Are Staff Members Overstaying their Welcome?
In my two decades of experience working with Podiatry Practices of all ages and sizes, there have always been “golf carts that came with the house.” What do I mean by that (other than quite literally the golf cart that came with the house in my Mother’s 55 plus community that cost more to fix than buying a new one)?
Doctors who take over an existing practice and keep current staff (for ease of transition), only to discover the lack of protocols and bad habits created by the previous DPM to be counterproductive. “Dr. Green always did it this way.”
It also happens with start up practices. Initial hires who were at one time flexible (as patient volume grew and clinic schedules expanded) and eager to learn become complacent, entitled and hostile towards other employees (creating an extremely high new hire turnover rate).
I receive calls and emails all the time asking how to handle these types of situations even though the doctors/practice owners know what needs to be done.
I know, I know. It’s not that simple.
Veteran staff members are staples in the practice. The patients all know them and maybe even like them, but it’s not the patients who have to work alongside them, make excuses for them being constantly tardy or leaving early or not following practice SOPs (standard operating procedures).
Consider the impact of continuing to employ staff members who are causing detriment to your practice as a BUSINESS owner.
- Are they the culprit of negative reviews (impacting practice reputation)?
- Are they causing strife amongst other staff (impacting practice morale)?
- Are they keeping you from reaching financial goals by ignoring scheduling rules, not supporting your treatment protocols and ancillary offerings (impacting practice wallet)?
If the answer to any or all of the above questions is yes and you have openly discussed the issues, mapped out a plan for resolution, given ample time (30-45 days) and are still not seeing improvement, the writing should be on the wall.
Many of the tasks performed in your practice can be completed with increased efficiency (and less headaches) if properly outsourced. Stay tuned for more discussions on the value of virtual assistants.
