RETAIN YOUR TEAM PLAYERS

High retention of productive employees is one of the most critical benchmarks of a healthy dental practice. In the last five years, there has been a dramatic shift in workplace expectations. Employees desire a sense of fulfillment in the workplace with opportunities that allow and encourage personal growth and development, or they will look for these opportunities elsewhere.

1. Sharing Practice Mission, Values and Culture      

• Understanding a common goal inspires employees to be engaged and driven by a greater purpose. The doctor should share; their vision for the practice and the “why” behind their motivators and chosen passion of pediatric dentistry. This will help the team better understand what they are part of and being asked to help create.

2. Build Trust and Confidence

• Employees want to have trust and confidence in their leaders. Be the kind of leader that employees want to follow:

  • show confidence in your work and ability to lead

  • be the first to arrive for the Morning Meeting and welcome everyone with a smile on your face

  • understand your attitude will set the mood/tone for the day

  • show personal interest and encouragement in each employee

3. Incentive/Reward Programs

• Engaged employees directly impact the bottom line. Incentives can be put into place to encourage certain behaviors or outcomes. People weigh an incentive value by how difficult it is to earn. If the goal is unattainable, the incentive will not produce the desired result. An effective rewards program must be attainable to engage employees.

4. Professional Development: Continuing Education & Leadership Courses

• Professional development is more than continuing education courses and leadership exercises. Employees want a true career path with advancement opportunities and options for learning and developing new skills. CE, leadership, hands-on clinical and cross-training courses should be sponsored by the employer.

5. Setting Goals

• Communicate and monitor these goals as a team. When a team understands a clear benchmark that is to be met, it creates a strong work environment as they work toward a common objective together and they are more likely to achieve the goal.

• At a monthly team meeting, celebrate the goal numbers that were met and then discuss the goal numbers that were not met and what the team can do differently in the next month to try to meet those goals.

6. Team Building

• The purpose of team building is to get team members focused, encourage bonding and energize and refresh the team. Team bonding activities create an opportunity to collaborate in a more concentrated setting to celebrate success and problem solve to overcome areas in the practice that need improvement. These activities encourage the team to work together outside of the dental environment, discover and understand each other’s strengths, create better work relationships and build a strong sense of dependability with each other.

The integral components in employee retention is to understand and value each individual team member, to help them develop skills for personal and professional growth that benefit both themselves and the practice. Investing in employees is vital to an enjoyable and prosperous dental practice.