Don't take it personally

Editor's note: Sheri Doniger's column, Dental Diaries, appears regularly on the DrBicuspid.com advice and opinion page, Second Opinion.

Team members come and go -- sometimes more frequently than we would prefer. But one thing we should never lose sight of: Do not take it personally.

I recently had a team member tell me she would not be able to work for us anymore. Her stated reasons were ambiguous, but the real issue was day care. She has a young child and a husband who is fairly inflexible regarding where the boy can stay during the day, especially during the summer months. As accommodating as we were with her limited schedule, she was still unable to keep her work commitment.

So after hours of questioning myself about why I hired this person in the first place -- especially when I knew she would be able to work only limited hours due to the day care issue -- I came to the realization that, even in this economy, some people just don't need to work.

We all have certain characteristics we are searching for in a team member. When one leaves, we possibly change the "who" we are looking for to avoid similar hiring mistakes. But when a new team member enters the mix, you never know how the chemistry will work.

In our office, we see patients on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. We need a specific type of person for these specific days and times, and due to the nature of our hours, most do leave. This means we have had the privilege of meeting many types of employees. We had a woman who worked for United Airlines food service in the evening and came to us after her hours ended. When she was offered full-time work with the food service company, she left our practice.

We have had some women who were dental hygiene candidates so we are able to do some mentoring, but, yes, they leave too, due to the rigors of their school schedule. We have also had some women who shouldn't have ever applied to be front desk managers because they didn't have the right personality for it. They learned very quickly that the position was not for them and they also departed.

But what happens when team members who you truly enjoyed working with leave? You manage, but unless they were specifically asked to leave, we do tend to take these things personally.

Moving on

Depending on the time the employee has been working with the office, varying levels of consequences may need to be considered. Primarily, there is always the disruption of the office flow and the issue of training a new individual. If the team member was a long-standing employee, a routine is definitely upset, and there is concern that a new team member may not be able to do everything the departing member was doing. If the team member was employed for a short-term duration, we sometimes question our wisdom in hiring a specific individual.

Yes, there will be disruption and, depending on the duration and the prominence of the person who is leaving, the patients may ask why. But there are good things to be had when we change our team. We have outstanding opportunities to evaluate our procedures and protocols, and do some internal housekeeping. Did the former employee do something that was slightly upsetting -- not enough to call her or him on it, but still something you would have preferred to be changed? But since the person had been in place for so long, and this something was so small you rarely noticed it, you failed to mention it in periodic reviews? Now is the time to alter your procedures. Now is the golden time.

In fact, while losing an employee who has to leave for good reasons is not always pleasant, it does give us opportunity to grow and reassess our policies. Losing an employee who is causing emotional rifts in the practice or not performing the job requirements should also be cathartic. We should never settle for anything that makes us uncomfortable during the day.

Regardless, never take it personally. Have exit plans ready, perform an exit interview (if possible), and document the return of keys or any other office-related materials. Thank them and wish them the best. Then move on.

Sometimes this is easier said than done, especially if the member departs with little to no notice or departs with ill will. But consider this: There will always be someone to fit your job description. Be patient. They are out there looking for you. Especially in this economy, finding gems is easy. You just need the patience to search through the raw stones and see the brilliance beneath.

Sheri Doniger, D.D.S., practices clinical dentistry in Lincolnwood, IL. She has served as an educator in several dental and dental hygiene programs, has been a consultant for a major dental benefit company, and has written for several dental publications. Most recently, she was the editor of Woman Dentist Journal and Woman Dentist eJournal. You can reach her at [email protected].

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