Staff Management

Put the Right Employee in the Right Job

By Gina M. Wesley, OD, MS, FAAO

June 10, 2015

SYNOPSIS

Increase office efficiency and staff motivation by matchingemployees’ strengths and weaknesses with fitting job assignments.

ACTION POINTS

CONDUCT AN EVALUATION. Make clear from hiring that task flexibility is the modus operandi.

CROSS-TRAIN NEW EMPLOYEES. Teach employees the basics of various positions, so they can cover another role with minimal training.

CREATE CATALOG OF TASK DESCRIPTIONS. Keep detailed system of task descriptions online and easily accessible, such as by using a program likeMicrosoft Dropbox.

When staff is hired, it often isn’t clear how and where they best can serve the practice. For that reason, I hire employees with the intent of discovering where they can excel, and then move them tothe job role that best highlights their strengths.

I started shifting employee roles in the beginning stages of my practice. It’s necessary when you have asmall staff to be able to have coverage in various areas of the practice. The open position in the job adis described as the main job I’m interested in hiring for, but I mention the necessity that the staff member be willing to cross train and work in other areas, as necessary. We find if someone is flexible and open, that’s already a key sign they will fit into our office. I think staff feel more secure and motivated to do a complete job if they know that someone else can easily step into their shoes. They are not “irreplaceable,” which is the conundrum I see a lot of practices get into when a key staff member leaves.

I started my practice cold, so at first it was easy to recognize that an employee may better fit in another area of the practice because everyone was cross-trained. Employees at that time still had a main “focus,” like front desk or optical, but each could do one another’s jobs, if necessary. As we have grown into a staff of nine, roles are more defined, but I actually think that has given the opportunity to be more creative in how we staff our office.

I would encourage doctors to think outside the box and avoid pigeon-holing your staff into certain roles and responsibilities. The possibilities are endless….perhaps your technician wants to take over accounts receivable calls, or your front desk person really wants to be in optical. Or you may have a staff member who can work part-time at one position, part-time at another. You might never know unless you ask them, or suggest possible shifts. Either way, being creative in assigning job roles gives your practice more flexibility.

The page on Dr. Wesley’s practice web site that details the current division of responsibilities on her staff. Dr. Wesley recommends cross-training employees, to increase flexibility and employee satisfaction with jobs.

Assess Job Roles & Needed Shifts

I just hired my ninth employee. If you add up all my employees’ hours, my office is staffed with about 4.5 full-time staff. I have many part-time staff, which has been great to give them and us flexibility with scheduling. I have what I would qualify as two part-time front desk staff, two full-time opticians, a full-time technician, a part-time technician, apart-time tech/front desk/optician and two part-time insurance billers andhuman resourcemanagement staff.

Recently I moved my lead technician to the front desk.With this employee at thefront desk, the job role has moved from being like a receptionist to being more like acombination receptionist-technician. I know this may sound strange, but the reasoning is this: it’s easier for me to train more “basic” tech skills to a new employee than it is for me to teach them the complex level of skills this person has.

Some of my more highly paid staff are those who work at the front desk, which is typically the lowest-paid position in many optometry offices. But the front desk person is often the first impression of the office over the phone or when patients walk in the door, and they have to be very knowledgeable and good communicators when it comes to services, explaining insurance benefits, answering questions, and ultimately, administering excellent patient experiences. I refer to them as the “coach” in our office, directing each other “player,” or staff member, where they need to be and what they need to do. It’s highly administrative, visible, and the broad base of knowledge needed is pretty vast.

The employee I moved from lead technician to front desk knows how to place all the contact lens orders, troubleshoot patients’ questions about their benefits, knows when to schedule the contact lens checks and fits and medical eyecare appointments,and is able to perform some of thecontact lenscheck appointments and medical work-ups.

She can also be pulled into theoptical, as she used to be an optician, so she is ultimately the greatest utility player we have on our team. If she was strictly working as a technician, as I used to have her working, she would have patient messages and questions piling up for her, given the expertise needed to address those patient issues. I’m tied up seeing patients, so this is the best extension of me we can have, and because she’s at the front desk, everyone knows where to find her and she’s aware of where the current needs are.

Another shift I made was to recently change a part-time front desk staffer to a more “behind-the-scenes” patient scheduler and recall person. When analyzing the schedule, I realized that we needed topaymore attention to confirming our pre-appointed patients and making sure patients were getting pre-appointed after their exams. Additionally, we needed a better recall for those lost to follow-up, as well as someone consistently calling our patients with past-due balances. All of these activities ensure the practice is busy and profitable, and are inherently important in day-to-day management. She now can work from home for most hours of the week, although she does still come in for 1-2 patient days per month. Additionally, she can be used to fill in when staff needs to go on vacation. My previously mentioned employee, who was shifting to the front desk, took over some of these other employees tasks.

Complete Eye Care of Medina
Medina, Minn.Locations: 1OD: 1 (seeing patients three days per week)Support Staff: 9Annual Exams: 2,300

Annual Revenues: $1.2 million

Cross-Train New Employees

I always assess the interest of prospective employees in which areas of the practice they would like to work in. It’s nice to know if they have previous experience, but that doesn’t always change my idea of where I want them to be.

We’ve created a training process that trains each new staff member in each area of the office, even if we know they will primarily be in one concentration. This ensures they know the basics about each area, which ultimately helps them better answer patients questions or know where to find the answers, or better yet, jump in and help if needed. This training process takes a few days longer than “just” training them in the area they are set to work in, but a few extra days’ pay for a staff member is worth it if they can step in and help improve efficiencies when needed.
Additionally, I have a huge binder in my office called our “How To” manual, of which we also have an electronic version in Microsoft Dropbox.This binder walks a staff member through everyprocess and procedure in our office, from how to schedule a patient, to order glasses, to print out stamps, to manage technical issues. This is dynamic, created over time, and we are constantly adding and modifying it to make sure it’s up to date. In lieu of a possible “thing” someone didn’t get trained in on, this manual will walk an employee through a particular task. Also, it’s great for those random tasks that are only done 1-2 timesper year, so we have a quick reference of how we did it the previous time, so it’s not something that has to be figured out all over again (for instance, how to update hours on our web site, or call the company who services our fire extinguishers).

Help Employees Recognize Strengths

I have an informal review for new employeesat 90 days, but make sure I’m addressing any areas of concern during the first three months, as well. Employees don’t always realize themselves that their talents would be better served in another job role, so at annual reviews, I always try to ask each staff member if they are happy with their current role, and if they are not, what they would like to do more or less of. Sometimes the answer is surprising, or you may have an idea of how to shift their role in a way that they would never have considered, but are really excited about once you mention it. Furthermore, you may have to shift someone to a different role simply because you have to, if they are under-performing or you recognize it isn’t the best fit for them.

Make Salary Dependent on Skill Level, Not Job Role

I don’t shift employee hourly wage at all when moving them to new job roles. Their wage is reflective of the skill and value they bring to the office. If someone reading this article is thinking about shifting an employee to a different roleand were going to pay them less, I would question if that employee would a) be happy, and b) should really be someone you keep around if their value has decreased in your eyes.

Gina M. Wesley, OD, MS, FAAO, is the owner of Complete Eye Care of Medina in Medina, Minn. To contact her: drwesley@cecofmedina.com.

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