I find that dentists are particularly confrontation averse when it comes to managing staff. The result of this is that poorly performing and behaving staff are kept on the payroll way too long. This demoralizes everyone in the office and the staff more and more lose respect for the doctor. These staff members need to be terminated immediately!
One client recently had a semi-retired dentist in his office for years, just to check hygiene. She was so absolutely negative and spread toxicity throughout the office. With her gone now, the entire atmosphere has changed and the production numbers are soaring. In another client’s office a front desk person was very rude to a new patient because she had not filled out her health history completely and the back staff wanted to start treatment. The patient ended up in tears, her daughter cancelled her new patient appointment and the original patient is not returning.
At the first sign of any behavior that is inappropriate, in spite of the excellent job that the employee may be doing, the doctor needs to meet with the employee immediately with a final warning that if the behavior happens again they will be immediately terminated. The doctor will find another employee to do the job, staff will respect the doctor more and the office will be a great place to work again.