“We have worked with Ginny since 2006, and Ginny has helped us hire and develop our new manager, develop our administrative team, and helped us create clinical and marketing systems that have produced these results. Ginny has a keen eye for analyzing practice data with her monitors that identify where your purpose and focus must be.”
~Dr. Bill Linger Charlotte, NC
“We hired Ginny to do Practice Analysis and Staff Development and she was superb at focusing on our Practice Strengths and on areas we needed to develop to a higher level. Ginny is the consummate professional, as well as a caring and personable up-beat motivator.”
~Dr. Simon Rosenberg, New York, NY
“Practice Management Consultant doesn't define Ginny Hegarty very well because you can't paint her with a single stroke. Leadership Coach, Key Team Member, Admin Expert, HR Guru, Productivity Wizard..., and I could go on. A master communicator and motivator, I rely on Ginny to help my clients in their dental practice in ways I cannot.”
~Steve Steinbrunner, Four Quadrants Advisory
“Ginny was amazing. She presented and implemented a lot of great stuff, but for me the biggest impact was when she pointed out to the team how they were not scheduling me efficiently. With her coaching, I am able to work one day less and produce more in 3 days than I was previously in 4 days.”
~Dr. Michael Barton, Lebanon, PA
“Our relationship has had a major impact on me. Your assessment hit the nail on the head. All the stuff I knew about and couldn’t admit, and everything I never even saw. You have helped me immensely and given me good direction. I definitely see improvement from where we were just 3 months ago – it's night and day!”
~Dr. Steven R. Goldberg, Augusta, GA
“Ginny Hegarty is consistently a big hit with the team program at LVI. Her high-energy presentations on motivation, communication and performance get the teams fired up as they learn practical strategies to make a difference in their practices. Ginny's passion for what she does is contagious and the feedback on her presentations is fantastic.”
~Sherry Blair, Las Vegas, NV
“Save time, grief, heart, and intestinal lining by tapping into the right resources when making a staff change. My recommendation is to get the assistance of Ginny Hegarty. It was such an awesome experience for once, and the new team member is working out AWESOMELY.”
~Dr. Rania Haddad, Meford, OR
“Ginny and Bent Ericksen & Associates have been awesome in helping me with my termination and hiring issues. I am better protected and more likely to find a great replacement with their help. Definitely recommend signing up for their HR package, which includes hiring and firing forms protocols, plus consultation support whenever you need it."
~Dr. Keith Ogawa, Meford, OR
“Ginny has solved a lot of gray areas in our practice. I finally feel like we can focus on dentistry. Ginny and Bent Erickson have been very helpful every time I have any questions about HR issues. I would recommend them highly."
~Dr. Joel Smith, TX
“I have used Ginny Hegarty for my human resource needs. I have to say that I was so impressed with how knowledgeable and on top of things she is! It made my life so easy to just cut through to what is absolutely necessary and put these things in her hands. I am definitely more comfortable and confident in knowing that my t's are crossed and my I's are dotted."
~Dr. Kathleen Carson, Carson, CA
Great article from www.Entrepreneur.com BY CARMINE GALLO Love Carmine’s advice to unleash our “inner Steve Jobs”
1. Do what you love
2. Put a dent in the universe
3. Make connections
4. Say no to 1,000 things
5. Create insanely different experiences
6. Master the message
7. Sell dreams, not products
After speaking at the AADOM meeting in Nashville this month, I’ve received several requests for a list of books I recommend. Here is a list of what’s on my bookshelf right now:
*This has been on my reading list for over 20 years ~ and I’m not done with it yet!
Employee engagement may be the biggest buzzword in talent management today and yet it remains more elusive than ever. Studies show that only 29% of employees are truly engaged in the workplace. For a practice with six team members, that means you’ve only got the hearts and heads of 2 of those 6 team members. It’s no wonder that 70% of change initiatives fail and most managers suffer from what I call ‘Meeting Déjà vu.” If you’ve ever been in a team meeting and wondered to yourself, “didn’t we just have this meeting a few months ago… why are we here again?, you too are experiencing ‘Meeting Déjà vu.”
Zappos definitely has a unique strategy. After two weeks of classroom training, all new hires spend two weeks learning how to answer customer calls. At the conclusion of the training, new hires are offered $3,000 plus time worked to quit. CEO, Tony Hsieh explains that it encourages those who will jump ship to leave sooner, and those who will stay to make a public declaration of their commitment. Paying people to quit saves the company money. Pick up Tony’s new book Delivering Happiness to learn more about Zappos’ unique and winning culture.
Receiving positive reinforcement is one of the top predictors for success, yet only 39% of employees say their boss does a good job of recognizing and acknowledging their accomplishments. Are bosses falling short or do employees expect too much…? Ghandi challenged us to “be the change you want to see in the world” Imagine what positive change you could start if you began recognizing your boss and your coworkers for the good they are doing. Look for every chance to catch each other doing something great and tell everyone who will listen all about it. I’m willing to bet that you can start a wave of gratitude and appreciation within the practice. Don’t wait for the boss. Leadership opportunities are all around you.
-Ginny Hegarty
This classified ad for a Team Leader is currently on the web:
“You’ll be responsible for developing the team, and individual team members, to meet and exceed customer demand and expectations. The ideal candidate must be results oriented, have strong verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to build and maintain positive working relationships at all levels, a passion for excellence, and familiarity with continuous improvement concepts.â€
Would you believe that Chick-fil-A is the company behind this ad? You would if you’ve visited Chick-fil-A lately. After visiting a new franchise in our neighborhood, my son Dan called to say, “You have to drive down here, you’re going to love this.†Here’s how I was greeted: “Hello, my name is Josh, may I take your order please?†..“My pleasure, please come around to the next window where Amy will be happy to serve you.†After thanking Amy for my lunch, she also replied “My pleasure.†Great service, servers who identify themselves and set themselves apart with high energy and above average manners. This was a far cry from the “do you want fries with that†stereotype of fast-food restaurants. I’ve come to learn that Chick-fil-A’s CEO, Truett Cathy was inspired by the Ritz Carlton hotel chain when he chose his restaurant’s trademark phrase, “My pleasureâ€. Mr. Cathy is dedicated to inspiring others to leave a positive impression on the people they meet. It sure worked for me.
It’s amazing what you can hear in the parking lot outside a dental office. I recently heard a teenage girl say “Mom, I’ve had teeth pulled and gum surgery, I’ve had braces and cleanings twice a year my whole life, but I’ve never felt like such an object as today when I had that filling done. That new girl working on me hurt me and acted like I was invisible.” The young girl then began to cry.
I have to wonder if this doctor was aware of what had happened under his watch. How aware are you of how your staff handle challenges they may face with your patients? How much training time is spent sharing your practice philosophy of care and service? Do you teach your team members how to care for and about your patients? It’s a mistake to assume that clinical competency assures a compassionate chairside manner. When all is said and done your patients won’t remember exactly what you said or did but they will always remember how your practice made them feel. This young lady deserved better.
10. Know Your Patients and Greet Them By Name when they arrive in the office and at every point of contact during their visit. Most practice management software stores patient photos so even a new team member can recognize patients.
9. Engage Your Patients in Conversation. Don’t just confirm their arrival and ask them to have a seat. Follow Walt Disney’s advice and treat patients like they were guests in your home.
8. Honor Their Time. Make it a point of practice pride that patients are seen within five minutes of their appointed time. Your patients will love it and they’ll arrive on time too!
7. Come into the Reception Area to Greet Your Patient – don’t call their name from the doorway! The clinical team can preview patient photos so they recognize patients.
6. Be Aware of Your Tone of Voice. Professional behavior doesn’t mean you need to be dead serious. You don’t want a call for a hygiene check to sound the same as if you were announcing “iceberg ahead.†Patients hear everything so be aware and be consistently friendly and upbeat and involve them in your conversation when possible.
5. Remember Their Special Days. Make it a point to notice if a patient’s birthday or anniversary occurs near their appointment date and recognize it with a cupcake or card.
4. Let ‘em Eat Cake. Have patient appreciation day once a month in the practice and treat everyone to coffee and donuts or cheese and crackers. Make it a party!
3. Celebrate the Holidays. Fill the office with poinsettias in December and Tulips at April and have patients take one with them. They’ll be so pleasantly surprised and will talk about you to their coworkers and friends!
2. Send Cards. Have each team member choose a patient each day and write a personal note about his visit. “It was great to see you today John and to hear all about your cruise to Alaska.†It takes two minutes and makes a huge impact in the community.
1. Call Patients After Treatment. Doctors, many patients have questions after treatment and don’t want to bother you. A two-minute call in the evening will make a huge impression that will distinguish your practice as a cut above the rest.
The biggest irony in the hiring and recruitment process is that just when you are understaffed you have more work than ever to do. Don’t wait until you need to hire to start preparing. Start right now and you’ll reap the rewards and lower your stress too.
Create ads and telephone screening guides for each position in the practice that allow you to attract and quickly sort through the resumes you receive to choose the best potential candidates to invite into the office. Prepare behaviorally based in-person interview guides that will spotlight the candidate who will be the best fit for your practice.
Check out our Resources for Managing People Well at www.ginnyhegarty.com A hiring system along with interview and training guides are all ready to go.
Our client, Dr. Bill Linger had this to say “Don’t hire or train another employee without these guides! We’re blown away by how this system has transformed the way we choose and train new employees. With this approach you can immediately separate the winners from the pretenders. We’re saving time, we’re making better hiring decisions and there’s no more baptism by fire for our new hires. This system is terrific.â€
Do you have a philosophy of care that encourages all patients to stay active with their preventive care? If so, engage your team to bring this focus to life. Set a guideline that the team will check the hygiene status of every patient who calls the practice and encourage all callers who are overdue to schedule their preventive visit. Do this with every caller, every time. View the hygiene status of family members for increased impact. Take it one step further and ask all new patients “Are there any family members I can schedule appointments for today?†If you don’t ask, the answer is always no
A few minutes spent previewing patient care slips (routing slips) the day before their visit will earn perpetual dividends for your practice while raising the level of care and service for patients.
Highlight incomplete treatment so the team will be prepared to snap a digital image of the teeth involved as soon as the patient is seated. This creates a proper sense of urgency so you can then engage the patient in a discussion about moving forward with treatment. Highlight family members of the scheduled patient who are due for preventive care visits so you improve patient retention and keep the hygiene schedules humming.
This is a worthy investment of time that will help you achieve dramatic results to fuel your practice growth.
We all know how true it is, yet when shorthanded it can sure be tempting to hire the skill and think we’ll train the new hire to be nicer and friendlier. Don’t do it! By the time we reach adulthood we’re either personable and nice or we’re not. You either know how to be a team player or you don’t and won’t. Okay, some people can fake it better than others but if you hone your interviewing skills you’ll see right past their charade. Nordstroms has the right idea that it’s the parents who teach people how to be nice. If you want your patients treated like guests, hire the smile.