Dental Practice Management Articles Disruptive Employees - Take Your Practice Back! Written by: Anita Jupp © Copyright. ADEI. All rights reserved.

I believe we should always try to be positive and look for the best in people. And I also believe that when we are hired and accept a new position that we make a commitment to complete the duties that are delegated to us and follow office protocols. In an ideal world we would all go to work happy and leave happy at the end of the day, all without stress. But we know that in the real world, my fantasy happy, stress free day is usually not the case. Of course there are many employees who are wonderful and dentists who are great leaders and business people but climbing that stress free mountain usually takes a bit of planning and foresight.

The chief complaints amongst dentists related to staff include:

• A shortage of trained and motivated employees
• You hire people and train them and then they leave
• Team member are not completing duties that have been delegated
• Customer service needs to be improved
• The attitude of some team members is detrimental to the business
• Why are there so many mistakes in the computer?
• All I hear is "I did not do it" or "It's not my job"

Those are the general complaints. In my years of travels for dentistry, I've heard some incredible "bad" employee stories; some of them are hard to believe. Perhaps you might even recognize a situation that has also happened to you. Perhaps you've been the lucky employer of an assistant who said, in front of a patient, "If we are not finished on time I am leaving! If you try to make me stay I will quit." Or an employee with an incredibly bad attitude - when you having a meeting and someone makes a positive suggestion, she usually responds with an eye roll and 'whatever."

Do any of your employees fit into one of these categories?

The Complainer

The complainers are negative employees, the ones who come up with such draining statements as:

• I do not need to take any course
• There is no way I am giving up a Saturday to go to a lecture
• I do not have time. I'm not doing it.
• Things never change around here. Why do you bother?
• It will not work. I'm not trying it.
• Patients will not accept it.
• You can't expect me to do more work. I work 9 am to 5pm and that's it.

The Know it All

These employees often think they know far more than the dentist who studied many years at dental school.

• The doctor had diagnosed perio disease and suggested periodontal therapy with 4 one hour appointments. At the first appointment, after half an hour, the hygienist told the patient she was done and the patient did not need the other appointments.
• The doctor diagnosed crowns and the hygienist said "I do not think the patient needs crowns on those teeth."
• Whenever the doctor talked to a patient about treatment, the hygienist just rolled her eye's and sighed in front of the patient.
• One hygienist was asked why she did not review the patient's previous incomplete treatment plan to discuss the treatment. Her reply was. "I do not think he is a good dentist, I would not have my dentistry done here."
• When the doctor asked the hygienist how she liked the patients new veneers that he had just completed she replied, "They are ok."

I Don't DO Cleaning

These employees just don't like to work, even if it's their job!

• A hygienist that refuses to do sterilization and makes it clear she is not paid to clean up
• Clinical team that 'hang out' at the business desk, not always helping but often chatting. This is distracting for the business team as they have to greet patients, answer phones, get payments etc.
• A patient walks to the business desk and the business assistant turns their back and walks away or slides low in their chair and hides behind the desk.
• The hygienist always finished the patients before the scheduled time and went to the staff room and had coffee.

The Sob Story

Some people bring their personal problems to work and take advantage of every minute to share their sad story. People need to know to leave personal problems at the door when they go into work.

Other Disruptive & Disgruntled Employees

• The hygienist refused to bill accurately and said the fee's were too high
• One hygienist referred her patient to another dental office to have restorative dentistry done.
• An assistant that just walked out the office in a hurry and said there was an emergency at home. It was later explained that a shelf had fallen over and she had to clean it up. Could it not have waited until after work?
• Team members that come to the front desk and throw the patient chart down, then walk away without even saying goodbye to the patient.

The list could be endless. These types of employees are very draining and cause so much stress in a practice. They bring down the positive atmosphere and cause divisiveness and disruption with their selfish attitudes. Thankfully, there are solutions to eliminate these very stressful situations.

Solutions: Take Your Practice Back!

• Leadership! Learn to be a leader and make a decision not to tolerate any negative behavior. Do not hesitate to deal with the problem that causes stress.
• Have a current office policy that your team have read and signed. They must agree to follow office protocols. Keep the office policy updated each year and change what needs to be changed.
• Add in the office policy that you have a no tolerance policy for gossip, negative attitude, insubordination or any behavior that is considered detrimental to the practice.
• Deal with situations immediately; do not bury your head in the sand. Staffing problems do not disappear on their own.
• Do not be afraid to fire someone. Make sure you have all the documentation and letters of warning related to that employee. Always check with the employment standards to keep within their guidelines. When in doubt consult with a lawyer that specializes with staffing issues.
• Do not discuss employee concerns with other employees. Keep the distance of employer and employee.
• Set dates for employee evaluations every 6 months to discuss where they need to improve and also to compliment what they are doing well.
• Give letters of warning if the employee has not changed their behavior after a verbal warning.
• Deal with problems on a daily/weekly basis in private. To ignore situations is actually giving that employee permission to continue.
• Make sure your team is properly trained so there is no excuse to say, "I do not know how to…." or "No one trained me."

Your patients are a priority. They are number one in your practice and the do recognize negativity when they come into the office. It is important to remember that no one is indispensable except you the dentist and business owner! I would rather go through six people to find the ideal person than put up someone who had no respect for the practice or themselves by not doing a great job.

I have always said "hire for attitude and train for skill." You can train motivated and positive people but you can not change the attitude of a negative person. A very dear friend told me a long time ago "I refuse to pay people to make me miserable"

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