From time to time the question arises about staff and their roles at the Dental Office.
What are the roles *specifically* of each and every member of your dental team?
Do you have clearly defined job descriptions for each and every team member?
Does each team member know exactly what they are meant to be doing at each and every moment of their working day?
I’ve seen some businesses where team members have “moments” in their day where they appear lost for something to do.
Have you ever seen a business like that?
The reason these staff are unsure of their roles is because their roles have not been clearly defined, and also because the staff are not being held accountable for their actions at all times during the working day.
Put it in writing.
The best job descriptions are clearly defined in writing.
Bad job descriptions rely on the spoken word only and memory.
Even worse job descriptions are “made up as we go along”.
If someone is being paid money for their time and labour then during that time they need to have clearly defined roles, tasks and accountabilities.
When those roles and tasks and accountabilities are completed then the employee receives payment for their efforts.
Customer time vs Non-customer time.
This is often a point of conjecture in businesses.
What should the employees be doing when there are no customers around to be served.
Does your business have clearly defined tasks for employees to complete when there are non-customer times?
If employees are being paid salary during non-customer times then it would be expected that they should be happily completing tasks that need to be done at these times.
Nobody likes to see employees of any business standing around in groups having a chat when customers are arriving to be served or are inside the business and needing to be served.
Have you ever been on an aeroplane and needing the attention of a flight attendant during a quiet time and felt as if you have been an interruption to them?
When they are being paid to be looking after you and looking out for you?
Have you ever walked into a retail outlet and seen two or more employees having a chat about anything rather than being one hundred percent there in the moment ready to help you with your visit to their store?
I once saw a dental office where two receptionists conducted a negative conversation about a third team member right there out loud in the reception area in front of patients seated and waiting there to be called to the treatment rooms.
Very inappropriate behaviour indeed.
The cellphone at work.
Employees carrying and viewing their personal cellphones and devices during paid working hours is purely and simply theft of time and money from their employers.
Period.
While an employee is being paid by an employer they should not be on their personal devices viewing messages, emails and social media.
The 38:130 Rule.
There are thirty-eight hours of the week that a full-time employee is paid to work.
There are another one hundred and thirty hours of the week that that employee can then do whatever they want.
And usually they do whatever they want during that one hundred and thirty hours with the money they have earned during the thirty-eight hours.
Employees should not be bringing activities of the one hundred and thirty hours into the paid thirty-eight hours.
Period.
Clear. Next. Step.
I talk about the importance of these three words in our communications with our patients so that the patients know exactly what we need to be doing next for them.
These three words are just as important when we are allocating and delegating duties for our employees.
Clarity promotes certainty.
We need to make sure that our team members are totally clear about what they need to be doing at all times during the working day.
Great businesses have this covered.
Are you operating a great business?
*****
The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.
Email me at david@theupe.com
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