Working on a project entails every participant upholding their role. It’s the same thing in an organisation. We each have our own duties and responsibilities that contribute to the organisation’s success. However, there are times when we must share responsibilities.
Usually, clinical roles are well-defined and understood. It allows the back-office team to focus on their tasks and daily business goals. That’s why it is unusual to see a hygienist answer phone calls, prepare insurance paperwork, or book appointments when it should be the front desk’s job. Instead of focusing on treating clients, they have to finish the paperwork.
These practices can disrupt business operations. It is also highly unproductive and messy for such roles to overlap each other. An employee shouldn’t do tasks outside their role. After all, any task outside their skill set or job description may eventually become a hindrance to their achievement of the practice’s goals.
It can lead to errors, such as vacant spots in the schedule, incorrectly scheduled appointments, and case declines. In this article, we’re going to address the problem with job roles.
Should I Focus On Hiring New People for Each Role or Save Money?
Some businesses choose to hire only a small team of people to manage daily operations. Each employee has to take on the role of two or more people. This causes stressed and overworked employees—inevitably, errors and disgruntled employees.
Many dentists think they can save money by not hiring many people. However, understaffing only leads to missed opportunities and income. After all, nobody wants customers complaining about missed appointments or incorrect schedules. If you truly want to provide the best customer service, you need to hire the right amount of people.
It doesn’t matter if you are cutting down your budget because the best dental clinics have many competent employees who are happy and not overworked. No matter how competent or well trained your employees are, understaffing and overworking them can compromise the quality of their work. It may even cause them to seek employment elsewhere.
What’s the Ideal Number of Employees for Your Clinic?
If you have a small office with one hygienist, one dentist and 500-800 active patients, then you are good with only one manager and two receptionists. Make sure their job descriptions are clearly defined so that each one can focus exactly on what they’re responsible for. When your clinic grows and gains active patients, you will need to hire more back-office employees.
Examine your clinic and think of ways to improve it. If your scheduling is inconsistent, you can create a better scheduling system. Keep track of patient payments too. Assign these tasks to each employee so that you can have an organised system.
Conclusion
For a successful practice, you need to hire the right number of people. Their job roles must be clear to avoid stress and disorganised systems. Think about how much you will earn with good customer service and business operations over the cost of hiring new employees.
If you are looking for a job board for dentistry, try Dental Talent. We are a recruitment platform for dental practitioners in the UK. If you need to hire new employees for your clinic, simply look at this platform. Check out our website today!