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Most Doctors don’t know they help until it is too late!!!

The following comment came from one of my readers of my Tuesday Tidbits and my weblog.  I belive she makes some keen observations.  What do you say about her comment that “happy employees do not leave a practice”?  I believe we all need to take a lesson from Madeline!
Dear Dr. Ron,

I am an employee who is signed up for your weekly newsletter. I want to thank you for your newsletter!  Your newsletter, another employee, and the book “Who Moved My Cheese”, by Spencer Johnson empowered me to find my cheese, which was unfortunately in a different office.

Your comments on crisis hiring, bounty hunters, Christmas bonuses and asking for other peoples thoughts inspired me to write. I realize that you probably hear mostly from dentists, since they are the one’s who utilize and pay for your services.

I am a “seasoned” employee who has worked as an assistant and front desk, and would like to share my thoughts from “the other side”.

Crisis hiring should be such a rare event that it should never be a topic in a newsletter. A crisis situation should only include events such as death, a sudden move, or such. If employees are leaving an office in droves, like wild animals running from a forest fire, then the problem is most likely not the employees. Happy employees do not leave.

Christmas Bonuses are always appreciated, but the amount should never be a topic in a newsletter. A Christmas Bonus is a thank you for your hard work and the icing on a cake! If an employee is not happy with a Christmas bonus, there is a clear lack of communication. The employee probably compares the bonus to the yearly production, which usually goes up (along with the expenses}, but doesn’t understand overhead. The bonus is viewed as, the doctor collected 50K more this year, and I got?  If no other thank your’s were received within that year, the employee is most likely feeling undervalued.

Happy employees do not leave a practice. What makes an employee happy?
Money is good, but money isn’t everything! As an employee, I like to know that I am valuable to the practice. A sincere “thank you” or “your hard work is very much appreciated” means so much. I like to feel that for my efforts, I will be taken care of. Being taken care of isn’t necessarily monetary. What I am speaking of is having a lunch that is more than 7 minutes long, being able to use the rest room if you need to, and maybe even being able to make or receive an rare important phone call. When an employee gets to the point where in the 7 minutes he/she has to eat, use the rest room, and make phone calls, (take the cell phone and lunch to the rest room) it can easily be assumed that there is no appreciation. That employee is not being taken care of and there is no regard for that employee as a person or for that matter a human being.

These are some of my insights of what I have seen or experienced through the years. It appears that most problems seem to stem from a lack of communication. Do I have the answers, no. What I have seen is that most practices really need a consultant every now and then to make a third party analysis that includes the staff as well as the doctor. The sad part of this is, most doctors don’t realize that they need help until it is too late, which also means that there may not be the funds to pay a consultant. Before I recently left the practice that I referred to above, I mentioned that I felt a consultant would help. The answer that I got was, “I tried that before and it didn’t work”. This employer is still advertising for help!

Keep up the good work! I enjoy your newsletters! Again, THANK YOU and Merry Christmas!

Sincerely,

Madeline

Dr. Ron is the only Master Certified Dental Coach (MCC) on the planet. He has blended 20 years of clinical dental practice with executive roles in financial planning and investment management along his graduate business training to provide his clients with the tools, support, and accountability to accomplish more. About Dr. Ron, "I count you as one of life’s best finds", says Dr. Gary Imm of Reisterstown, Maryland. He has authored many articles; manuals; ThinBooks ^tm; TeleClasses and if you visit http://www.drarndt.com you can receive one of his FREE reports, "9 Painful Mistakes Dentists Make in the Hiring Process"

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2 Responses to “Most Doctors don’t know they help until it is too late!!!”

1. Fenderson Says:
   January 2nd, 2007 at 10:04 pm

   Great comments Madeline!
   I agree communication is the key.
   But right behind that is attitude.
   Your’s appears to be great.

   Adrian

2. former employee Says:
   January 21st, 2007 at 1:45 pm

   I love it “HAPPY EMPLOYEES DO NOT LEAVE” It doesn’t take genuis to figure that out, or does it? I think many employers think that it couldn’t be them??

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