There are several ways dental practice owners can ensure their staff is happy to retain and attract the best team, according to Benjamin Joy, DDS.
Dr. Joy, of Joy Dental Pines in Pembroke Pines, Fla., recently spoke with Becker's about what dental practices can do to leverage workplace culture for the benefit of their staff.
Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: How can dental practices enhance and leverage workplace culture to retain and attract staff in 2023?
Dr. Benjamin Joy: I often read about how employees (looking at you, nurses) care more about workplace culture and management control than money.
Dental practices can attract and retain talent the same way other businesses do: Offer industry-average salaries (we use Glassdoor and Indeed to ensure our employees are compensated fairly given experience and skill), and don't micromanage them.
Give them the vote of confidence they crave by trusting their professional judgment and let them manage themselves within the parameters of the practice philosophy that is clearly defined by you, the leader.
Recognize excellence. Praise often. Fire those who make the lives of your good employees miserable. Always be kind and gentle in your communications — even when letting someone who's not a good fit go. Smile. It's free and tells your employees that you like them.
It's the little things. We have a bonus system based on profit goals. Employees are paid as a percentage of their salaries for the month. We also buy our employees Costco memberships. We pay vacation: one week for employees with less than a year with us, two weeks for those who've been with us for at least a year. We give trophies for employees who've been with us for five years.
At the end, dental practices must let their team know they care for their well-being, their desire for career advancement, their desire to be recognized for their hard work, their desire to have control of their department. Give employees that, and I suspect dental practices will attract and retain talent with the best companies in the world. They'll leverage their culture of excellence to attract and retain the very best employees the industry has to offer.