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.
I’ve had two dentists that seemed focus on production, rather than patients (or patience). They are strong Type A workaholics with demanding/exacting standards. They seem nice, but can get critical of their staff even in front of the patient. And I’m kind of person who notices when someone is rude to waiters and servers at restaurants.
One of them had a lot of that because he was a young dentist who bought a practice (comes with a lot of debt, and had a spendy wife and acrimonious relationship). He couldn’t keep an office manager, or hygienist, or dental tech/assistant for long.
The other was older, and his wife’s kindness and politeness helped reduce his attitude and made for workers who tended to stay long term. He had two office managers and his wife also worked as one, so their load was easier. They were strictly 8AM to 5PM, with an hour for lunch and not open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He was more established and likely had paid off all debt long ago.
I don’t know you, but I’m hoping you’re not the first.