GAP Australasian Dentist Sept Oct 2020

Category 112 Australasian Dentist Dear Dr Toni, I can’t explain why this is happening, but I feel like I’m on a hamster wheel of getting rid of bad staff, but then always ending up with the same problems when new people start. How is that possible? Dr RJ, Tas So many practice owners report identical experiences to yours! And when I ran my own practice, before getting help, that’s EXACTLY what I would say! What my coaches pointed out was that the one factor all these employees had in common was me! Now I’m saying to you: the one constant here, Dr RJ, is YOU! If you repeat the same mistakes in hiring, training and leading your team members, you’re going to feel like they’re exactly the same, and that you can’t get off the hamster wheel. A thorough hiring process is vital, even when the job market is tight. Start by figuring out what are the ideal characteristics for the roles in your practice. For example, you might want them to be positive, upbeat, willing to learn, great communicator. Notice here that I’m speaking of personal attributes, NOT the years of experience they’ve had or how good they are at D4W. Then, once you’ve developed that list, you need a hiring process that maximises the chances the candidate will display those attributes. This Q&A is not the place to articulate the whole process we recommend, but it’s designed to focus on identifying whether or not the candidates have those attributes. Anything less than that is potentially lowering your standards and getting you stuck back in your rut. I’m also wondering if you’re providing a thorough induction experience for your new team members. Good induction really clarifies both formal and informal expectations of the practice. For example, it should include introductions to formal policies (e.g. dress codes, OHS, etc) and informal expectations (e.g. are they allowed to use the coffee machine?). This helps new people feel included, and adds to their certainty about how they can “win” at their new job. Similarly, a thorough, well-planned training process should be in place. The training should set the new person up for success, and support them in their ability to shine on the job. Even good hiring processes can be undermined if your training is inadequate. It’s time- consuming in the short term, but prevents all the time and stress that occurs when someone under-performs as a result of inadequate training. I keep using the word “thorough”, and that’s what’s required: a systematised approach to each element of the hiring, induction and training processes. It’s really important to systematically work through the processes even when you’re short- staffed and/or time-poor and stressed. More stress comes from undoing the mistakes than from doing it right first go. Then comes your leadership. It’s tough to admit this sometimes, but our shortfalls as leaders can create a lot of ongoing problems. For example, if you get angry when someone makes a mistake, it’s very easy to foster a culture of people lying, blaming others, or covering up. Or if you’re the type who avoids conflict, you might inadvertently create a culture where you tolerate gossiping and backstabbing. These outcomes will never be your intention, but they’re examples of the types of behaviour that leaders sometimes display that results in a poor practice culture. We all have our strengths as leaders, but often the “shadow side” to those strengths is where we unknowingly create our own negative patterns. It’s always worth examining our patterns to ensure we’re overcoming our own weaknesses. Now, it’s also true that staff do bring their own baggage, and even your best efforts can’t prevent some unforeseeable things that go wrong. But your hamster wheel analogy is telling me that the first place to look is at yourself in all the ways I’ve mentioned. Are you up for the challenge?! We’re here to help if you are! Q&A with Dr Toni Surace Best Practices Q&A It’s always best practice to develop business skills, systems, techniques and industry knowledge that could impact your practice. BEST PRACTICES Q&A is a forum allowing you to ask the tough questions to Australasian Dentist columnist Dr Toni Surace. Dr Toni Surace BDSC (Melb) Managing Director, Momentum Management Mentor, coach and international presenter. Dear Dr Toni, We’ve got a patient who’s just hard to deal with. I don’t really want to stop seeing them, but I’m keen to hear what tips you have for effective communication with them. Dr BP, WA. This is a very interesting question, Dr BP, because you haven’t given me enough details that I can give a specific response. Luckily, there are some general principles of communication that apply to most circumstances, so let’s see if any of this helps you better understand them. Think about the ways in which that patient communicates with you. Is there anything you can learn from their own behaviours that would help you work out how they prefer to communicate? Some common examples are: do they seem to be blunt and direct, in which case, have you been overloading them with too much detail? Or vice versa? Most of the time the way people communicate is the way they prefer to receive information as well. (This sometimes means that for a highly direct patient who seems rude, you might need to work out how to be both direct and professional!) Consider whether or not there’s anything going on under the surface that the patient might be hiding from you. People often behave badly at the dentist because they’re scared and don’t want to admit it, or maybe they don’t want to admit how bad their financial situations are. Sometimes what’s going on under the surface has nothing to do with being at the dentist; maybe they’ve had a health scare, or a marriage breakdown or something that’s affecting their behaviour. Understanding that can make a big difference to the way you communicate. If you can, try to ask the patient questions that will allow them to reveal what they want from you, and that allow them to express anything that’s not working for them. In the way you ask the question, show them that you’re asking because you care about what’s important BEST PRACTICES 4 “ “