I read a study the other day that stated there are only two types of employees you can have. Employees who are actively engaged in the business and employees who are not actively engaged in your business. This is an interesting study as well.
Of these two types of employees I think anyone could tell you the best type to have are employees who are actively engaged in your business. These employees care. Bottom line.
They want your dental practice to succeed as much as you do. It is just as important to them as it is to you. Don’t scoff, I’m a business owner myself and I know how to spot the difference between these employees and I can tell you my active employees do care as much as I do.
The advantage to having an employee that cares that much about your practice is they will help to make your business grow instead of just clocking in and clocking out. They make every minute they are at work count.
Productivity of these employees is greater, they help keep your costs down in things like office supplies, and they won’t give out free things to people for no reason.
I encourage you all to take a look at your current staff and figure out who is actively engaged in your business and who is not. Then I will tell you how to make them ALL actively engaged employees.
Make Them A Partner
You thought I was being figurative in the title didn’t you? But step back and think about it for a moment. What is the difference between an employee and a business partner?
An employee’s income is based on the number of hours they work. If that employee has a jam packed day of back to back appointments or a nice slow easy day, they get paid the same. If the business makes money or loses money for the day, they get paid the same.
Where is the incentive for this employee to do better?
Where is the incentive for this employee to work harder, smarter, take on more responsibility, or encourage a patient to say yes to their prescribed treatment?
They take home the same paycheck no matter what happens that day.
On the flip side of the coin, a business partner has a vested interest in the success of your business. A business partner’s income increases as the practice’s income increases. The business partner has a financial incentive to make the business successful.
That’s plenty of incentive for anyone, wouldn’t you say?
Partner WAS Figurative
To make an employee a partner you don’t have to go out and draft up paperwork selling them an interest in your business. There are other ways to make someone a partner, or at least feel like a partner.
To make an employee into a partner you need to implement the right incentive plan. Literally give them a portion of the profits each month.
Make sure though that you are doing this correctly for your business level. You can’t give away 10% of your profits each month to your staff. Find the plan that works best for you.
The right incentive plan should share the profit equally with the whole team on a monthly basis though. I don’t believe in picking and choosing who gets a bonus in a dental office. At the end of the day, you are a team.
Yes, the hygienist may have coached the patient into the recommended treatment, but when they got to the front, the receptionist is the one that coached them into rescheduling before they even left the building.
Everyone plays a part. You may feel differently, but I guarantee if you start picking and choosing, you will have more problems than solutions.
The amount of the incentive should also truly make a difference in their lives. A $50 bonus each month, while it’s better than $0, is truly nothing that will engage that employee more.
But if you were to offer a $500 incentive or more, even your most lazy employee would perk right up.
This is my take on it. You can also check out numerous employee engagement site. This is a good one to start with.
-Jason
