Please Don’t Make Me Go Back to That Annoying Frustrating Job Again!!

Our 13-year-old daughter came into the kitchen one day announcing, “If I have to go back there again, I’m going to lose my mind!!” She wasn’t talking about going to school, or even to church, but about working in our orthodontic office! She has always been a high-energy person, thrives on having lots of plates spinning in her life and loves people. But we needed help back in the lab – so she sat all alone in a little cubicle in the far back area of the office, using a scaler to pick bubbles off of teeth models, model after model, hour after hour. It doesn’t take much thought to realize this was NOT the best role for her in our office. And yes, she was about to lose her mind!

Do you wonder if you have staff going home at night, saying the same thing, “I will lose my mind if I have to go back there again!” But if we pay attention to each person and give them the roles they were designed to do, we end up with a Fully Functioning Team who are excited to come to work each day.

This is one of the essential keys to Minimizing Turnover. So let’s examine the successful process we used for over thirty years.

In our practice, before we understood the DISC System and how it relates to placing staff in their best roles in the office, our method went something like this:

1. We need someone to do Task X
2. Person Y has some free time
3. Assign Task X to Person Y
4. Wonder why Task X is not being done well and why Person Y is so stressed about it

It still took us several years, and some very poor hiring choices, to figure out that using the DISC System to understand the best combinations for each role, was the key. Then as we also discovered what the DISC Style combinations were for the staff we already had, we began shuffling their responsibilities to match their Styles (we will discuss this in next week’s blogpost). The results were fabulous – staff were fulfilled and happy, the different roles and tasks were well taken care of, our practice flourished and turnover was practically non-existent. It was truly a win/win/win/win situation!

First, as a quick reminder of the DISC Style Basics:

• D-Style: Gets things done, is decisive and authoritative, faster-paced, focused on the task at hand, prefers to be in charge
• I-Style: Is enthusiastic, outgoing, positive and persuasive, faster-paced, a true people-person
• S-Style: Is steady, dependable, cooperative and patient, slower-paced, a strong team player
• C-Style: Likes procedures, is systematic, precise and conscientious, slower-paced, is great with details, often prefers to work alone

And please remember that everyone is a combination of the four DISC Styles:

• Only 4% of the population have ONE strongest Style
• 60% have THREE strong Styles
• 36% have TWO strong Styles

So let’s go over the main roles in an office and the DISC Style Combination we found to be the best fit for each:

• Receptionist/Front Desk – we want this person to be super friendly, a real people person – so they need lots of I-Style; if they also make appointments, they will need a good amount of C-Style to keep the schedule on track as well as a touch of D-Style so they don’t get pushed around by demanding patients (or parents of patients).
• Treatment Coordinator – this person needs to have a blend of C-Style (to handle all the details), S-Style (to be warm and friendly) and D–Style (so they can be firm and in control of the “sell” of the treatment to the patient). Or choose which facet of this role is the most important in your office and make that the Style you emphasize the most.
• New Patient Exams – if you have a separate person for this job, they need to have some High I and High S – be warm, friendly, welcoming and people-oriented.
• Clinic Assistants – we found that most of our assistants needed to have lots of S-Style in them with some C (again, to focus on details). We did bend the rules to make sure we always had one (count them… just ONE) High I–Style in the mix to add fun and liveliness to the group.
• Business Office – this person needs plenty of High C-Style – so they are all about getting the details done correctly according to the accounting system you use.
• X-rays/Records – this person also needs to be a High C-Style because this role is very dependent on details and getting the process done carefully and correctly
• Lab Person – if your office has this person, and if they stay back in the lab all the time, it is crucial that they are a High C-Style who prefers to work alone and focus on the details without a lot of people interaction. It definitely helps if their I-Style is LOW.

A final important word of caution:

• If the main Doctor is a High D-Style, it is critical NOT to hire any other High D’s in the office. There can be only ONE!
• Two High D’s will tend to compete for who will be in charge, resulting in lots of head-knocking. Other roles can have some D-Style, and in fact, need this strength, but it cannot be their highest Style on their graph.
• If the doctor does not have a High D-Style, be careful about hiring someone who is High D because they will naturally pursue being in control of the office. But we have seen it work well if the doctor is an easy-going S-Style and hires a High D for the Office Manager then lets that person take charge of the office. Just remember, most High D-Styles are driven to be in control.

Next week, I’ll share the process we used after we knew what the DISC Styles were for each of our staff. I’ll also include the Chart that is so useful for this process.

If you would like to receive these “Keys to Minimize Turnover” blogposts by email each week, click here: “YES! Please send me Beth’s Minimizing Turnover emails!”

QUESTION: What is your system for placing staff in their roles in our office? How does that compare with what the DISC System recommends? I’d love to hear your thoughts and observations. Please share in the comment section below.