At the core of whether it's dentistry or business in general, it's that we are people, and we work with other people. Most businesses have teams and every now and then you have issues with team members. You do everything right. You plan your project well, you plan for risk, you follow your checklists and double-check to be sure but you’ve got a difficult team member who constantly causes trouble. You’ve got enough to worry about without this toxicity added to the mix. You need to know how to handle this and stay focused on your business, rather than worrying about these more challenging behavior problems. Sometimes it’s just not as easy as letting them go because they have been a great part of the team, maybe it's been two years, maybe it's been five years but all of a sudden, things start changing. Consider the following:
- Evaluate the employee
Take some time to closely monitor the employee's behavior. It may seem easiest to just ignore the problem. However, if you ignore it, the problem will continue and cause more damage to your team. Take a step back and look at the situation. Are there factors to consider that may be causing the change in attitude or performance? Once you fully understand the situation, you can address it. Rather than ignoring it and letting it get worse, you will come up with a clear solution.
- Remember, you have a reputation to maintain
To any dentist out there, you spend your whole life as long as you've been in dentistry, building a brand and building trust with the patients that are in your practice, and it's not worth severing or putting compromising that trust, because of a good employee that somehow is no longer a good employee. Let the team member know the impact that it has on the business and the team. As is normal, you may feel like you’re responsible for them and that their livelihood depends on you, but it’s important to also consider your business and the people you serve and how this team member’s behavior will affect each of them.
- Make a decision
If the employee won’t change, do not let the behavior go on for long. if you don’t see any effort for improvement and it threatens your business, then it’s time to act and let the team member face consequences. If you can't rely on them, which means everyone else on the team can't rely on them. They are the weak link, and they are really just sabotaging the business. You have to get to a point where you sit the employee done and tell them that it’s time to face the consequences of their behavior. These consequences may or may not be predetermined, you may choose to suspend, demote or even fire or any other consequences you feel work best for the situation.
It's okay that the team member wasn't the right person at this moment. So, you let them go with grace and kindness. And then maybe 10 years from now this person may be the right person for you. You just never know. In a nutshell, evaluate your employees. You always want them to be a part of the team. Make sure they have all the tools and resources they need. If they just cannot do what you need them to do, sometimes it’s best to cut ties.
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