Lead Your Orthodontic Team Effectively With These Proven Strategies

[00:00:07] Welcome to the GrowOrtho Podcast. I am one of your hosts, Zach Dykes, joined by Dr. Bryce Gilliam, 2024's 40 Under 40, America's top young dentist, co-host of Making Modern TV Show, available on Max, and the owner and operator of Elevation Orthodontics. Dr. Bryce, welcome to the show.

[00:00:29] What's up, Zach? Thanks for having me, man.

[00:00:31] I am so excited. The last episode was so good. I can't wait to jump into this one because you're not just giving us theory.

[00:00:41] You're giving us things that you've experienced in the trenches each and every week because you're actually practicing this.

[00:00:48] And I am excited because this week's topic is team issues, and we've got a lot to talk about.

[00:00:56] So let's jump into it. A lot of things have changed since COVID. 2020 has altered work ethic totally.

[00:01:06] So how do you manage turnover and work ethic concerns in your practice?

[00:01:11] That's a great question. And you're right. So many things have changed since 2020.

[00:01:16] But one of the things that I've kind of realized that we don't do a great job of is figuring out why we're having turnover.

[00:01:24] Like we don't look back and say, well, what's happening here?

[00:01:28] Because what we miss is a huge opportunity in an exit interview.

[00:01:32] So let's say, you know, team member X is leaving in two weeks.

[00:01:37] She was nice enough to give you the two week notice. Great. That's fine.

[00:01:41] Don't fire her immediately. Don't kick her out. Don't push her out the door.

[00:01:46] Actually gain some information, gain some knowledge. Why is she leaving?

[00:01:50] Why is it important that she's moving to another place or is she moving out of town?

[00:01:56] What's going on? Once you figure out what's going on with that, you can you can figure out if maybe your compensation package is not on par.

[00:02:05] Maybe your culture is not right. Maybe you didn't know that this was going on, that she can now feel free to share some shine some light on with you.

[00:02:18] And that way it can help you be better for the next round of hiring.

[00:02:22] It can be better for the next growth factor in your practice.

[00:02:27] So talking about hiring, what are some things that doctors need to better understand when they're hiring?

[00:02:36] It's not just, you know, I think front desk is one of the big turnover points in a practice because usually it's the less compensated.

[00:02:44] It's thought as the less than role and they're just trying to get a warm body in there.

[00:02:50] How do you go about getting someone that's actually like qualified into that position and all the other positions essentially?

[00:02:59] Yeah, I think the biggest thing is you have to hire for personality.

[00:03:04] No matter what, you hear it all the time.

[00:03:06] You hire for personality, you train the skill and that is absolutely true.

[00:03:12] But what you have to do to stop and to prevent turnover is you have to show that person their value.

[00:03:20] You never want to marginalize a role or a person because at the end of the day, we're people.

[00:03:26] Like no one wants to be, oh, I'm less than because I'm front desk.

[00:03:30] And I hear it and I've heard it before in some of the other practices I work at.

[00:03:35] And they're like, oh, she's just a front desk lady.

[00:03:36] Well, she's not just the front desk lady.

[00:03:39] There's no such thing as just the front desk lady.

[00:03:40] She is the first person that people see when they walk in the door.

[00:03:45] She is the last person they see when they leave.

[00:03:48] She's the person that they're going to remember.

[00:03:50] So don't marginalize them is one of the big things that I've learned not to do.

[00:03:57] And then you also want to build up their value, right?

[00:04:00] And so you tell them why they're important.

[00:04:02] You tell them where their role is on the team.

[00:04:04] You tell the other teammates that we're all respecting each other because without one of

[00:04:10] these pieces, none of these pieces fit together.

[00:04:13] This puzzle doesn't work.

[00:04:14] And I think once you get that, you actually get to a point where you have that buy-in from

[00:04:20] your team and you see less and less turnover.

[00:04:23] I agree.

[00:04:24] And I think not just trying to find somebody to fill the role, someone that's just looking

[00:04:29] for a J-O-B, someone that is going to buy into the culture.

[00:04:34] And I know we're going to talk a little bit about that, but let's circle back.

[00:04:38] You've done an exit interview and you now can understand what the root causes of the turnover

[00:04:44] is.

[00:04:44] How would you go about addressing those things in your practice?

[00:04:48] If it's compensation and you realize that the compensation is the biggest problem, you

[00:04:55] know, you only have one or two options, right?

[00:04:57] And the one option is to bump up the pay scale.

[00:05:01] Sometimes that doesn't work for your practice because of, you know, overhead and your percentages

[00:05:07] and things like that.

[00:05:08] So if that's the case, the only other thing you can do is just try to kind of cross train

[00:05:15] people to make sure that they're covering all the bases.

[00:05:19] It's a difficult situation whenever you're tied with the compensation thing or that's

[00:05:25] the problem.

[00:05:26] But if the problem is cultural, I think what ends up happening is year one, year two, year

[00:05:33] three, we're trying to build this culture.

[00:05:36] We're trying to build this brand.

[00:05:37] We're trying to build these things.

[00:05:38] Well, year four, year five, we're starting to feel a little bit more comfortable.

[00:05:42] We're starting to feel like, yeah, we've got it.

[00:05:44] And sometimes we let our culture slip.

[00:05:47] We're unaware of it because, you know, we're not having problems, right?

[00:05:50] We're still making money.

[00:05:52] We're still getting new patients.

[00:05:53] We're still growing.

[00:05:54] We're still doing all the things.

[00:05:56] But our culture starts to slip.

[00:05:57] And as a leader, that's what you have to be kind of prepared to refocus on.

[00:06:04] So every couple of years, you've got to make sure that you make the right moves to keep

[00:06:09] that culture in line with your initial goals and motives.

[00:06:14] And I think that's also keeping, you know, a check on the pulse of the practice because

[00:06:21] you can get so inundated with the caseload that you're working on, putting out the fires.

[00:06:27] You're working in the business instead of on the business that you're not seeing all the

[00:06:33] things going around because you're focused on this.

[00:06:36] So having a team that you're transparent with and they can be transparent with you with respect,

[00:06:42] of course, they're not, you know, being harsh with you, I think builds a huge culture of

[00:06:47] accountability.

[00:06:48] Yeah.

[00:06:49] And each person playing their role will be able to enhance that whole thing.

[00:06:55] So like you see your office manager or your practice manager, they should be able to pick

[00:07:01] up on some of those things.

[00:07:02] Right.

[00:07:03] And they should be able to kind of relay those back to you because at the end of the day,

[00:07:07] you can't monitor everything all the time.

[00:07:09] You have to be able to do what I call spot check.

[00:07:13] And when you spot check things, you just kind of maybe listen to a couple of calls a day.

[00:07:19] You maybe listen to a couple of interactions with the clinic and the front.

[00:07:24] And that's how you make your determination of how the culture is going, how performance is going.

[00:07:29] And then you rely on your other leads to kind of funnel all the other information to you.

[00:07:35] I know a lot of people, when they think of management being a manager, it turns into micromanaging.

[00:07:44] How do you combat?

[00:07:45] And you kind of talked a little bit about spot checking.

[00:07:48] You're trusting people.

[00:07:50] But how do you fight that?

[00:07:51] Because I feel like that's a tendency of most managers is like they want to make sure everybody's

[00:07:57] doing the right thing all the time.

[00:07:59] Yeah, I think that this is a really good time for you to kind of lean in on your expectations,

[00:08:07] your role setting, and your empowerment, right?

[00:08:09] So you're holding them accountable because you've already given them the role and you made it clear.

[00:08:14] You've given them the expectations and made it clear.

[00:08:17] And so now you have the freedom of spot checking.

[00:08:20] And you should be able to check at any point and any time and see consistency.

[00:08:24] If they're missing it, you know, one time here and then you go and spot check again, they're missing it again.

[00:08:31] You can pretty much guarantee that they're missing in all those times in the in-between.

[00:08:35] You need to give them the freedom to be able to maybe make a mistake or two.

[00:08:40] But when they do, you correct it.

[00:08:43] And then, again, you spot check it again.

[00:08:45] You spot check it again.

[00:08:47] You spot check it again.

[00:08:48] And then once you've seen them consistently hit it, then you can decrease the frequencies of spot checks or you put that time to something else.

[00:08:57] And then you've had a very successful implementation of whatever the changes that you may have made were.

[00:09:04] Yeah.

[00:09:04] And I think a good book to read on this is The One Minute Manager.

[00:09:09] A lot of good ways, like the spot checking.

[00:09:11] Like if you want a little bit more information, anyone that's listening, The One Minute Manager is a really great book to check out on this.

[00:09:20] So moving to the next part of this, investing in personal and professional development.

[00:09:25] A lot of times, we're just trying to make it to the end of the week.

[00:09:31] How have you done this in your practice, given your workers, your team members, that there's more than just what's right in front of them?

[00:09:43] There is an actual golden path for them.

[00:09:46] This is one of the things that I think is the biggest attributes to a young startup.

[00:09:54] You don't have a lot of resources with funds, but you can invest into that particular person.

[00:10:00] You can invest in them with taking the time to train them on something that may be more difficult.

[00:10:06] So you're actually helping them professionally.

[00:10:09] Or you can invest in them in their growth with even little things like maybe you have some financial literacy stuff that you bring into your office and help them with that.

[00:10:19] You can't necessarily go out and give them a 401k or have health insurance for everyone.

[00:10:28] But you can invest time and energy into them and to let them know that you care about them professionally and as a person.

[00:10:35] Financial literacy, I think, is so undervalued.

[00:10:39] Like the middle class has a lot of issues.

[00:10:43] It's debit cards and car payments.

[00:10:46] Those are the traps that people fall into.

[00:10:48] So providing your team with the literacy that they need how to manage their money, they're going to come in feeling way more relieved.

[00:11:00] They're not worried that payday needs to happen now because I'm strapped for cash and they fill all this.

[00:11:06] So they're not able to perform as well.

[00:11:08] But they're set up to understand how to manage finances.

[00:11:12] It's going to bring a lot more depth to them so they can do the professional development.

[00:11:18] And one of the biggest worries is finances.

[00:11:21] And if they actually know how to manage it, it's going to make them feel better.

[00:11:25] Like I actually know how to use my money.

[00:11:28] I don't have to get paid a million dollars to know how to live.

[00:11:32] That's absolutely right.

[00:11:33] Because the thing is without being financially literate, no matter how much money you make, you're going to end up in the same situation.

[00:11:41] Right. And I am going to be honest with you.

[00:11:44] Whenever you have this type of approach or you have this type of giving, it's not going to be it's not going to be the most exciting thing to your team.

[00:11:53] Initially, when you first start talking about it, they're going to look at you like, man, Dr. Bryce, I don't really care.

[00:11:59] But it's because they don't know that they don't know.

[00:12:02] And so, you know, you start giving them helpful little bits of information.

[00:12:07] You start helping them.

[00:12:08] They start seeing the fruits of the seeds that you plant it.

[00:12:13] Then that's when you're you're because I mean, this is a long term investment into them personally and professionally.

[00:12:19] So that's what you're trying to do.

[00:12:22] You're trying to build that rapport.

[00:12:23] And you're also trying to make sure that you're doing everything that you can to help their lives be the best that they can be.

[00:12:31] I love that.

[00:12:32] That is such an awesome thing to provide for them.

[00:12:37] So let's jump into the next kind of theme, some common themes in hiring and retention strategies.

[00:12:44] What are some things that you're seeing when you're hiring somebody?

[00:12:47] Yeah, I think that right now you really have to focus on people's mental health and people's desire to to feel like they're part of something bigger than a job.

[00:13:03] Right. And you say it often that J.O.B.

[00:13:05] Right. They want to be more than that.

[00:13:07] They don't. Yes, they want money.

[00:13:09] Yes, they want all those things.

[00:13:11] But there has to be a purpose behind it.

[00:13:13] And so when I talk about mental health, that is just like, you know, people don't want to be absolutely stressed out to go to work.

[00:13:21] People don't want to have a tyrant as their boss.

[00:13:24] People don't want to just be a number or an employee.

[00:13:28] People want to know that you care about them and you care about their lives and you care about, you know, just being more and giving something to the community.

[00:13:38] Right. One of the things that that you find in corporate dentistry is that they have these these compensation packages that are that are amazing.

[00:13:47] I kind of hit on it earlier that, you know, they may have a 401k.

[00:13:51] They may have health care.

[00:13:53] And again, as a startup or a smaller practice, you may not be able to provide those.

[00:13:57] But what you can provide is, again, leaning in to that person to help them grow, whether it is with the financial literacy, whether it is with the professional literacy.

[00:14:08] Like you can put them in positions to send them to courses, to have people come in, to train them on the newest and greatest technology.

[00:14:17] Whenever I'm hiring people, that's one of the things that I talk about.

[00:14:20] I say, I promise that I will always support you and your career.

[00:14:27] I want to make sure that you are the best at your position that you can be.

[00:14:32] And I think that resonates with people because they're like, hey, this dude doesn't even know me.

[00:14:36] He's on an interview. We're interviewing.

[00:14:38] And he's already saying that he's willing to commit to help me professionally.

[00:14:43] And have I had people leave before after I've invested time and energy into them?

[00:14:48] Of course.

[00:14:49] But when they leave, they don't leave from a place of I'm going to do this because you didn't treat me right.

[00:14:57] It is because they either moved to a different state or another opportunity came about that was just better for their family.

[00:15:05] And they left, you know, hugs and a sense of purpose and respect.

[00:15:12] And, you know, that's what we're looking for here.

[00:15:14] When you do that, the word of mouth, like you get so much respect from not just the employee but their families.

[00:15:25] It's like, man, I really loved working with Dr. Bryce.

[00:15:29] Like he's such a good guy.

[00:15:30] And that goodwill, like it's not just your employees.

[00:15:34] That gets turned into like how they treat your patients.

[00:15:39] Because if they fear you, if they are just like, oh, my gosh, this dude is ruling with an iron fist.

[00:15:46] They're like as soon as five o'clock hits, they're out or whatever time you close.

[00:15:51] Like they're not staying around to have a conversation with you to, you know, voice their opinions or their issues or whatever.

[00:15:59] They don't trust you, you know, and I love that.

[00:16:03] I absolutely love that.

[00:16:04] So some hiring recommendations.

[00:16:07] We kind of hit this earlier on, but prioritizing personality over experience.

[00:16:13] Can you give me an example that you have actually had in your practice of doing this?

[00:16:20] This is something that I believe wholeheartedly in.

[00:16:22] Skills can be trained.

[00:16:24] I mean, they absolutely can.

[00:16:25] And you can sit there, you can teach people how to put, you know, otis on, take them off, all those type of things.

[00:16:30] But what is really hard to do is it's hard to have or teach personalities.

[00:16:36] You can teach people to be a robot and say certain things in certain ways with a certain tone.

[00:16:43] But if that's not natural for them, it's only a matter of time before it starts to slip a little bit.

[00:16:51] Because if it's, you know, they always say fake it until you make it, right?

[00:16:54] But the thing about faking it is you can only fake it for so long and you end up becoming exhausted, right?

[00:17:03] You're exhausted because you're faking it.

[00:17:04] You're putting on a persona that's not your own.

[00:17:07] And then, again, that leads to negativity internally so your mental health is all off whack.

[00:17:13] All those type of things, right?

[00:17:14] If you hire for the right attitude and the right perspective, those people are the people who run through walls for you.

[00:17:21] Because they get it.

[00:17:23] They know that you are willing to invest in them.

[00:17:27] And they're willing to invest in you as well.

[00:17:30] So, one thing that I do, and this is a bonus question.

[00:17:35] I mean, this is a bonus for everybody.

[00:17:36] One thing that I do on my interviews is I ask for them to send me a selfie video of themselves, right?

[00:17:43] A selfie video of themselves is kind of redundant.

[00:17:45] But a selfie video.

[00:17:47] And the reason I do that is not because I want it to be weird.

[00:17:52] I ask very simple questions.

[00:17:54] I say, what is your favorite season?

[00:17:57] What is your favorite color?

[00:17:59] And what type of music do you like?

[00:18:05] Super simple, right?

[00:18:06] I'm not actually judging their answers.

[00:18:08] I don't really care about their answers.

[00:18:10] What I'm judging is, one, do they want the job bad enough to feel awkward momentarily to make a selfie, right?

[00:18:20] Two, are they outgoing enough to talk on camera, right?

[00:18:26] All right.

[00:18:28] Three, do they communicate in a way that would fit our practice, right?

[00:18:35] And then four, it allows me to see if they can critically think, right?

[00:18:40] And it's not that they're having to critically think about what season do I like, but it is why do I like this season?

[00:18:50] Or why do I like this color?

[00:18:53] Or why do I like this type of music?

[00:18:56] And so you learn a lot about somebody just by them holding the camera and answering those three questions.

[00:19:02] So I would suggest everybody do it.

[00:19:05] It will instantly eliminate 95% of your applicants, but you will get the best ones really quickly.

[00:19:12] It's such a simple thing.

[00:19:14] And again, you're not looking for the right answers.

[00:19:18] You're looking for the people that are willing to get out of their comfort zone.

[00:19:22] They're willing to be themselves and put themselves out there.

[00:19:27] And I think that goes to you're looking for people that can come alongside of you and work with you, co-labor with you in this practice.

[00:19:39] And I just absolutely love that, Dr. Bryce.

[00:19:44] And I just want to say thank you for being a part of the Grow Ortho podcast.

[00:19:49] Once again, we had an awesome episode.

[00:19:51] I hope everyone got some nuggets and can implement this.

[00:19:56] That's the whole reason why we do this show is so you can actually take this and put it in your practice.

[00:20:02] If you want more content like this, make sure to subscribe over on our YouTube channel and podcast services around the world.

[00:20:10] We'll catch you next time.