Dental practice owners love to complain to me about their associates:
•           doesn’t show up on time
•           leaves early
•           ambles along at a steady pace
•           no attachment to the brand
•           no connection with the team
•           patients are patients and not people
•           fails to recognise obvious opportunities to up-sell treatment
•           doesn’t attend team meetings
•           only listens to other dentists, doesn’t listen to the managers or team members
•           gossips
•           wastes materials and equipment
•           doesn’t refer to the hygienist
•           on their own agenda
Dental associates love to complain to me about their principals/owners
•           the money is OK but there is no incentive to do more
•           the equipment and environment in my surgery are second rate
•           I feel as if I’m seeing all the cast off patients
•           the rest of the team don’t respect me
•           I don’t feel involved
•           there is no clinical career pathway here – its all just UDA bashing/check ups
•           I could not have anticipated how lonely I feel
Go figure.
Good associates (and there are plenty) want:
1.         good money (who doesn’t?)
2.         a good environment to work in
3.         nice patients and team members
4.         most importantly of all – leadership, management, clinical mentoring and sense of a career pathway
All problems exist in the absence of a good conversation.