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30 Years of Dentistry: Lesson Learned
Lesson #2: Developing a $1,000,000 Team - Part 2 Dr. Joe Steven Jr.

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In Part I (Feb. 2010, Dentaltown Magazine), I introduced my philosophy on how I strive to develop the ideal $1,000,000 team. This type of management style is destined for abuse and being taken advantage of if not combined with a well-written policy manual. That’s where most employers fail when they attempt to manage this way. Some employees will take advantage of this laid-back management approach and will abuse many of the privileges and guidelines of the office. That’s why it is so important to have excellent procedural guidelines for every system in your practice.

Shortly after I hire new employees, I have a short visit with them after work one day to tell them how I manage. I explain to them that I’m not one to review and reprimand the employees on a daily basis. There are only a few things that really get my attention for a need for a serious talk. One is if I hear of a dissatisfied patient concerning the care they received in our office by a certain team member. Another one is if an employee is taking advantage of the privileges of the office or taking advantage of another staff member. And of course, I would certainly have a talk with them if they were incompetent in their dental duties. But I know dentists who will try to tightly manage their employees with daily reviews and/or reprimands.

We, as employers, should want to make a good first impression with our new staff members so that we can win them over. When we do, they will be more receptive and eager to work with the team towards our mutual business goals. We are working against ourselves if we try to over-manage this new employee too soon. Some doctors feel that you need to establish early just who the “boss” is and that’s how you get their respect. I think some doctors confuse respect with fear and intimidation.

Every employer who makes a serious effort to follow a definite management philosophy must decide if it is more important to “win the battle and lose the war” or to “lose the battle and win the war.” Now of course, we would all like to have it both ways, but that can’t always be done. Unfortunately, most employers do manage with an underlying principle that results in winning all the little, petty, daily battles and in the end they lose the big war. This happens because by winning all those little, petty battles, most employers usually end up building resentment and at the same time squelching an employee’s enthusiasm to excel for us. I have seen this happen with many employer/managers. It’s always a “matter of principle.” Sometimes it’s better to initially overlook many petty inefficiencies of our employees. I shouldn’t say overlook, because these things will be addressed later on when I think the time is right.

Timing is so important! First, let’s look at a few examples of some of these things that can really be negatives on an otherwise great employee. On a daily basis, most of us encounter things like an employee getting to work late, employees socializing or making personal phone calls at the wrong times, reading magazines in between patients, improper tray set-ups, clerical errors, mishandling of insurance, a hygienist leaving a piece of calculus, etc. Many doctors make federal cases out of many of these offenses on a daily basis. Because you see, “It’s a matter of principle!” Or, you told them all these things, obviously they didn’t listen. So you have to say something immediately because you’re the boss!

The doctor has good intentions. He or she wants to correct the employee for a positive benefit for everyone’s concern. The problem is all in the timing and delivery. We have to apply human relation principles with our employees just as we do with our patients. For example, never reprimand an employee in front of a patient. I know this is basic advice for many doctors, but you’d be amazed on how often this happens. Dr. Mark Troilo and I have visited with hundreds of dental teams and we’ve heard it all. It’s really amazing that some of these doctors can remain in business the way they run off their employees. Reprimanding an employee in front of a patient is the surest way to turn an employee against the common goals of the doctor and the office.

Many times I want to say something to that employee who walks in 10 minutes late, but I catch myself and realize that I am more concerned about winning the war and giving up this little battle. By that I mean, I know I could win the little personal victory of showing that person just who is boss and reprimand her as soon as she walks in. Many employers act out their emotions too much. Sure it makes me upset and I feel like saying something, but I also know how that’s going to affect her attitude for the rest of the day. I want her to greet her first patient enthusiastically and you’re not going to get that performance after a reprimand. That’s why timing is so important. Save it for after work or for the next staff meeting. By overlooking this at the time, the employee might feel like she got away with something (she won the battle), but I won the war; I still have my enthusiastic employee because I didn’t kill her normally great attitude at 7:55 a.m. You have to look at the big picture. I try to never respond to an employee’s shortcomings without first comparing the short term benefits to the long term advantages.

So, when do we have this sometimes unpleasant conversation or reprimand? It really depends on the seriousness of the situation. If it’s just something like a certain employee coming to work late every now and then, I can wait a few days until it’s convenient to address it. But, if it were a case whereby patient care was being compromised or staff disharmony was at risk (I’m sure you know what I mean!) then I would do it at lunch or preferably after work. If it’s after work, I will mention to them around 3 or 4 in the afternoon that I would like them to stick around for a few minutes after work because I want to talk to them about something. No further discussion at that time. I don’t mention this early in the day because I don’t want them to worry about it all day long. And these conversations really don’t need to last but a few minutes. Obviously, some serious, involved conversations take longer. But, most of the time it really isn’t more than five or 10 minutes.

Timing is important, but the delivery might even be more important. How we get our message across is so critical. According to Dale Carnegie, before reprimanding or giving constructive criticism, first find something you can compliment that person about. Then, let them know what you’re concerned about. It can go something like this, “Mary, I want you to know how much I appreciate having you in our office. You really get along with everyone here, you fit in nicely and our patients love you. But, there is something that I really need to talk to you about, and hopefully we can get this behind us. You know our policy about being here no later than 7:45 in the morning. Well…” I’ve been doing this for years, and firmly believe that this is always the best way to confront our employees when necessary. When I address some of my employees who have been with me 20 years or so, they know my routine so well that during the compliment phase of my little talk, they say, “Come on Doc, just let me know what’s bugging you!” I still do it though!

We have to try and put ourselves in our employees’ shoes. We have to try and think what they are thinking. Just because dentistry might be our number-one priority in life, we have to understand that it probably is not with most of our employees. Therefore, when we address a specific criticism to an employee, we have to anticipate their reactions and be prepared to confront them with understanding and firm responses. It is extremely important to place the human-being to human-being relationship ahead of the employee-to-employer relationship when we have these uncomfortable little talks. They have feelings just like we do, and it doesn’t hurt any less just because we are the boss and we can get away with talking down to our employees. We really can get the same point across without getting visibly upset and vocally demeaning to them. But once again, most employers react out of emotion under the guise of, “I’m the boss!” without considering the overall negative impact it has on that staff member’s future attitude in our office.

When dealing with our patients, many times we doctors feel like saying, “I’m the dentist and I know better than you what’s best for your mouth.” But we refrain from doing that because we know that is not the way to win over a patient. So why do so many of us forget these basic human relation principles when dealing with our employees? We might feel that being the boss gives us the right to say what we want to our staff; but please don’t forget that we can gain so much more by treating them as a friend and not just an employee. Plus, dentistry is much more enjoyable when working with friends!

I realize that this style of management might be very uncomfortable for some doctors and not easy to implement. But as I said earlier, this is not for everyone. I know there are many employers out there who are inclined to manage this way, but don’t because they have always heard that you should not get on a friendly basis with your employees. Well, I’ve seen it both ways, and I am convinced that everyone wins with this management style when done properly.

Draw that imaginary line on the floor between you and your team and dare them to cross that line. When they do, smile and say, “Good... now we’re both on the same side!”
Author’s Bio
Dr. Joe Steven graduated from Creighton Dental School in 1978 and has been in solo practice in Wichita, Kansas up until June 2007 at which time his daughter, Dr. Jasmin Rupp, joined him. He is president of KISCO, a dental products marketing company, providing “new ideas for dentistry,” and is the editor of the KISCO Perspective Newsletter. Dr. Steven along with Dr. Mark Troilo present “The $1,000,000 Staff" & the “Team Dynamics” seminars. Dr. Steven also presents three other seminars: “Efficient-dentistry,” “Efficient-prosthetics” and “Efficient-endo.” Dr. Steven also provides the KISCO Select Consulting Program to dentists in the form of a monthly audio cd recording. (Contact info: jsteven@kiscodental.com, 800-325-8649, www.kiscodental.com)

This story, originally published in the KISCO Perspective Newsletter, is reprinted with permission.
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