Earn Your Keepers by Jeanette MacLean, DDS

The most common compliment that I hear about my staff—besides how fabulous they are—is how much patients love seeing their faces, year after year. Compare that with the top complaint I hear from new patients about their former dentist's office: "It's like I saw a different person every time!"

No man—or woman!—is an island, so having a great staff is critical to a dentist's livelihood. When you find someone good, it's in your best interest to keep her there. It's hard enough to deal with patient cases, insurance companies, federal and state regulations, and all the other elements of running a practice—the last thing you want is a revolving door of staff.

In 2005 I joined a longstanding practice, and became an owner in 2007. Of our current 13 employees, only one has been there for less time than I have. The rest have been there an average of 13 years, and three have even hit the 25-year mark. (One has since retired.) I give the overwhelming credit to our practice's founding father, pediatric dentist Dr. Joel Arthur, who was a master at keeping staff happy; legend has it that even when he had to fire someone, she'd hug him and leave thinking he was the world's greatest guy. He may have had his fair share of employee drama over the years, but still carved out a recipe for successful retention of loyal, hardworking and (for the most part) happy employees.

I bought in to the practice when he retired, and as anyone who's ever bought an established practice probably knows, it's not all sunshine and roses when you take over the helm of a well-oiled machine—particularly if you're a female doctor who's younger than almost the entire staff. I've heard horror stories from colleagues about buying into practices, only to have a mass exodus of the staff. Luckily, that didn't happen with me, and the core team has stuck around since I joined the practice more than 11 years ago.

I recently chatted with Dr. Arthur, discussing what we felt were the key ingredients to keeping staff loyal for so many years. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our lists were nearly identical.

1. Kindness
A little kindness goes a long way. Say "please" and "thank you," offer encouragement and remember to tell someone when she's done a good job. It's important to keep your cool and watch your tone and demeanor when speaking to the staff. You can't be the jerk who yells and throws instruments at an assistant and expect her to stick around more than a year, or even a few months. Remember, dental assistants and auxiliary are people too. They make our lives and the lives of our patients easier. We are nothing without them.

2. Benefits
When you offer a work environment that takes care of its own team members, those individuals are more likely to stick around for the long haul. We offer our full-time staff paid time off, holiday pay, 401(k), health insurance, and anniversary and holiday bonuses. Depending on your individual practice profile, build on the benefits you're able to offer your staff now, and expand them when you're able.

3. An open ear
You must be willing to listen to your staff's ideas and suggestions. They spend the most time with the patients, and are often the ones patients confide in if they're too shy or embarrassed to talk to us. You can't always do everything they suggest, but it's important for the staff to feel like they've been heard. Yes, that means sometimes you need to hear about their personal lives. When it's time to work we need to have our game faces on, but if it's lunchtime or after hours, lend an ear and show some compassion, whether the problem is related to their marriage, kids, money, car, you name it. Stress can affect an employee's performance, and this additional insight may help explain certain performance lapses that are out of character for a good employee. Give your employees a place to have a sounding board, and offer them advice or encouragement.

4. Accountability
If you want your staff to respect you and stay loyal to you, you must be able to walk the walk and talk the talk. This means work hard, be ethical, treat patients like you would treat your own family members, and be able to stand behind your work. If you're not passionate about your career and your practice, who else will be?

When you find someone good, it's in your best interest to keep her there. The last thing you want is a revolving door of staff.

5. Having fun
If you have to work, you might as well enjoy it. We all have jobs to do, but being able to have fun once in a while sure makes the day go by faster. Dress up for Halloween; throw an ugly sweater contest during the holidays and have your patients vote; or just sing along to the radio. There are countless ways to make your office a fun and enjoyable atmosphere that people want to be a part of.

6. Communal meals
Buy the staff lunch on a hard day. Celebrate an achievement or milestone. Do something "just because." That patient was a real pain in the you-know-what? Starbucks for everyone! It's like the workplace equivalent of buying a round at the bar. Take your newest team member out to lunch and really get to know each other. Enjoying food together as a team strengthens your bond in a way similar to families eating dinner together.

7. Continued education
CE courses shouldn't be just for doctors. Whether it's taking your staff to a local dental meeting or an out-of-town conference, or sponsoring a continuing education program right in your own office, "The dental team that takes CE together stays together." Benefits include team building and bonding, as well as developing communication, collaboration and knowledge skills. Just like we can often feel pumped up after an awesome lecture or a seminar on a new procedure, our staff also gets excited about new ideas and techniques they've learned, and feel motivated to apply them back at the office. Why sit alone in a practice management lecture when you could have your office manager by your side to hear the speaker's pearls of wisdom for herself? Offering CE allows you to empower your staff to contribute to the practice in a meaningful, productive manner.

8. A discussion about quality
Pick at least two times a year that your office is historically slow, and block out a long lunch to have a staff meeting. (We refer to ours as a "Quality Circle.") For our pediatric practice, September is a perfect time because the kids are back in school. This is a chance for the entire team to touch base on all of the happenings in the office. Discuss what you're doing well and what you could be doing better. Give your staff the opportunity to speak up and offer input on marketing ideas, new products they might like to try, or any perceived issues or challenges.

9. A morning huddle
Every office should take the time to meet for about 10 minutes to touch base before you start with patients. This is a great opportunity to find out important information about patients on the schedule, and allows you to take on the day as a team. For our huddle, the hygienist prepares a list with the number of cleanings we have, pointing out any special needs or other issues, and how many new patients and emergency cases we'll see, including a brief rundown of what they entail. This is also a great opportunity for the staff to share any issues they might be having. Although we ask them to leave personal issues at the door, it's helpful to know if someone has a sick baby at home or perhaps is suffering from a migraine, so we can be understanding and better help each other out.

10. Delegate
I admit it: As a control freak, I struggle with this at times, but we have to surround ourselves with good people and then let them do their jobs. Get to know your staff's strengths and weaknesses; figure out which positions best suit their individual personalities and skills. You may have a really chatty gal who'd be perfect for a receptionist position, while the introvert may be better handling insurance.

Create an environment for everyone to succeed through CE, annual reviews, morning huddles and quality circles. Then let them do their jobs and delegate new and different assignments to them as needed.

Why do kids have so much decay?
Dr. Jeanette MacLean discusses tooth decay in children, prevention and more on Episode 223 of the podcast Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran. Listen to the hour long conversation or read the transcript at dentaltown.com.

Dr. Jeanette MacLean, DDS, is a private practice pediatric dentist and owner at Affiliated Children's Dental Specialists in Glendale, Arizona. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and her clinical research has been published in Pediatric Dentistry, the official publication of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Information: kidsteethandbraces.com