STAFF MANAGEMENT - 3 Ways to Know When It's Time to Let Someone Go

During our first year in practice, my business partner and I purchased a retiring orthodontist’s practice, inheriting a receptionist who worked in his satellite office.  When I say she “worked” in the satellite office, I’m being generous.  She frustrated both of us from day one.

 The problems were chronic. Phone calls weren’t being made. Appointments were mixed up. Patients complained of poor service.  At every performance review, we said, “You need to do better.”  But, unfortunately, she never did. Since we were new at this “staff management” thing, we kept trying, and trying, and trying to make it work.

Because the satellite office was quite a distance from our main office and she knew all the patients, we felt stuck.  We thought it would be difficult to replace her and dreaded the thought of training someone new. Truthfully, WE were the ones with the problem.  We were inexperienced and unsure of ourselves (a polite way of saying we were young and foolish!)

This situation went on for . . . (Wait for it!) . . . Eight Years! 

For eight long years, we had performance review after performance review, and she never got better.  For eight long years, we complained to our office manager about her every chance we got.  For eight long years, we tightly managed her, looking over her shoulder, constantly discovering new issues to correct and complain about.

Finally, after eight long years, we gave up trying and dismissed her.  We told ourselves that it was the right time. In reality, though, we finally had developed enough confidence and courage to make the decision! We reassigned a chairside assistant to fill her position and, suddenly, the satellite office did significantly better. 

Eight years! Why didn’t we let her go sooner? And what did it cost us?  I shudder to think. 

So, what did I learn (and have to constantly remind myself)?  What are the telltale signs that we’re holding onto a poorly performing employee too long? 

LESSON #1:  As the leader of your practice, you have every right to EXPECT MEASURABLE PROGRESS IN REASONABLE TIME when you set realistic improvement goals.  If you’re not seeing significant improvement initially, of course everyone deserves a second chance.  But once you get past two or three attempts, it’s never going to work out.  Don’t continue to torture each other.  It’s clearly time to say goodbye. 

LESSON #2 - When you find you’re CONSISTENTLY COMPLAINING ABOUT SOMEONE, it’s time to let them go! Don’t play victim to someone’s poor performance.  Address the situation, give them adequate time to improve and, if they don’t, part ways.

LESSON #3: The moment you feel the need to TIGHTLY MANAGE SOMEONE, you’ve made a hiring mistake. The best people don’t need to be “managed”. They need to be guided, taught, and led, yes, but tightly managed? No!

So, is there anyone in your office who has not made MEASURABLE PROGRESS IN REASONABLE TIME? Is there anyone in your office that you repeatedly COMPLAIN about?  Is there anyone in your office who needs to be TIGHTLY MANAGED?  Then it’s probably time to let them go.  It’s painful to “lance the boil”, but it’s the only way it will heal.

Firing someone is especially hard to do when you’re new at managing staff.    But when we hang on to an employee who is not performing well, we’re only hurting our practice and ourselves.  

We have to choose short-term pain for long-term gain.

The Firing Discipline - How to Do It Well