I am a dentist. I felt strongly that half my staff was against me (4 of 7 employees). So I fired them. I inherited them when I bought my business a few years ago. I am very ethical but I do care about gross revenue (as any owner should). They never fully embraced caring about revenue production or understanding that bonus pay is tied to profitability. Nonetheless, I feel it is a failing on my part as a leader that they as a group were not on my team. What can I do as a small business owner to display better leadership and engender better office morale. I should mention that I pay above market wages, have better benefits than market competitors, work with my employees to satisfy the number of hours they need and I run a schedule that is very predictable 8-5 with a lunch and we do not deviate. Further, we take great care of our patients and the staff never has to worry about patient satisfaction or quality of care. Thank you for your input.
First - your assertion that you pay above market and are better than everyone else in your market is a massive red flag. What evidence supports this? Second - your misunderstanding of small office politics is showing. Small practice is its own special beast and bitchiness, sparring, drama etc are exceptionally difficult to keep under control. You have to hire for team fit FIRST, fit with you is second. Third- what are these great revenue generating methods these terrible employees refused to do? If they’re out of the Knox or against norms you need to make believers of the staff before simply demanding they follow your orders. Setting a course and demanding fellowship is an absolutely certain way to ruin. You have to inspire and get buy-in, and that means accepting feedback and adjusting on the fly.
Honestly - it seems like you believe yourself more clever than your peers and firing half your staff will on breed fear and loathing from those who remain.