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Implementing a winning game plan for staff satisfaction and increased revenue
What is happening behind your “Now Open” sign? Are you dealing with shortages from PPE to trained staff? And what about the team that is returning to your office? Are they prepared, motivated and confident in their roles? Do they have the clinical confidence to succeed? How do you get your staff up-to-speed and reassured of their value to your group?
Health care already had the second-highest turnover, at the cost of replacing an entry-level employee at 30-50 % of their salary.1 The post-COVID recovery has compounded the high turnover rate in routine circumstances. Staff retention is critical to meet the bottom line during intervals of potentially lower patient volumes.
Your organization is in a position to keep turnover at bay before your new staff member walks in the door. The winning approach must be a commitment to staff education and a game plan in place before first-day orientation. Proficient training and implementation will enhance your clinical teams’ productivity and ultimately positively impact the patient experience.
Set your goals
Successful organizations understand the relationship between continuous learning, an essential driver of employee engagement, and a positive impact on bottom-line results. As practices expand to multiple offices, the time and effort to train staff may seem like an overwhelming burden. Both national and emerging groups may struggle to adapt to disparate technologies and the dichotomy between corporately repeatable standards and each location’s unique pedigree.
Dental practices are not alone on the field. Planmeca shares the commitment to education like no other manufacturer in the dental arena. From dedicated training teams for group practices to training on new technology and new employees, Planmeca acts as your partner.
What is the game plan?
Every win begins with goal planning. Get the X’s and O’s of a typical training day agenda down with your mentoring employees. Set a mapped timeline of learning tracks with milestones for new learners to keep pace and track their progress. With Planmeca, the dedicated group practice clinical training team customizes the learning plan for the practice size and staff skill levels.
Get your game face on
Training should begin while the “Coming Soon” sign is on the door. Ramp up on new technologies from 3D imaging to same-day dentistry should occur concurrently during new equipment installation. Staff will work positively at the initial appointments and communicate confidence to the patients. Planmeca has the flexibility to work with clinical teams at our state-of-the-art Education facility while the construction or transition to new offices is underway. The newly renovated Planmeca Digital Academy is comprehensive with dedicated rooms for intraoral scanning and milling, chairside operatories for technique practice, and classrooms for imaging interpretation and software training.
Rookie camp
Successful onboarding is crucial to employee satisfaction and, ultimately, retention. Surveys disclose what employees want in their initial training is more – more review of policies, more hands-on with equipment and procedures, more mentoring, and more continual training beyond the first onboarding.2 The fabulous dental assistant you hired with glowing recommendations from her previous office does not know the location’s procedures or culture. The game plan should include the commitment to start right and stay the course, and you will couch up a satisfied employee.
Home field advantage
The most effective training your staff will have is on site in the practice. The comfort of hands-on training in a native patient environment instills a high level of confidence. The ultimate satisfaction for your patients will come from a clinically confident team of practitioners.
For our customers, Planmeca takes ownership of the on-site learning process through our Clinical Trainers. The Planmeca trainers speak from their personal in-practice experience and develop repeatable programs across the group.
Planmeca tailors training programs by the level of experience and learning styles. Continual education means making sure learning opportunities are available at the time that fits for your team. Planmeca’s designed virtual programs, including webinars and “lunch and learns,” act to solidify the connection to clinical teams, keeping them current and coached. Technology is our model to fit within any group Learning Management System. It offers on-going, repeatable, and branded training at each level as your teams move from rookie to veteran to Champion.
Champions on the team
New employees are requesting guidance along the way. From the Planmeca experience, developing a lineup of Champions serves several purposes. First, Champions provides the resources to mentor your new and lesser experienced employees and boost their assurance. Champions advance, increasing their retention and serving as models of leadership throughout the group.
Push to the Goal Line
Do you want to move your group practice forward with the best-in-class technology? Innovations in digital dentistry will be the cornerstone to survive the ebb and flow of any disruptions to patient care in the future. Faster, less invasive imaging, and same-day dentistry will ensure patients receive comprehensive care while minimizing chair-time to meet their busy schedule needs. Technology thrives when the operators using it have certainty in their expertise.
As a technology leader, Planmeca’s strength is innovating our products to work in tandem with the practitioner. From the intuitive process flow of Planmeca Romexis® software to embedded videos for commonly asked questions and pop up wizards, the educational support arm of Planmeca is always on-call at your locations as one of the team.
Are you a forward-thinking group with plans for both hiring and retaining the best? Be proactive and work with a partner dedicated to encouraging education and engagement throughout the process and the team. Reduce the stress and anxiety through authentic instructional engagement and benefit in reduced turnover and increased revenue. That is a comprehensive game plan that results in a win!
To learn more about how Planmeca’s dedicated programs
for the education and implementation of
digital technologies for group practices, visit https://info.planmecausa.com/grouppractices/
Written by Gregg Petrosky,
Planmeca Strategic Account Manager – East
Gregg.petrosky@planmecausa.com
[1] https://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2018-archive/february/retain-your-great-new-team-members
[2] Ibid
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