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.
My sister opened her new dental practice in NYC a few years ago and I had a hand in helping her from another state and some ensuing staffing issues. It’s going great now.
Why didn’t you simply ask those of which you presume were unhappy with their bonuses individually? What could you be doing to help them all create a better work environment for everyone?
Getting feedback whether positive or negative is essential. Communicate.
My sister, somewhat stubborn and a perfectionist, hired a front desk guy who checked all her boxes. His only weakness which she later found out was dealing with insurance numbers and it costed her $5K within his first six weeks working there. She was naturally frustrated and ready to fire him. I suggested to her to invest in him to take an online course (it wasn’t cheap) and he willingly completed it on his own off-time and on weekends. The problems are gone now and he also received a bump in hourly pay. Sometimes supporting and investing in good people are worth it. You have take some risks and have honest conversations.