I once advocated periodic, formal, individual employee performance appraisals, but I have recently come to the conclusion that, in most instances, they are of limited value and can even be counterproductive.
In the first place, they have most often been an annual event. Waiting a year to evaluate an employee's performance is ludicrous, now that I think about it. It will only work if the employee has functioned in a completely satisfactory manner for the entire year. If not, you have experienced a whole year of less-than-satisfactory performance. Performance appraisal is an ongoing task.
Satisfactory performance is what you expect. More than satisfactory is what you ought to be aiming for. That involves a staff relationship that is like a family relationship. Treat them like family. Be interested in their welfare. Pay them well. Be liberal with benefits. Fraternize with the staff to some extent. In the army, officers were not supposed to fraternize with enlisted personnel. Being essentially a civilian, I confess that I fraternized, and my men were a happier, more dependable, and more cohesive bunch because of it. We were going through unusually difficult times together. We had to feel that each was concerned about the others' welfare. Orthodontics is not a war, and the office is not a battlefield. But mutual trust and mutual satisfaction are definitely part of the relationship.
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Choose staff members with care. Assemble a staff that is self-starting and self-disciplined. Train them in depth initially and on a continuing basis. Give them as much information, responsibility, and authority as they can handle. Hold frequent staff meetings to evaluate group performance. Orthodontics is a group effort--a team effort--and it should be evaluated as a group and by the group.
It has been said that you don't begin to know somebody until you live with them. You may find that even a carefully chosen staff member may not meet your expectations, may not blend with the group. It is important to evaluate that early and to correct it early. If the incompatibility cannot be resolved to the group's satisfaction, the individual must be terminated.
Performance appraisal is really an evaluation of the entire operation of the orthodontic practice. Its purpose is to attain and maintain the highest level of operation that will be a source of satisfaction to all the stakeholders in it--the patients, the parents of patients, the orthodontic team, and the community.
In the past, performance appraisals were often fault-finding, and thus they often amounted to a shape-up-or-ship-out exercise. It should never have come to that. Nor should raises in salary be tied to performance appraisal. Raises in salary should be tied to practice performance. As such, the best arrangement might be profit-sharing. A percentage of gross income is set aside for staff salaries, with a formula for its division, and the staff then shares in the practice income in direct relation to its success.
There is a disturbing downward trend in the number of orthodontic offices that have retirement plans. A liberal benefits program should be available to employees, not just to compete with every other employer, but again in the spirit of sharing in the success of the practice that they are so instrumental in producing.
To a career-minded employee--and that is the kind of employee to look for--the critical economic factors include an adequate salary, a retirement plan to provide some cushion in later years, and certain employee benefits--with health insurance and day care figuring prominently on the list. It has been evident to me, after nearly 30 years of experience with it, that a cafeteria plan that allocates a certain amount monthly to employee benefits and lets each employee choose the most useful mixture is the most equitable and productive way to offer benefits.
If you have an employee who is not worth an adequate salary, a retirement plan, and a generous cafeteria plan, find a new employee who is, and offer all of the above.
ELG