Episode #514: Real Solutions to the Hiring Climate Challenges, with Angela Heathman & Miranda Beeson

Quiet quitting is the new trend. And your solution shouldn't be loud layoffs! It is challenging in today’s hiring climate, and Kirk Behrendt brings back two amazing ACT coaches, Angela Heathman and Miranda Beeson, to help you navigate the craziness in finding and retaining great people for your team. If you want team members who are committed to you, you need to be committed to them! To learn what you need to fix for a great team, listen to Episode 514 of The Best Practices Show!

Episode Resources:

•  Angela’s email: [email protected] 
•  Angela’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angeheathman 
• Miranda’s email: [email protected] 
• The ACT Team’s social media: @actdental
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Main Takeaways:

Understand what “quiet quitting” is and why employees are doing it. 

Check-ins matter. Have them regularly with every team member.

Separate your check-in process from performance reviews. 

Think out of the box to retain current team members.

Core values are essential to creating a great team. 

Quotes:

“Having a great team is the most important thing you'll ever do as a dentist.” (1:40—1:45) -Kirk

“Ever since COVID-19 and people working from home, there's been this online community, especially with the younger people that are on our teams, where they're starting to see all of these toxic culture posts and “quiet quitting,” everyone who is working through their workday just getting enough done to get by. They're just not all-in. I know one of our core values at ACT is all-in, and for those of us who have always naturally had that personality style, I think it’s hard to understand where these people are coming from. But if you hop on to some of these social media platforms, “quiet quitting,” if you search it on TikTok, millions upon millions of posts. And so, that's what people are up against now that is brand new. It’s something that employers, dentists, have never had to really worry about in the past.” (3:25—4:13) -Miranda

“Quiet quitting is something that's been around for a long time, it just wasn't labeled. But it’s become more progressive since the work-from-home era that we had over the last couple of years. So, it’s really those people who, they show up, they may show up on time, they may show up a few minutes late, right under the radar. They're always doing just enough to make sure that they're not having repercussions in the workplace. But they're not really going above and beyond, and they're certainly not giving their all. They're always having their ears open to what else might be out there and what else might be available. And they call it “quiet quitting”. They're not really making a stink. They're not making a fuss. But they're also not giving their all.” (5:10—5:49) -Miranda

“Check-ins matter. Because if you can really get to the core of what's motivating someone, how can we develop them in their current role, or is there a better role for them that they're striving for, versus them listening to that whisper outside of the organization and possibly going elsewhere.” (5:57—6:12) -Miranda

“So many of our offices that we coach have never done what we call at ACT a check-in. But even more common language might be team development, or a coaching call, or a review. They’ve never had these one-on-one conversations with their team before. And so, sometimes, when I introduce this idea like, ‘Hey, we want you to actually talk to your team members one-on-one for 20 minutes every month or two,’ that's a foreign concept to a lot of people.” (6:17—6:51) -Angela

“Get to know your team members. Know what motivates them. Know what they want to develop, and learn, and grow, and do. So many of our doctors and team members have been really hesitant to do that because it makes them a little bit nervous. But after they do and they implement it, oh my gosh, they're so happy that they have taken the time to really get to know each other on a different level.” (6:54—7:17) -Angela 

“Quite often, when we do sit down and talk with a team member, we’re talking to them about something negative, something that we’ve noticed repetitively, a behavior that we'd like to correct, or whatever that may be. And so, if you hear from the doctor or an administrator, ‘I'd like to talk with you for a few minutes, later,’ your team member is like, ‘Oh, great. What did I do?’ But really [develop] a culture of separating that performance review process from personal development and having two separate organizational processes to where you can sit down and say, ‘I'm taking off my boss hat or my doctor hat right now, and I really want to talk to you, human being to human being. I want to know, are you getting out of this what you want to be getting out of this? If you're not, how can I help you reach those goals that you want to reach personally? Because we do value you here and we’d like to see you more invested. How can we make that work for you?’ and really [separate] it from that negative space of a performance review.” (7:32—8:28) -Miranda

“Do you think having a great team is important? I would think you would say yes. I ask audiences all the time, ‘On a scale from one to 10?’ And they go, ‘Well, yeah. It’s a 10.’ I'm like, ‘No, it’s a 12. It’s a 12 out of 10.’ And then, if you do value that, what do you do that supports that? It’s not about taking them on trips. Don't get me wrong, some of that stuff is really fun . . . The whole idea is that you're building a team by nurturing them, letting them know that you care about them, and having space to be able to talk about that.” (10:13—10:50) -Kirk

“What's so sad for me that I've seen in some offices is they might do an exit interview when someone is leaving, and then they find out all this turmoil and stress that this team member has been under, and uncovering a lot of things that, ‘Gosh. Wouldn’t it have been great if we would've known all of this years ago?’” (11:42—12:04) -Angela

“The playing field is level in the world. There's no business that's like, ‘Gosh, I put out an ad and I'm getting flooded with all these resumes, with all these overqualified people.’ No. The water line is low for everybody. And so, what that means for you as a dentist, or even a dental team, is you've got to up your game. And core values are no joke. They're just not.” (12:45—13:06) -Kirk

“The bottom line is this: when you have your core values locked in, you talk about them, you hire, fire, reward, you believe in them, you walk it, you at least discuss them, you're laying a foundation that's way bigger than the work, I would think. And it gives people a special “why” in how they want to be attached to you and the purpose.” (13:19—13:41) -Kirk

“What I find [core values] to be most helpful for my team members is they answer questions before they even arise. So, some of [our core values] are all-in, always be growing, results driven. So, we can pause and think about, ‘Well, how would our core values answer this question that I have?’ And it can solve a lot of things that come up.” (14:00—14:27) -Angela

“What are people being fed from the outside in, these toxic cultures? A lot of people are concerned with micromanagement, not really feeling like they have ownership or autonomy. So, when you have those established core values and they're living strong within your practice, you have the ability to create a lot more autonomy and ownership with your team members. And then, they feel more invested, and they feel like it’s theirs as much as it’s yours. It’s really easy if they're trying to make a decision to say, ‘Does it fit within our core values?’ Then, I feel like you know how to make a good decision on this.” (15:09—15:40) -Miranda

“Of course, as the owner or the dentist, you're always going to have the final say. But if you have a team that really lives the core values, it’s like a filter that everything goes through, and then you can alleviate some of that pressure or micromanagement that they often feel that gives them that desire to go find something a little more freeing.” (15:40—16:00) -Miranda

“We can't always do anything about what's happening in the environment. It’s really hard for everyone right now finding new team members. But if we can really focus on nurturing the relationships we have with our current team members, then we can slowly build, versus continuing to lose and needing to rebuild and rebuild in such a challenging environment.” (16:41—17:00) -Miranda

“Thinking about some alternatives to the way we’ve traditionally worked in the past, so Miranda talked earlier about people that are working remotely. And that's not completely impossible in dentistry. We do have some people that might be outsourcing some of their social media or accounts receivable. And they might be outsourcing them to a company, or they might be outsourcing them to someone who works remotely. So, those are some options that you can consider too.” (19:04—19:37) -Angela

“A couple of my teams actually are doing some outsourcing because they love the team that they have, and they don't want to rock the boat. So, they have decided, ‘Okay, hiring is crazy right now, and we love the place that we’re in. We know that if we add one more team member to this mix, it’s going to shake it up.’ It doesn't necessarily mean that it’s going to be bad, but they want to keep the team the way they have it. So, they’ve made some decisions to outsource some things.” (19:38—20:09) -Angela

“We have to think outside of the box. We get into these types of situations where we can't do things the way we’ve always done them. It’s not working right now. We have to think outside the box. And [outsourcing is] a great option for that. Another thing is looking at the people that you have on your team. If you need an assistant and you're really struggling — you’ve had an ad out for four months. You cannot find someone who will show up to an interview. Or if they do, they're late and they're in their sweatpants — then maybe it’s time to reframe what we’re looking at. Maybe you have a business team member who is spent on their business team responsibilities they really enjoy. They're always the one that's like, ‘Can I come look at that case? Can I pop into your surgery tomorrow?’ And you think, ‘Hey, maybe this person is someone that we can invest in and talk to, like, do they want to transition into the clinical realm. Maybe it’s going to be easier for us to find a business team member than it is an assistant right now.’ And so, looking at things outside the box. If you know they're the right person for your team, is there a way to reposition them within the practice that can build value there? (21:10—22:14) -Miranda

“If your schedule is crazy and it’s nuts, here’s a question for you: would you want to be a dental assistant in your office? And if the answer is no, you've got to fix that.” (22:19—22:28) -Kirk

“If you have an assistant that tells you, ‘I value my lunch breaks,’ and you're working them through their lunch break on a regular basis, they're not going to stay with you for very long.” (22:30—22:39) -Miranda

“I don't think there's a reason to see patients after 5:00 p.m. You can't give me one good reason. And so, if you've got weird hours, you're always going to be challenged to find amazing people, because they know they're amazing and they don't want to work till 7:00 p.m.” (22:52—23:07) -Kirk

“You're always going to find less desirable people when you've got staggered hours, because you're trying to save a few pennies and you're trying to please a few patients that you don't even like anyway.” (23:19—23:30) -Kirk

“People like rules. They like predictability.” (24:11—24:13) -Kirk

“It’s not like seven team members are toxic. If you're in that boat, you need more than just a coach. It might start with one team member that you're tolerating who’s putting you in a corner, who’s rolling their eyes, and they're creating this air, and you're giving into it. That is dangerous. And I'm telling you, that can be fixed. It can be fixed 100% with a great coach, great rules, great core values, and you can reduce the toxicity. And now, it becomes a more fun place to work, over time.” (24:23—25:06) -Kirk

“The more you lean into core values, the less crazy stuff you deal with.” (25:21—25:24) -Kirk

“If you're looking for one thing to start with, start with the check-in. Get those on the schedule for your team.” (25:47—25:52) -Angela

“We’re asking people to show up and spend the bulk of their life with us, committing to our vision and our dream when we’re practice owners. And we really have to respect our team members, and we have to care about our team members, and acknowledge that they're doing that for us. And so, it’s a great opportunity during those one-on-one check-in times to really make sure that you're making those personal connections with your team. And that's going to build a stronger foundation. And hopefully, they're going to stay with you for a long, long time because they’ll respect that.” (26:34—27:00) -Miranda

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

2:02 Angela and Miranda’s backgrounds.

2:45 Decoding the current hiring climate.

4:37 Quiet quitting, explained.

6:13 Get to know team members with check-ins. 

12:09 Core values are no joke.

18:47 Outsourcing is an option.

21:00 Other out-of-the-box options.

22:14 Fix your scheduling.

23:33 Get a coach.

24:14 Purge the toxicity. 

25:40 Last thoughts. 

Angela Heathman, MS, RDH Bio: 

Angela Heathman is a Lead Practice Coach who works with dentists and their teams to help them accomplish their goals. She believes the hard work you do on your practice is just as important as the work you do in your practice! 

Angela has over 20 years of clinical dental hygiene, dental sales, and practice coaching experience. When she transitioned from her role as a clinician to her role as a sales account manager, she realized both her passion for education and practice development. Angela holds a master's degree in dental hygiene education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. 

Miranda Beeson, MS, BSDH Bio:

Miranda Beeson, MS, BSDH, has over 25 years of clinical dental hygiene, front office, practice administration, and speaking experience. She is enthusiastic about communication and loves helping others find the power that words can bring to their patient interactions and practice dynamics. As a Lead Practice Coach, she is driven to create opportunities to find value in experiences and cultivate new approaches. 

Miranda graduated from Old Dominion University, and enjoys spending time with her husband, Chuck, and her children, Trent, Mallory, and Cassidy. Family time is the best time, and is often spent on a golf course, a volleyball court, or spending the day boating at the beach.