Dental practice are busy places, you are probably struggling to keep your head above water with the demands that are essential day -to-day, as you manage the essential and urgent jobs. Putting off the important and non- urgent elements of running a practice, that don’t have deadlines, will ultimately harm, stifle and may kill your business.
Defining the values and culture
Defining the values and culture of your practice is often overlooked, yet they are the foundations to a healthy, prosperous, happy practice. Leaving your values and culture to chance is like building on sand, defining the values and culture is building on rock.
Knowing your practice values
Knowing your practice values is not about choosing nice-sounding words, It’s about eliciting and defining what is at the core of your business. Your values are the guiding principles that drive everything you and your team do, from the first point of contact to the final goodbye you and your team are radiating values and culture, are they the ones that you have chosen?
Once you know your values every decision is simplified
Your practice culture
Your practice culture is the environment that is created from living the practice values. Because you are unique, so is the personality of your practice which is the culture. It is your practice culture and values that will not only attract new patients, it’s what will encourage them to stay. Marketeers will encourage you to find your USP, your unique selling point, your USP is your values and culture.
People don’t leave a job
People don’t leave a job, they leave a toxic environment. When you can’t find team members you don’t have a recruitment issue, you have a retention issue which will be a reflection of the values and culture, what they are and whether they are being honoured or violated. When you have defined and established your values and culture your will attract and retain patients and team members, creating a positive environment to work.
Tips to eliciting your values and culture.
- Work with a qualified coach who has experience eliciting values to work with you and your team.
- Check that everyone has the same understanding of the words.
- Create a hierarchy of values.
- Define how they are honoured, violated the celebrations and sanctions.
- Talk about your values and culture frequently, at daily stand-up meetings, practice meetings, quarterly achievement, and planning reviews.
- Explore the highs and lows in terms of which values have been honoured and which have been violated.
- Use your values and culture as a foundation for your recruitment.
- Evaluate and review annually.
When you are conscious of your values and culture you will create a practice that stands out from the crowd for the right reasons. You will become a preferred place of employment and the go to practice.
