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10-Creating superb
employees by taking good care of them
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"Example is
not the main thing in influencing others, it is
the only thing. "
- Albert Schweitzer.
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To a large degree your employees are your clinic. While it
is true that your patients come to see you, the quality of
the interaction of your staff with your patients is just one
of the many areas your people can either make or break your
business. Your staff also has a huge effect on the quality
of your life, because dealing with people can be agony or
ecstasy - the source of your greatest frustrations or your
most gratifying accomplishments.
You need to enhance your ability to effectively interact,
direct and work with people. Unfortunately, most doctors never
acquire good people handling skills, let alone management
training , along the way. One problem is that most of us don't
intuitively know what makes people tick and as a result we
get involved in all sorts of counterproductive and self-defeating
approaches in managing and dealing with our employees.
The commonest mistake most doctors make in managing their
staff includes micromanaging and overmanaging. You need to
be able to trust your staff to do things their own way. This
may be different from your own way – and may actually
be better !
Managing human resources often gets a low priority in medical
practice. Busy physicians usually find themselves hiring employees
chiefly in crisis situations—when a spot needs to be
filled—rather than as part of a carefully considered
staffing plan. But developing a strong staff doesn’t
happen by accident, and practices can learn a lot from organizations
with a stronger tradition of human resource management.
Remember that helping employees learn and grow also boosts
the development of your practice. When staff members are content,
they’re more friendly and responsive to the needs of
patients and happy staffers improve your patients’ experience
with your practice.
High-functioning employees cope with problems better,
keeping the entire office running smoothly but it
takes more than just good pay and benefits to keep
employees motivated and satisfied.
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Workers who are most likely to be satisfied with their jobs
Know what’s expected of them
Have the materials and equipment they need to do their work
properly
Have the opportunity to do what they do best every day
Feel their opinions count
Have been recognized or praised for doing good work
Feel that their supervisor or someone else at work cares about
them on a personal level
Receive encouragement for their professional development
Feel the clinic’s mission or purpose makes their job
important
Feel their colleagues are committed to high-quality work
Have a best friend at work
Feel they’ve had opportunities to learn and grow within
the past year.
In general, there are three managerial styles. Many
doctors have a managerial style which is based on
a police cop mentality – the “ authoritarian
“ model - " find things that are wrong
, and fix them the way I tell you to " . Following
this model, many doctors try to force their staff
to perform, but this approach works only if you
are there to monitor your staff all the time. Others
prefer a “hands-off” approach –
the “laissez-faire” model, because they
prefer not handling staff problems at all . Unfortunately,
taking an ostrich in the sand approach will not
make the problems go away – and they may often
fester till they become unmanageable. In this age
of service, a more appropriate management style
is “ participative “ – based on
the coaching philosophy. Coaches look for strengths
– they see what talent they have to work with
and devise a game plan to win with the skills they
have available. This is far more effective –
both for you, and for your staff !
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Remember that the way you treat your staff is the way they
will treat your patients. You cannot ill-treat your staff,
and then expect them to go forth and deliver inspired, compassionate
service to your patients. What they see is what you will get.
You are the role model whether you want the job or not. If
you want your staff to treat your patients with respect, treat
your staff with respect. If you want your staff to listen
to your patients, you need to listen to them. If you want
your team to report to work looking sharp, pay attention to
your own grooming habits. If you want people to be on time,
schedule an arrival time for yourself and be at work when
the schedule says you will be.
Today’s business climate means physicians must act as
coach and counselor to improve morale, reduce turnover, and
energize employees. More than ever, physicians are seeing
the value of a motivated office staff.
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How do you create an atmosphere like that?
Some tips from experts:
Thank them
Saying ‘thank you’ to your staff when
they do something right is the single most powerful
motivator you have, a recent survey shows. Yet doctors,
perhaps because they tend to be self-motivated,
are notoriously stingy with praise. They don’t
realize that the
people who work for them need to be given verbal thanks to feel
good about what they’ve done. If they’re not recognized
by their boss — the office manager or the doctor —
then they’ll definitely lose motivation.”
Be quick to pass on compliments.
“When a patient says, ‘I’m really glad
your billing person dug in and found out what the problem was
with my bill,’ then make it a point to go and thank that
employee , preferably in public. It’s a good idea to pick
a worker every week and go out of your way to catch him doing
something well.
Adapt your style over time
Have a few stock phrases that are bound to be useful at some
point. Here are some lines that Pitts-burgh- based organizational
consultant Sam Deep recommends to help keep office staff motivated
and on the right track:
“Here’s one way to
do it.” Those five words tell your employee you’re
willing to teach him, but won’t force him to do things
your way.
“That looks great!” Employees want
to feel appreciated, and surveys show they don’t think
they get thanked enough. The good feeling a worker gets from
a compliment
from the boss can last a week.
“What’ll it
take to keep this from happening again?” This is a clever
way to accomplish at least four goals at once. First, you get
your employee to make a commitment
to do the job right next time. Next, by letting her tell you
how she plans to fix her mistake, not only will she be more
committed to making the remedy work, but she may
well come up with a better solution than you would. Third, you
give her some practice at problem-solving, which will help make
her more effective and confident. Finally, she
won’t forget that you treated her with respect —
even though she fumbled.
Interestingly, you can dramatically increase your own productivity
by listening to the members of your care team . Ask them, “How
would you do this?" or "How could I do this better?"
Most doctors are so used to knowing everything and doing everything,
that they forget to ask for advice and guidance of the real
experts - those whom they work with every day. You can be much
more productive if you share ideas with your coworkers and listen
to their ideas - your staff wants to be listened to, and will
be very happy to contribute ideas and effort – if only
you will give them a chance to do so !
A common mistake most of us make is giving the most work to
the best employees, because they are the most efficient. Ironically,
we reward poor performance with less work, and end up driving
away our best employees because they are overworked and burned
out. Knowing how to work efficiently with your team is the "hidden
secret" of
physician productivity; conversely, an inefficient
doctor makes the whole team inefficient.
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Turnover in the clinic is a constant challenge for all doctors.
Thanks to low pay, poor organizational structure, improper staffing,
and the overall high-pressure environment in a medical clinic,
nurses, receptionists and other staff often leave after only
months on the job, keeping the front office in a constant state
of turmoil. Worse, steady turnover can cause a vicious cycle
of employee paranoia. Plagued by what seems to be a revolving
door of worker replacements, practices stop training (why waste
the time?) and maintain low wages (why waste the money?). As
a result, morale drops, other employees leave, and the turnover
in the front office just keeps feeding on itself.
Smart doctors should put staff first and patients second. They
know that when they take extraordinary care of their staff,
their employees will take extraordinary care of their patients
! Successful managers combine the five "R"s and the
one "F": Recognition, Reward, Responsibility, Rules,
and Respect, and Fun to create a work environment that few choose
to leave, even for more money.
Recognition: Do you give your employees the recognition they
deserve? Recognition is simply giving praise where it's due.
Rewards: Do you reward employees for superior performance ?
This does not always have to be a bonus – you can also
offer gifts in kind, or an extra holiday. Rewards add incentive
to the workplace.
Responsibility: When you give employees the responsibility of
making decisions and suggesting improvements, they are empowered
to do a better job – and they may pleasantly surprise
you !
Rules: Do you have rules in place that are fair and reasonable?
Do your employees know the rules they are supposed to follow?
Too few rules result in anarchy, because your employees don’t
know what to do and how to do it . Too many stifle creativity
and flexibility.
Respect: Do you respect your employees? Your staff will respect
you, one another, and your patients only as much as you respect
them. Respect creates an atmosphere where good relationships
thrive. No one stays long in a job where they can't enjoy relationships
with others.
Fun: Is your clinic a fun place to be ? Providing good quality
medical care can be a very satisfying job, and your staff should
have fun doing so ! While it is true that no patient enjoys
going to a doctor, clinics which are happy places will attract
far more patients than sterile boring clinics !
Your staff should be proud to work for you. If you
want good employees, learn to become a good employer!
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