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Changing Lives One Smile at a Time How to lead your team to success, while cultivating an amazing culture along the way. BY LORRI DETRICK, CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER AT RICCOBENE ASSOCIATES FAMILY DENTISTRY
When I joined Riccobene Associates Family Dentistry, I could tell this was a different type of organization. Right from the start, I knew I had found my home. As I interacted with our many dentists and team members, it was obvious that the culture was beyond just the rigid roles of managers, employees and coworkers. They treated each other like family. Team members didn’t just show up to a job – they took ownership and pride in their work.
That’s because our founder – Dr. Michael Riccobene – has built the company with one clear priority: Building real relationships with doctors, managers, and team members. Our team feels like a family because he treats them like family. Sam Walton said it best: “If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” Through Dr. Riccobene’s example, I have found that when a leader believes in their people, they can accomplish remarkable results. Many people on staff have been with him for more than 20 years. As we have grown, new team members have told me that they feel fortunate to finally be part of an organization like ours. As you acquire practices and grow, you’re integrating people who come from a diverse range of work cultures and processes. That’s something that we focus a lot of energy on, and we stay nimble by sharing our resources with new team members. This helps with that integration process so that people can absorb our values.
The Riccobene Way Our values are summed up in what we call “The Riccobene Way.” It’s a devotion to the experiences of both patients and employees when they walk through the doors of one of our locations. When you practice empathy and put yourself in their shoes, everything else usually falls into place.
54 MARCH/APRIL 2022 • DENTIST ENTREPRENEUR ORGANIZATION
Our company motto is “Changing lives one smile at a time.” We have it painted on the walls of every one of our waiting rooms, in big letters for everyone to see. For Dr. Riccobene that means changing the lives of his employees, not just patients. It’s not just about fixing people’s teeth. It’s about helping people be more confident, have better lives, and helping employees get better opportunities. The employee experience is just as important as the patient experience. This value system was one of the things that really attracted me to this company. Unlike my other work experiences with dental groups, Riccobene doesn’t focus as much on metrics and numbers. Even though the company has been successful financially, staff quotas aren’t the main driver. Other DSOs may be keyed into a production goal, “This is what we have to do today, this is our monthly goal, etc.”, but that really hasn’t been the discussion within Dr. Riccobene’s organization. He’s very focused on providing comprehensive care that patients and team members feel great about. If we do that, we believe the money will follow – which has held true. For example, this year we rolled out an incentive program for all employees where the office managers will be able to submit stories about employee experiences with
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