Aside from being the best employer on the planet, what’s your secret for staff retention these days?
A client of ours who recently acquired a practice had some ideas to implement profit sharing that they hoped would improve culture and staff retention. I advised against it.
About a year ago, I was at a workshop with a group of entrepreneurs, one of whom owned a wholesale distribution company for electronics. In an effort to improve culture and create opportunity for his employees he implemented a profit sharing policy. With the savvy intention that increases in company profit would be rewarded to the team and be realized by the company. In theory, it’s a no brainer and a win-win.
It backfired. The company had a few great months out of the gate. But certain external forces that were out of the company’s control influenced a downturn. And that downturn took the wind out of the sails. Optimism and the satisfaction of aligned hard work came to a grinding halt and the owner found himself among a more defeated team than they were before the ideal was proposed.
So what are some ways you can create reward in your teams without risking steps in the wrong direction?
A few suggestions I made to my client included:
- Make goals that are going to be rewarded department specific. For example, the admin team has different metrics and goals than the hygiene team and the auxiliary clinical team.
- Make the measurables the things that create profit, but don’t use profit as the metric. For example, the admin department might be encouraged to reduce downtime, or convert new patient inquiries into appointments. The hygiene team might be best to measure daily production (not profit), whereas the auxiliary clinical team might best to measure doctor’s production per appointment.
- Give the team the autonomy to contribute to what goals they think the practice could benefit from on a departmental basis.
All of these metrics can result in improved profitability, but the focus is on the performance. Profit becomes an outcome.
And of course, before any of this, leading with gratitude and reminding your team members of what they each do well is always a great way to create retention of team members that value more than just the money.
