Are There More Challenges to Office Staffing Besides the Villain of Turnover?

I’m afraid I have to answer, “Yes!” In this world of needing staff, there are several more critical questions to figure out how to answer.

When my husband went through orthodontic school, he got an outstanding education in technical training by some of the best instructors in the country. Then because we had friends who were dentists in the small town where we were setting up practice, they chose to save their patients for us… for TWO YEARS they saved their patients for us! When we opened for business, they contacted all those patients and said, “Call Them!” Suddenly, we were inundated! A fabulous problem, but replete with challenges.

We were overwhelmed with the questions we had about staffing our practice so we could handle all these incoming patients:

1. How do you hire the best person for each position in your office?
2. How do you know you have everyone on your staff doing the roles and jobs that best fit them?
3. How do you prevent the money, energy and time drain of Staff Turnover?
4. How do you put together a Fully Functioning Team who wants to stay over the long haul?

The best news is that through lots of trial and years of effort, we found there are excellent answers to each of these questions, but they all boil down to One Magic Key – Put the Ideal Person in the Ideal Place.

I am excited to start next week to take each of these challenging questions and answer them thoroughly in future posts, as well as unpack the Magic Key and all it entails. I invite you to give me feedback and share your thoughts.

QUESTION: Have you struggled with any of these questions in staffing your practice? Are any of them an issue for you now? Do you find it is hard to believe there could be One Magic Key? I’d love to hear your thoughts and observations. Please share in the comment section below.

P.S. My orthodontist husband, Galen, and I will continue a regular email, “Orthodontic Tips and Tricks” – on how he handled specific orthodontic treatment problems and challenges as well as some orthodontic “pearls” – those priceless gems that made all the difference in his practice. These will be sent by email only. You can sign up to be included in these regular emails. Just click here: “Yes! Please sign me up to receive Galen’s Orthodontic “Tips, Tricks and Pearls”.

P.P.S. Also, I’m doing some research for a new product I’m creating. Looking to talk with several more dental professionals who want to minimize turnover in their office. If you are interested, please leave a comment below, and I’ll follow up with you to schedule a short 15-minute Zoom call. Looking forward to it!