Monday Morning Meeting: Show Your Employees How Much You Love Them, Tip #8

While your primary goal may be to provide exceptional dental care, it’s also important to remember that you are also the leader of a small business. And, as the leader, it’s important to keep your employees happy and satisfied with their work. The saying “A happy wife is a happy life” also applies to your office staff, hygienists, and assistants who are the face and life of your practice.

 All too often employees only hear from the boss when they mess something up or do something wrong. But your employees, like all people, needing to receive feedback on their daily performance. And, more often than not, they need to hear more about what they’re doing right as opposed to what they’re doing wrong. Emphasis on positive behaviors will ensure that they continue to do them and will reinforce the good over the bad.

But we know that it can be hard to make time to praise each individual when you’re in the trenches and focused on your own work. That’s why we’ve got some free (well mostly free) ways to show appreciation for a job well done.

Tip #8: Acknowledge something that an employee is good at by asking them to conduct a staff training on it.

Your employees are probably all awesome at doing different things. If they weren’t awesome, why would you keep them around?! But not everyone is awesme at doing the same things, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Recognize an employee by asking them to perform a staff training presentation about something they’re really good at. For example, Rhonda is absolutely amazing at answering the phones and handling patient questions. You’ve never seen anyone handle an upset caller quite like her. But not everyone in the office is as good on the phone as Rhonda.

We recommend pulling Rhonda aside and praising her ability to answer the phones and handle difficult callers. Let her know how impressed you are with her ability to deal with each new caller with grace and charm and how much you appreciate her hard work. Let her know that, if she’s willing, you’d like her to conduct a staff training on how best to answer the phones and deal with complicated situations.

By communicating with Rhonda that you are impressed by her expertise and would appreciate her help in training the staff, you’re showing her that her hard work has really shown through. This is going to make her feel special and appreciated, something she will radiate throughout the week.

Monday Morning Meeting: Show Your Employees How Much You Love Them, Tip #7

While your primary goal may be to provide exceptional dental care, it’s also important to remember that you are also the leader of a small business. And, as the leader, it’s important to keep your employees happy and satisfied with their work. The saying “A happy wife is a happy life” also applies to your office staff, hygienists, and assistants who are the face and life of your practice.

 All too often employees only hear from the boss when they mess something up or do something wrong. But your employees, like all people, needing to receive feedback on their daily performance. And, more often than not, they need to hear more about what they’re doing right as opposed to what they’re doing wrong. Emphasis on positive behaviors will ensure that they continue to do them and will reinforce the good over the bad.

But we know that it can be hard to make time to praise each individual when you’re in the trenches and focused on your own work. That’s why we’ve got some free (well mostly free) ways to show appreciation for a job well done.

Tip #7: Publicly acknowledge an employee’s accomplishment at staff meetings.

Not everything your employees do involves work or dentistry. In fact, most of the things they most enjoy or are proud of occur at home. Acknowledging their accomplishments outside of work shows that you care about the employee outside of the office.

Take a moment before each staff meeting to acknowledge the small (and large) accomplishments of employees. Whether they completed a half marathon, completed a degree program, were elected to the PTA, or won a bake sale, taking a little time to celebrate these personal accomplishments makes a person feel good. And employees that feel good are more likely to be productive, happy, and involved with patients that day. 

Monday Morning Meeting: Show Your Employees How Much You Love Them, Tip #6

While your primary goal may be to provide exceptional dental care, it’s also important to remember that you are also the leader of a small business. And, as the leader, it’s important to keep your employees happy and satisfied with their work. The saying “A happy wife is a happy life” also applies to your office staff, hygienists, and assistants who are the face and life of your practice.

 All too often employees only hear from the boss when they mess something up or do something wrong. But your employees, like all people, needing to receive feedback on their daily performance. And, more often than not, they need to hear more about what they’re doing right as opposed to what they’re doing wrong. Emphasis on positive behaviors will ensure that they continue to do them and will reinforce the good over the bad.

But we know that it can be hard to make time to praise each individual when you’re in the trenches and focused on your own work. That’s why we’ve got some free (well mostly free) ways to show appreciation for a job well done.

Tip #6: Allow hard working employees to take a long lunch or run errands during the day.

Hard working employees often come to work early and leave late. That can make getting daily chores and errands done during the week difficult.

Reward your highflyers by offering them a long lunch or an hour to run errands in the afternoon. Of course these long breaks should be paid so that employees know  that you understand that your time is as valuable as theirs.

While we don’t recommend doing this kind of reward all the time, (we don’t want employees to expect the extra time) we do recommend that you offer it once a month or every other month. This kind of reward is something that your employees won’t forget is possible and will inspire them to work hard and stay motivated.