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Professional Courtesy: Now It’s Time for the Airing of Grievances! Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, Editorial Director, Dentaltown Magazine

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December is a month marked by celebrations. You have the big two – Christmas and Hanukkah – but I would like to focus this column on a "holiday celebrated by those frustrated with the commercialism and pressure of other December holidays" – Festivus. Frank Costanza first introduced this made up holiday to pop culture in a December 1997 broadcast of Seinfeld. If you recall the episode, one of the highlights of the celebration is the "Airing of Grievances," which occurs on December 23 during the meal when each person stands up and tells everyone else at the table the ways they have disappointed him or her during the past year. In the dental office we call this the annual employee performance review.

I have performed employee reviews on my team members after their four-month probation period, as well as annually on their employment anniversary. Some practices I have studied will perform reviews of the entire team at the end of the year and tie that event to their bonus. For me, this is simply too much to do at the end of the year.

Each time I do an evaluation, I have two thoughts: 1) I think I should do this more often than once a year, and 2) the employee self-evaluation is indispensible. The first point is fairly obvious; some issues cannot be held onto for a year and without a mechanism in place, it is easy to just ignore problems and hope they get better. They never do. While I have daily and weekly private conversations with team members about various issues in the office, I think the formality of documentation has a greater impact. The second point refers to the copy of the evaluation I ask the employee to complete prior to our meeting. I review this when I complete my copy of the evaluation form and I find that it gives great insight as to how the employee views his or her performance. You might be surprised at times as to how aware an employee is of areas of weakness, and other times, you might find that an employee is completely unaware of a key issue. The latter is an indication that your ongoing dialogue is either ineffective or non-existent.

If this is the first time you have considered employee evaluations, also consider format. This is a process that certainly needs a form that you create in-house or purchase from a dental consultant. A typical evaluation will include some numerical scoring of general characteristics or performance objectives, as well as space for write-in comments and suggestions for improvement. The form should be signed by both employer and employee after the review is complete.

One of the highlights from my form is a section for goal setting. The employee will identify areas he or she would like to improve and I will have some ideas of my own. I will incorporate both into a list of goals with specific details for how a goal will be accomplished as well as a due date.

Example:

Goal – Become proficient in the use of Dentrix Treatment Planning module.

Action – Enter all patient treatment plans using proper codes and place treatment in proper order as outlined by dentist.

Due Date – Three months from today.

In this example, the employee has a very specific objective and ample amount of time to achieve the goal. I will review all goals from the previous review at the next review. This is a nice chance to congratulate the employee on everything he or she has achieved in the past year and to get excited about the new goals.

In closing, I would like to take part in the airing of grievances by sharing a few of my own:
  • People who don't use their turn signals.
  • Rich movie stars and musicians who show up at Occupy Wall Street to protest corporate greed.
  • Staff who use the office Internet for personal use.
  • After-hours calls from patients who procrastinate.
  • Clowns.
  • People who walk slow when crossing the street.
Now go out and air your grievances!
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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