Payday Flu – A New Approach to a Big Expense

When you are in your first year of practice, you will have a million things filling up your mind and your day; honing your skills, learning the business, coping with debt, developing your chair-side manner, payroll. Wait…..payroll?? Why on earth would payroll be top of mind for you right now?

Whether you are a salaried dentist, a commissioned associate, have your own practice or hope to one day, payroll and your approach to it will be one of your greatest challenges as a practising dentist. You have the opportunity and the advantage as a new dentist to adopt a fresh mindset to paying employees, early in your career, which will benefit you in myriad ways for your entire professional life.

Staff wages make up about a third of the cost of running a dental practice. Ouch! If you want to own your own practice one day, your job in the early years of your career is to keenly observe what works about the running of a practice and what doesn’t. This is where your opportunity comes in.

Have you ever had to pay for a nonwinning lottery ticket after the draw is over? Many dentists feel that way about signing their employee’s paycheques. High wages, possible poor performance, or the fact that payroll takes such a big cut out of profits can all contribute to dentists having a negative mindset and grumbling about having to pay staff. I call this the “payday flu.” At best, many dentists feel defeated or resigned to having to sign those paychecks. At worst, they may feel resentment, anger, or frustration. Approaching paying staff in a resigned or resentful manner sends a negative message to employees

about their value and adds stress and tension to the relationship. There is a better way.

What do you expect when you put money into an investment? You expect a return! You contribute to the investment, monitor its

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growth and hopefully watch your money work for you. You can approach paying staff with the same concept by slightly shifting your perspective in specific ways. Reset your mindset now as a new dentist. Doing so will help you to motivate employees, build your practice, ensure that you get the most out of your payroll dollars and enable you to leave a legacy of leadership that you might not have believed possible.

As with anything that you want to build upon, you must first begin with a good foundation – a fair and equitable wage. Too low and you are not going to attract the right people. Too high and there is no wiggle room with which to grow. I believe in paying a fair base wage for each position in a practice. I also believe in establishing this base wage before hiring and then sticking to it. By the time you have adopted the following four ways to turn your payroll dollars into an investment, you will have top-notch employees knocking on your door, very willing to accept your fair wage!

Build on your foundation by asking yourself what you can add that will benefit your employee in some meaningful way and at the same time will bring a benefit back to your practice. The key for this shift in approach is to build in the return to your practice.

EDUCATE! No-one can dispute the benefit of continuing education. As a leader, you can participate in your employee’s development by investing in their learning. Offer to pay the tuition for employees who want to take courses, advance their skills and attend study clubs and conventions. You might be thinking, “Why should I pay to educate employees only to have them leave?” Remember, the key is to build in a return for your practice. If you take your staff to a dental convention, choose courses that each department attends together and have them provide a lunch ‘n learn to the other staff. Attend a course as a team and have a roundtable discussion afterwards with a plan to implement the learning in your clinic. If an employee wants to upgrade his/her skills, have them create a plan to incorporate the skills into your office policy. There are many ways to ensure that the dollars you invest in your

up or down to a leader’s expectations. Empowering means that you believe your employee is capable of excellence. You can put your money where your mouth is by providing all the resources they need in order to achieve excellence; adequate training, mentoring, challenges, responsibility and perhaps even coaching. Delegate by assigning tasks as well as authority to make decisions, then follow up. Include them in creating protocol, policy and establishing the practice’s values. Incorporate accountability by inviting employees to create their own solutions to any disciplinary challenges. Celebrate accomplishments and milestones. By investing time, energy and leadership in empowering your employees, you reap the dividends of a team that is motivated, shows initiative and is dedicated to you and your practice.

To empower an employee is to hold them capable. In other

words, believe in their

abilities.

staff’s education provide a tangible, measurable return to your practice.

ENGAGE! To engage means to actively participate. So often, employees come to work, do their job and go home, each person working in an isolated silo rather than as a team. When a team is dysfunctional a practice is diminished. Instead, invest in team building activities such as retreats, social gatherings, workshops, mentoring, guiding and team exercises. When you invest dollars, time and energy into an employee, you get it back in spades. Your practice becomes stronger and everyone benefits.

It may seem easier to throw money at your staff on the incorrect assumption that cash is king, but it doesn’t pay off in the long run. In a recent Harvard Review survey of 3,000 employees to determine the top four reasons why employees leave a job, money ranked dead last. The top three were lack of leadership, not feeling valued and no challenge. With a powerful, yet slight shift in your perspective, you can reset your mindset now to approach your payroll expense differently. Rather than resentful grumbling about what will be your largest direct practice expense, choose instead to take an investment approach that will benefit both employees and your practice; build in the desired return and reap the interest and dividends! Now is the time to begin.

ENERGIZE! A healthy employee (mind, body and spirit) is an energized employee. Rather than always rewarding employees with wage raises, consider investing your payroll dollars in their health and wellness. There are many ways you can accomplish this; gym memberships, spa certificates, extended healthcare plans or insurance premiums, life insurance, or providing dental treatment for them and their families. Use your imagination and find creative options that are meaningful for your employees. Peace of mind is also a significant benefit for you and your employees. One of my clients, whose practice is in a small town, attracts good staff from neighbouring communities by paying a travel allowance to commute. Another client ensures that employees with small children will be available for shifts by offering job sharing options and/or daycare allowances. When you invest in the health and wellness of your staff, you invest in the health and wellness of your practice!

Want to focus more on patients? You have our full support.

At Aspen Dental, nothing stands between you and what you love doing most: helping patients.

• Enjoy full operational and business support
• Expect a reliable flow of new patients
• Grow with our mentoring and development programs

Dr. Chandan Chadha Dr. Chandan Chadha

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