Perks, Treats and Limo Rides

    "The reward for the doing, must be the doing."  ~Maya Angelou~

    Why is it that some dentists give incentives to staff that isn't doing what they asked them to do in the first place?  Some speaker at a seminar somewhere may have come up with the idea that if you want to motivate your staff, you have to dangle all kinds of out of proportion treats in front of them.  They probably had all sorts of statistics showing that in the long run the dentist will prosper way beyond the initial investment they make in suspending this carrot.  That may even be true, as long as you don't consider the effect this may have on the mindset of the staff and the long range cost of having to come up with even bigger and better carrots.  At some point the dentist gets disgusted, throws his hands up in the air and exclaims, "Why can't I find staff that I don't have to bribe to get them to do their jobs?"
    It's one of those "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" dilemmas. Did the dentist have to offer the treats because that's the only way staff would perform, or did the staff become conditioned to expecting and believing they were entitled to perks if they were to put any effort into what they were doing?  I think that in many ways we have taken away the ability for the staff to look back over their day and derive satisfaction in the work they did.  Instead, they look back and calculate what is owed them for their day's labor.  It doesn't matter that they get a check at the end of every pay period because somehow, we've made them believe that it's not enough to bring home a paycheck. 
    You can't buy a child everything she wants, and then complain that the child is spoiled and make anyone believe you had no part in it.  You can't condition staff to believe that they deserve more money, limo rides, shopping sprees or trips because they hit a goal and expect them to find value in the achievement anymore.   They are not working to serve the patient any longer, they're working to get into the limo headed to the mall with $100 in their hand.  When you use perks to get performance you screw up the mentality of service and turn it into the mentality of more. 
    I think it's fine to give a bonus after the fact as a way of thanking staff for going above and beyond as long as all parties understand that it's a gift you are giving them.  Anything beyond salary should be viewed as a gift that the dentist chooses to give.  Not something that they are entitled to.  Throwing money at problems doesn't solve them, it just creates more problems.  Taking the time to talk about what we're doing together, why we're doing it and how it affects our patients, the practice and the team will build more goodwill and teamwork than a limo ride ever will.  People who won't work without perks just don't work period.  They will always be wondering what else they can get.  You want to fill your staff with people who are wondering what else they can give.

Comments

[Teresa Duncan]

I'm right there with you on this one, Linda. The corporate world will not operate the way some dental offices feel they have to - bonuses for doing what you're supposed to do? To add a bonus to an already competitive salary + benefits would eat into operating costs, making it a lose-lose situation all around.

There are some that work but the base salary is lower - think sales commissions. What is upsetting (I think to both of us) is that when faced with a team member that is operating sub-par, the first reaction a doctor has it to think of a bonus system. It indicates that the system is broken - what about the team member? Poor attitude/behavior/performance is what's broken. Ugh - down off my soapbox.

[Linda Zdanowicz]

Oh Boy Teresa, If we ever got the chance to work together we'd be deadly, wouldn't we? In a good way. I was talking to my husband about this and he said that the only time a bonus is a good idea is when it keeps the employee's salary from growing out of proportion to the industry norm, but yet rewards good performance. In other words, if the staff members salary is at the high end of the scale, rather than making a % increase that reflects appreciation for her excellence, give a cost of living increase and supplement it with a merit bonus. Then the next year you still have room to increase salary without pricing her out of the market.
Linda