dressing?

I received an email from a male dentist who was unsure of how to handle the situation of a young, attractive dental assistant who was dressing inappropriately.

The first thing I asked him was to be more specific as to what he meant by inappropriate dress. He said she was well endowed and would wear revealing clothe that showed too much top and shorts that did not cover enough bottom. He said that her attire would work in a night club or on the beach but was not what he wanted for his office. He was worried that by talking to her that he might offend her or get a harassment law suit. Additionally – the rest of his staff was not happy with her appearance either!

I told him that he could choose to create a dress code that demanded that the entire staff (or just clinical staff) wear scrubs while they work. If he did this he would have to either provide the scrubs or uniforms for the staff or give them a uniform cash allowance.

Another option was to create an office dress code that allowed more freedom of choice but set limits as to sleeve length, cleavage exposed, stomach exposed, pant or skirt length, etc… This method would require more staff buy in but would also work. The dentist might have to give the staff a clothing allowance because staff would be ruining their own clothe during work. I personally opted for having scrubs and providing them for my staff. I let the staff pick out the outfits and we all loved them. They often picked really funny colors or patterns.

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Dentist vs. Front Office in Collecting Money and Setting Fees

While the dentist often owns the business during the day they are just an employee with specific job descriptions. If you want your front office staff to be able to collect money from patients then you as the dentist can NOT enter into negotiations over fees or payment plans – NEVER!

If the patients know that the dentist will enter into a financial conversation with them, they will go to them when they are not getting the answers they want from the front office staff. If the dentist overrides the fees and arrangements made by the staff then your staff no longer has any real authority. The patients will simply go to you when they want to lower the price or change arrangements – you render your staff impotent.

Dentist should direct the patients to the front office staff in ALL matters related to money, fees and insurance. Simply tell the patient that you would just screw up their arrangements if you got involved and tell them the staff is much better at this then you are. Make the patient interface with the front office staff in ALL matters financial.

Show your staff respect and confidence – entrust them to do their jobs and you stick to doing great dentistry!

Dr. Corey Gold
President
Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Make Changes Today

I like to think that January is more than just the first month of the year but rather a reset button.

A lot of times veteran offices seem to run on autopilot. Some months are stronger, some are slower but it is all pretty much running on its own. The staff does their thing, we do our thing and it just continues to run along in the same rut as yesterday. We can change our offices and personal patterns at any time but typically we do not – but at New Year’s many of us are open to making changes and to re-examining our patterns.

If you feel you are in a rut or that what you are doing is not making you fulfilled – then now is the time to make changes. Change your office, change your diet, change your weight, volunteer, become more spiritual – do things differently – be brave and make personal changes.

It is your life – reclaim it – change patterns that are not working for you and find ones that make you happy. Do it today!

Dr. Corey Gold
President - ACES
www.aces4ce.com

How will 2013 be different for you?

When you made your New Year resolutions this year, were any of them about your practice? Did you resolve to learn new techniques, to grow your practice size, to be a better leader, to enjoy your office more? I know that I have made those resolutions. I think you should take your New Year practice resolutions very seriously and ACT on them right away. Don’t find reasons not to grow as a practitioner, leader and business owner. Growing and learning is fun and worth the investment. A recent survey of small business owners said that once they engaged in personal growth activities that their businesses grew one average 7 -10%. The business growth came from both the news skills being implemented but also from the increased attention and energy of the owner. What would a 10% increase in your practice sales and a happier practice feel like? Invest in yourself. Take courses in dental techniques, practice management or personal skills. Just because you graduated dental school does not mean that your active learning is over. Why not get geeked up and become better each year - a better dentist, a better leader and better business person. You might find that becoming the better you is also a happier and more fulfilled you! Dr. Corey Gold www.aces4ce.com