- Need staff-bonus ideas "with teeth"? Well, you've come to the right article...
Most everyone benefits from bonus and incentive programs, whether you’re a doctor, dentist, dental assistant, etc. If you are interested in retaining dental office staff and improving efficiency, please review the following tips for bonus programs.
How To Tell If Your Dental Office Isn’t Productive
First, it’s important to understand if the dental office is busy but unproductive. When someone enters a dental office, they might assume that people running around are being productive.
But if employees are working eight hours per day and things aren’t getting done, there’s a productivity problem. When employees aren’t following a system, they can spend far too much time moving inefficiently from task to task.
Also, it’s essential that every employee has a highly defined role so they’re doing what’s required at all times. When workers know what their jobs are, the office will be more productive.
The good news is that taking a few steps to incentivize productivity can usually solve productivity problems.
Offer Rewards
Some dental offices may give appreciation gifts or retirement gifts, while others may give out money.
However, instead of cash, consider gift cards. Giving out gift cards means the worker is more likely to purchase something for themselves.
If you give cash, they might use it for groceries or pay the electric bill. Research suggests that employees respond better if they are given gifts instead of cash.
Giving gift cards makes workers more likely to talk to others about what they bought. And it’s more personal because it is viewed as a gift, not just a bonus.
Workers usually feel more connected to the organization when they receive these types of gifts and work harder to be productive.
Set Up a Bonus Pool
Assume your dental office obtains 30 new patients per month, but you need to increase it to 35. This means higher revenue for the office, but more patients in the office make more work for your staff at the same pay.
So, set up a bonus pool divided between the staff to make additional work attractive for every worker. The bonus pool will be divided between everyone at the end of the month or quarter.
Offer More Days Off
Research suggests that giving employees more time off is more beneficial than giving them money. If it’s been a productive month and Friday is slow, give them the afternoon off.
You also may offer a day off to someone who never misses a day or comes in late. Some dental offices also give a day off for the employee’s birthday.
Have More Frequent Bonus Payments
If you decide to have an employee bonus program, it will increase morale if it pays every quarter or month.
For instance, if the goal for your practice is $400,000 in revenue per quarter, you might offer a $2,500 bonus pool for every $10,000 above your quarterly goal.
Many practices only pay one bonus per year, but that’s a long time to wait, especially if the year just started. Pay more often and it will boost morale. Employees tend to work harder when they know a bonus is coming sooner than later.
Cater a Lunch
Has your staff worked hard to bring in more patients and encourage procedures? Having a catered lunch with delicious, healthy food can do a lot to boost office morale.
Good worker morale means they will be more loyal, productive, and motivated in the future. Keeping employees motivated and productive makes any food costs you incur more than worth it.
Breaking bread together as a team also enhances relationships and trust which always helps morale.
Other Bonus Pool Ideas
Another idea for a bonus pool is to offer rewards for an increase in office net income. Note that if revenue increases are followed by higher overhead costs, you haven’t gained anything.
But a net income bonus program factors in the offset. You set this program up by reviewing your profit-and-loss statement to determine the total overhead for the dental office.
Set a net income increase goal that is realistic and fits with your profit margin, usually between 30% and 40%. When the dental office enjoys a net income increase, a percentage of the increase should go into an office incentive pool.
For instance, if the goal is for the office to have 40% net profits and the office reached 43%, that extra 3% goes into the bonus pool paid each quarter.
Hire The Best Employees
Now that you know some ways to incentivize your workers, let’s go over one more way to have a productive office: Hire the best employees you can.
It’s important to hire excellent employees for the front desk because there’s often a lot of stress. For example, your front office staff usually has to deal with patients whose teeth hurt, and most front office staff eventually have to deal with this situation.
These are stressful jobs and it’s important to have people in those positions who have a cheerful personality and can deal with difficult situations and people.
If you reward these employees with some of the bonuses mentioned above, the dental office will attract more patients and increase revenue over time, and productivity will rise.