5 Ways to Increase Staff Longevity

ROGER P. LEVIN, DDS

Since 2021, dentistry has been experiencing a staffing crisis. In fact, we have never had a shortage at this level before. Levin Group data indicates that up to 10% of full-time dental hygienists have left the profession. In a recent national survey, we also found that 64% of practices are currently seeking to add at least one team member. This is not an appealing prospect for any practice. Taking time out of your busy schedule to advertise for and find the right team members can be inconvenient and, let’s face it, highly unenjoyable. One of the ways that practices can reduce their instances of having to replace team members is to work proactively on retaining the dental team for as long as possible.

Is having a long-term team based on good luck? I was recently asked whether or not luck played a role in staff longevity. Of course, there is certainly bad luck, such as a team member retiring, moving, or becoming ill and leaving the practice. However, this is not the main reason for low staff longevity in most practices. The main reason is more about leadership and skill than luck. In a world where team members can find a new position very quickly, you must be proactive in developing an environment that creates a desire for team members to remain with the practice. This is an environment where team members would be upset at the very thought of having to leave the practice because they value and enjoy their job. Here are five recommendations to help you create this type of culture and increase you staff longevity:

Five Recommendations To Increase Staff Longevity

1. Develop a well-run practice.

A concept that has not changed in 40 years is that the key to a smooth-running practice is excellent practice management systems. The better the systems, the better the practice will run and operate and be more enjoyable for the team. Systems are also the training program for current and new team members. In the event that you do add a new team member, excellent systems offer the fastest way to train them. If you have the right systems and they are followed, you will have an outstanding practice. Levin Group’s 30-year ongoing study of top 10% producing practices has identified 17 principles that these practices generally have in common. One of the principles is that they have excellent, documented systems and update them regularly. This is the first step of building an overall environment that is easy, effortless, and enjoyable for the team.

2. Become an exemplary leader.

The word exemplary is a derivative of the word example and one of the best principles you can follow as a leader is to be the example of what you want your team to be. Levin Group asks each dentist to identify five specific characteristics that they want to see in their team. This list of characteristics has included honesty, integrity, dedication, helpfulness, and positivity. Whatever your five characteristics are, you need to begin to display them all the time. The easiest way to do this is to pick one characteristic a week for five weeks and add it to your leadership persona. Don’t announce it, just become it. By putting this into practice, you will gradually become the leader that many team members will want to stay with long-term.

3. Create a positive environment.

Dental practices are hard-working, fast-paced, and often stressful environments. Most people come to work hoping nothing will go wrong, which is unrealistic. In most practices, it’s fair to say that at least one thing will go wrong every day and on some days many things will go wrong. It’s human nature for people to be upset by those exceptions and unexpected scenarios, rather than simply viewing their job as dealing with it and moving on.

In a positive culture, the leader and team have in-depth discussions about how to handle everything in the practice. Having a team attitude of everybody pitching in to help everybody else goes a long way toward reducing stress and tension. Unexpected challenges always come up. There will always be no-shows, patients who do not pay, late patients, patients who come on the wrong day, or patients who make demands that are unreasonable. This is a normal part of life in a dental practice; however, having a positive culture and environment will help you to overcome all of these issues. One strategy that we have for bolstering positivity is to start every day with an inspirational story or saying at the beginning of the morning meeting.

4. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

People today want transparency, information, and communication, and they want it as early as possible. You want the team to know that you trust them enough to share important practice information right away. I once asked a 24-year team member who was still performing at an extremely high level why she was still at her current practice. Her answer was, “Because our doctor trusts me.” People enjoy being trusted because it makes them feel important, responsible, and desirable. These are emotions that help many people develop a strong desire to stay with the practice.

5. Provide fair compensation.

If your staff feels underpaid, they will feel underappreciated, and this will decrease staff longevity. Read the online recruiting sites to gain a sense of what is offered in the open market, especially in your area. Longer-term staff tend to have regular increases in compensation and generally end up being paid at close to the top or above the top market rates. This is actually an effective strategy for helping to maintain a team longer. Since the pandemic of 2020–2022, dentists have had to increase their team compensation in order to compete with increases in overall staffing costs. In a survey of 2022 compensation, we found that staffing costs had increased approximately 10% and we are confident that they will never be reduced. By offering fair compensation, practices will have less staff members interested in finding other positions for higher compensation.

Summary

Maintaining a long-term staff or increasing staff longevity is psychologically and financially easier than many dentists and office managers think. Rather than being frustrated and annoyed at the staffing situation, a good leader embraces the necessary concepts to build higher staff longevity and takes the appropriate steps. The right attitude and the above recommendations will help any practice to increase staff longevity, which simultaneously creates an easier, more effortless, and enjoyable practice.

Roger P. Levin, DDS is the CEO and Founder of Levin Group, a leading practice management consulting firm that has worked with over 30,000 practices to increase production. A recognized expert on dental practice management and marketing, he has written 67 books and over 4,000 articles and regularly presents seminars in the U.S. and around the world.

To contact Dr. Levin or to join the 40,000 dental professionals who receive his Practice Production Tip of the Day, visit www.levingroup.com or email rlevin@levingroup.com