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Professional Courtesy Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, Editorial Director Dentaltown Magazine

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Training Works for Olympians


Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD
Editorial Director,
Dentaltown Magazine
 We are deeply rooted in a do-it-yourself culture. My grandfather always said, "If you want something done right you must do it yourself." At any given time, you can watch any one of a dozen cable TV programs featuring experts who teach regular people how to perform complicated tasks. We have access to reams of information in print and through the Internet. Pre-internet, I would call a company or local store to ask the person that answered the phone for help. Believe it or not, this was an effective method for problem resolution. Today, the phone is the last thing I pick up for help. There are many reasons for this, however, the convenience of the Internet is NOT at the top of my list.

I don't pick up the phone because my chances of speaking to a human being are about one in 50, and if I want to talk to someone who has any information of value, my chances are immeasurably diminished. Why am I, a child of this information revolution, such a pessimist? Simple, people are not trained to solve our problems; they are hired to simply navigate the same database of information that we can access online. In some cases they know less about their products than we do. I believe there are many factors for this deficiency: lack of work ethic, poor management and incomplete training.

Training is a place where you can make a great impact with a reasonable amount of effort. I have already made the case in previous columns, that if you hire capable people with great attitudes, they can be taught to do anything in the dental office, so work ethic should not be a problem in your practice. With that said, the people you work with are the children of your dental family; they want your attention and they like to be coddled. Translation: don't ignore them when they join your family. Be firm and consistent when they are young and praise their good behavior often.

When you are ready to add a new person to your staff, forget about personal responsibility on the part of your new hire, and forget their experience and just start where you would with a pediatric patient: tell, show, do. Tell them exactly how you would like things done – verbally and in writing. Don't rely on their memory or sketchy notes; you should have an employee manual that outlines every task in specific detail. This is critical. Someone should show them each task and be certain they understand the steps; of course this is more laborious when you hire someone new to dentistry. Finally, let them "do" and you will soon find out if you have hired the right person for the job.

Earlier, I told you to ignore prior dental experience and many of you might think that's crazy. Can a new team member offer valuable input based on their prior experience? Sure. Would you want every new employee to come into your office and start doing things the way they always did at their previous office? Of course not, that would be chaotic! That's the point. Regardless of prior experience, you must develop a consistent and disciplined approach to every task in your office. Anything short of that goal will result in mediocrity.

If the economy has put the brakes on practice productivity, take this time to retrain your staff and get everyone on the same page. Find out how difficult it can be to undo some bad habits that have developed over the years and be sure you have completed a detailed manual before you hire a new team member.

I'm often guilty of oversimplification, but I can trace most instances of poor customer service to insufficient training. Test my theories the next time you are faced with a problem that needs the assistance of an outside source. I would love to hear your story. Send e-mail to tom@dentaltown.com.
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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