Managing Your Staff
You have purchased your dream practice. Everything is going great, your production is growing, overhead is going down and new patients are lining up at the door. Then, the inevitable happens. The staff starts to complain about being overworked. Or, they complain about each other behind each other’s backs and morale goes down the toilet. What do you do?
You have several options to choose from:
- One of the best ways to boost morale is to implement an incentive-based system in your practice. This gives the staff incentive to work together to improve production. Staff incentives mean more money for the staff. They say money cannot buy happiness, but it sure helps.
- Another tip is to keep lines of communication open. Hold your morning staff meetings and let them know what is going on with the practice. If you have exceeded your goals, let them know how well they are doing and that they are appreciated.
- Show your appreciation with a staff lunch, an afternoon at a Mariner game, or a $50 gift card to Nordstrom. It will make them feel good and not cost too much.
- Have quarterly or semi-annual one-on-ones with each staff member. Give them positive feedback along with areas they can improve. If one of your staff members is known as the one who gossips too much, you can carefully give them that feedback. At the same time, you can tell them how good they are doing. Remember to give positive feedback with negative and make it constructive negative feedback so they can improve their performance.
These simple 4 items can be the difference between a gossipy staff with an attitude and a staff signing from the same book.