Without your people – your support team and professional employees, there wouldn’t be a practice to manage. The quality of your leadership skills, your ability to manage your team and the continual stream of HR requirements, is at the core of employee satisfaction and retention.
It’s a confronting fact that the majority of employees resign due to poor leadership and management.
It might not be your fault. Very few people have the natural talent and skills to manage and lead a team. Your prowess at front desk or aptitude as a dental nurse does not automatically translate into exceptional (or even good) management material. So, if you’ve been promoted to practice manager based on your performance in other roles, take an honest look at your people management and leadership skills before you get into hot water!
The good news is that you can tap into your hidden potential, and you can train yourself. Getting serious about your role and profession by upskilling, taking courses and growing will get you where you need to be, and you’ll demonstrate to your team that you’re willing to do what it takes.
This leads us to the big question: How will you know you are being an effective leader and great manager?
There are indicators and measurements you can use to assess your performance. Some of these you will be able to self-assess, however most will require feedback from the team.
These are the HR KPIs for you as dental practice manager:
- Employment satisfaction
- the average overall satisfaction of employees within your practice
- measured by feedback from your team
- your goal is to rate 5/5
- Leadership satisfaction
- the average rating of team satisfaction with you as DPM
- measured by feedback from your team
- your goal is to rate 5/5
- Employee turnover rate
- the number of departed employees in relation to the total number of employees
- measured by resignations and feedback from exit interviews
- the lower the percentage the better, your goal is <5%
- Training and knowledge
- the effectiveness of training and education provided to employees
- measured by the provision and quality of training, the demonstration of competency and feedback
- your goal is to rate 5/5
- Induction process
- the number of new employees who have received the full induction including related HR materials
- measured by feedback, checklist of process tasks and touch-points
- your goal is to achieve 100% successful onboarding
Where do I start?
The first step is a stock-take of your current standing as the DPM. Be brave and ask your team. One of the most admired qualities of a great manager is the ability to have an open and honest dialogue. Letting them know you respect their constructive feedback and are willing to take the information on board, to make changes or improvements will be greatly appreciated.
Create a survey or feedback form: ask them to rate you as a leader, ask what would assist them in their roles, what’s important to them, what is causing them dissatisfaction or to be disengaged with their work.
You’ll end up with a gold-mine of information and your action list to work on.
You don’t have to be a top-notch leader right now, but showing your team you are working on being the best you can be, is a great example of good leadership!
Would you like to know more about attracting and retaining superstar team members? Read the ADAAMA April Newsletter for Sharon’s top 5 tips. DOWNLOAD NEWSLETTER