What I've Done: The Dental Success Podcast

No condition is permanent and as business owners going into this we need two things: Leadership and Community. Through these two focal points, we can influence the final outcome and impact of this situation. 

Community- Just recognize right now, with this problem, we can’t do this alone. I need you right now.

Your peers need you to be a leader of mindset, facts, support, and ideas.

Your employees need you to lead them into this situation with compassion. They need you and you need them.

Your patients need you to help them sort fact from fiction. It would be nice if you could be in front of them as much as they are in front of TV/Internet.

Lastly, Your family needs you. It’s tempting to get absorbed in the business part of your life and this problem will certainly cross those lines.

Build community and shun fear mongering, shun misinformation, shun politics

But also in you, this will be uncomfortable. Shun the human tendency to hide from this. Get in front of it and be the leader.

Cary Smith and Dr. Max Kerr have a chat about leading through this uncertain and troubling time. We discuss the immense opportunity before us, as leaders, to step before our employees and patients and lead them into the unknown. 

What are our employment options as we move into voluntary shutdowns and potential long term temporary employment disruptions. Should we stay open? If not, what are the options available to me and what are the timelines.

Cary Smith from Dentist Secure and Kara Kelley from Clinical HR deliver expert advice. 

Summary

Paid leave – send employees home except for emergencies and work-from-home tasks, decide who works and when (Considerations: assign CE or other activities that can be done from home if possible, caution them about how to spend their time off limiting exposure, track time for non-exempt employees, etc.)

1. Reduction in hours – reduce hours for team, working skeleton shifts to cover emergencies (Considerations: can file for partial unemployment benefits; may be some benefits eligibility considerations, still want them to clock in to track non-exempt time worked)
2. Reduction in salary – reduce hourly rates to keep employees paid and assign CE/trainings, patient communications, marketing, etc. to be conducted at home (Considerations: can still file for partial unemployment benefits)
3. Furlough – reduce hours to 0, but keep team on the payroll (Considerations: can file for temporary unemployment benefits; need to decide what to do about health insurance benefits, pay if you can)
4. Reduction in Force – keep key team members, layoff or furlough the rest; laid-off or furloughed employees can file for unemployment benefits (Considerations: be careful who you layoff/furlough that you’re not being discriminatory or retaliatory)
5. Full layoff – termination of employment, not for-cause (layoff); will hire back when possible, completely closing office, cannot ask team to perform work after layoff (Considerations: may be your option if you have a lot of employees who have health insurance you can’t afford, fear of inability to recover, won’t be able to hire everyone back, permanently closing an office)

Now is the time to step into a leadership role for yourself, your employees, and your patients. Cary discusses the leadership mindset you might adopt in this time of multiple unknowns. 

As leaders we can face a lot of responsibilities as stress in our lives. Taking time off is an important part of a healthy relationship with our business but do we trust our practice to actually disconnect? Max Kerr and Cary Smith discuss the dynamics of taking time off and ways you can set yourself up for the important activity of taking time off from work. 

A client called in with an employee who was cheating on her time card and breaching trust. In this podcast Cary Smith discusses your mindset going into the conversation and the process to terminate an employee who violates trust in your practice. 

A hygienist called and asked about her obligations when leaving her current employer. She didn't want to get into legal trouble when her former patients started calling her new office to schedule hygiene. This podcast focuses on the relationship with your employee, your handbook, contracts, and trust. Special guest Kara Kelley!

Do you want to earn more and grow in your career? As business owners, we depend on our employees for everything. You are essential to the success of the practice and we recognize you are valuable. 

Wanting more money and advancement is the output of the value you bring to the practice...so who's responsibility is it to help you get to where you want to go AND how can you help yourself get there? 

Round Table 3 : Talent That Fits

When the lights come on it’s your talent that makes all the difference in the delivery of your expertise. Our round table group of experts discuss the advantages of focusing on talent as your key differentiator and how to start the process of finding talent that fits.

We discuss:

• What is “fit” and why is it important
• The multiple ways a practice can benefit from a focus on talent
• Advice on where to start in changing your talent position

Speaking on this podcast:

Cary Smith, Risk Manager for Medical Entrepreneurs www.dentistsecure.com

Max Kerr, DDS- Successful Practice Owner and Leader of People

Kara Kelley SPHR- HR Hero for Medical Offices- Clinicalhr.com

Jon Fidler- Talent Acquisition Expert- Fidler and Associates

Danielle Adams- Culture Coach and Owner of Enviable Culture

This brand experience is a result of one of the following things- or maybe a combination of several of these. 

1. The right attitude and behaviors within the employee- Amanda is just like this. It’s who she is and what makes her tick.
2. 1. Whether the bank intended to hire her on purpose to capture this behavior is unlikely However her attitude and behaviors are what opened the opportunity to have the job.
3. The right training to show her how she can help- Someone connected the dots and said “if you see this; Then this is what you should do”
4. The right leadership to allow her to make this call. She’s a teller at a bank AND she’s able to make account decisions without someone approving. TRUST
5. The right customer- I have more than one account and I’ve been loyal to the bank, They’ve financed two cars, They’ve given me seed money to start Done Desk, I have money in the bank, I pay my bills. I am the right customer to receive this extra attention.

When Amanda Executed: The Brand Was Elevated

• I’m not just ‘satisfied’, I’m thrilled
• I directly benefitted from her engagement in her job
• I trust her because she cares
• I become more loyal- and make a podcast about the experience.

This is why we created High Trust Practice,

So let’s look at applying this to your practice. Right now. A few questions and a few ideas.

1. Do you have the right people who are interested in supporting your brand?
2. 1. As Max says “do they get it, want it, and can do it’?
3. Have you trained them on what it means to provide quality care, your expectations of them, and connect the dots for them in their work.
4. Are you honing your skills as a leader, setting the right expectations, hiring the right people, and shedding people that don’t fit?
5. Are you hearing your patients, addressing their needs, teaching them about a relationship with you, and do your people put the patient’s first?