Financial Management
3 Proven Strategies to Solve the Hygienist Crisis or the past few years, an overwhelming complaint across the entire dental industry has been that owners can’t find hygienists. According to the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute, the industry lost almost 10,000 hygienists between 2020 and 2023, or almost 5% of the workforce.1 Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of dental hygienists is projected to increase by 9% over the next decade.2 Since this shortage is unlikely to solve itself overnight, make sure to implement these three strategies to attract and maintain top talent.
Once you have all A and B employees, be sure to reward them not only with money, but also with random acts of kindness. For example, I work with a dentist who will sporadically send his staff to happy hour. Rather than forcing his employees to hang out with him, this dentist discovered it was best to call the bar and pay the tab, allowing the employees to enjoy time with each other. These acts of kindness should always be random, as once something becomes a regular occurrence, the staff will view it as an entitlement program. Lastly, empower your employees! Many leave due to a lack of job satisfaction. For hygienists, do you have protocols for how to handle obvious treatment needs? While the hygienist certainly shouldn’t be responsible for recommending treatment, being on the same page can both empower your hygienists and increase your conversion rate. For example, if there is a crack in the tooth, does the hygienist point it out? Do they explain the next steps and provide some comfort? Having standard procedures and a gameplan for the hygienist to help educate your patients will make them feel more valuable while also ensuring the patient understands the need for treatment.
Cultivate a Strong Company Culture
Offer Competitive Compensation and Benefits
Put simply, your employees must enjoy coming to work. To accomplish this, you must get rid of the bad employees and reward the good ones. I generally group employees into three categories — A, B and C employees. A-level employees are all-stars that can’t be persuaded to misbehave or slack off. They are hardworking and loyal by nature. C-level employees are the opposite, constantly trying to pull one over on you and hoping to bring everyone else down with them. B employees are in the middle and will follow the strongest lead. In order to mitigate having a disastrous culture, eliminate all C employees quickly, because they are the main source of disruption in your office.
Many dentists are shocked and caught off guard by employees receiving offers to work elsewhere for substantially more money. With a lack of hygienists and increased demand, this should come as no shock. The problem many dentists don’t see coming is that by having one employee successfully negotiate a higher wage, the remainder threaten to leave one by one until wages are increased. It’s best to get competitive from the start. The Bureau of Labor Statistics website (bls.gov) is a great place to find wage ranges by area. The option of corporate dentistry has also provided hygienists with an array of benefits should they switch jobs. Private practice
By Wesley W. Lyon II, CPA, CFP®
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AGD IMPACT
DECEMBER 2024