Since Good Staff Are Often Hard to Find . . .

Maybe you have noticed there is not an abundance of certain vital resources - like competent staff.  So what are you, the owner or manager, to do when you can’t seem to find the personnel you are looking for?  If you are smart, if you want your practice to grow, you will train your personnel to be as good as you need them to be.

There are two subjects that your staff needs to be educated in.  The first, and most important, is how to be a general staff member.  The second is how to carry out special duties assigned.  You never embark on the second phase of training until the person has demonstrated they have a good grasp of what you expect from them as a member of your team.

When your objective is effective training, your first duty is to find out the right way to do the activities in your office.  This would include any activity in the office.  There is not one duty in your office that you yourself should not be proficient at.  This is the foundation for being able to manage your staff.  You know what can and can’t be done, and you know the way it should be done that does get the desired results, so you don’t get reasonable and let others get sloppy about it.

Your next duty is to get your staff to fully understand what you expect from them and ensure that they do it.  This is not accomplished by giving streams of orders - something that will quickly exhaust you and may not ever get the result of a competent staff.

These are the most basic elements that comprise successful training that have proven effective in any office setting.

1)      Prepare ahead of time. Have materials to study, manuals, dictionaries, any specialized glossaries and items your staff can use to demonstrate their understanding.

2)      Only train from written materials.  If it is a drill, it is written and the exact outcome of the drill is stated.  These materials should be kept at the appropriate work station so that they can easily be referred to.

3)      Set a definite time for training. Expect those people to show up ready to “work.” They are on the clock and so is the trainer.

4)      Have an individualized training program for each person in training. Begin training with the purpose of them completing the training.

5)      Have the purpose for them to be able to do the task on their job and do it well and do it right each time.

6)      Be realistic in your training.

7)      Make sure they take up one item at a time and complete it.

8)      Keep them winning. This keeps you winning.

9)      Don’t train someone who is sick, medicated or intoxicated. Don’t train someone who doesn’t really want to be there. A report needs to go to the personnel file for any one of these situations.

You do not have time to give a full detailed explanation every time you want something done a certain way.  If your staff carries out their duties exactly as they were trained, it will be the right way.  Result, your staff  becomes a true asset and you get more happier patients who refer more friends.

Yours for prosperity,

John L. Brinkley, OD, FCOVD
President
and
David Sanders, CMC
CEO and Senior Consultant
Vision Practice Management, Inc.