Employees Are Your Most Important Asset

EmployeesAre Your Most AssetImportant

By Catherine Cabanzon, CRDH, BASDH

Since the pandemic began in early 2020, there have been so many unforeseen changes that impact every aspect of our lives. Workforce issues are impacting almost every business across the country and, for dentists trying to staff their practice, the problems can be overwhelming.

In May 2020, the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute, polled 1,587 practice owners on workforce issues. Of the practice owners who responded, 35.8% were seeking to add dental assistants to their practice and 26.5% were seeking to add dental hygienists.¹ Comparing this data before and after the pandemic may provide some insight into workforce difficulties experienced in Florida.

Just over 88% of dental hygienists renewing their Florida license responded to the Biennial Workforce Survey from February 2018. Of the respondents, 15,140 were dental hy-

gienists with an active license, practicing in Florida.² The Florida Department of Health Annual Report and Long-Range Plan for the Fiscal Year of 2020-2021 found there are 13,680 licensed dental hygienists and 30,059 certified dental radiographers practicing in this state.³ The data on dental radiographers cannot be measured because they are not required to renew their certification. Further, these practitioners work in other settings that are not tracked by the state. However, the report seems to show that the current dental hygiene workforce may not be as saturated as it was in past years.

COVID-19 changed the way the world works. Employers learned that productivity did not have to suffer because an employee worked from home. But the pandemic also changed employees’ attitudes toward their work. A recent study found that work-life balance; compensation and benefits; and colleagues and culture were the three most important components for job candidates.

Many articles about the current dental workforce cite staff discontent with working conditions, inadequate pay and benefits as areas of concern.⁵ These articles provide insight into what applicants seek from their employers and give dental practices a roadmap for becoming more competitive in the market. High turnover in a dental practice is costly and it has been proven that retaining team members is far more profitable than hiring new staff. In fact, new hires cost more in lost production than it would to provide cost of living raises to your staff.⁶ A prevalent belief in the dental hygiene community is that one must find a new job in order to get a raise.

Increasing job satisfaction can begin with taking steps to create a practice culture that promotes value, respect and empowerment of your team. Cutting staff workdays due to open appointments or asking staff to clock out when a patient cancels creates job insecurity and can increase turnover. There are many activities your staff can perform to promote the practice when they are not with a patient. During my early days of practice, I used open time to call patients to fill my schedule as well as the dentist’s schedule.

Your dental team wants to feel secure and respected at their workplace. So, if you are struggling to find employees, take another look at your practice and talk to other practice owners who have retained staff. Consider implementing changes that promote a collaborative and secure work environment to increase employee retention. If you follow the motto, “employees are your most important asset” you will find yourself on easy street when others are riding the turnover merry-go-round.

Increasing job satisfaction can begin with taking steps to create a practice culture that promotes value, respect and empowerment of your team.

Catherine Cabanzon, CRDH, BASDH. Catherine has been a clinical dental hygienist for 21 years. She served on the Florida Board of Dentistry from 2012 to 2021. Additionally, Catherine is a clinical adjunctProfessor at Palm Beach State College and a National and International Speaker.

References:

1. ada.org/publications/ada-news/2021/june/dentists-face-applicantshortages-as-they-emerge-from-covid-19-pandemic

2. floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/community-health/dental-health/reports/_documents/FloridaWorkforceSurveyReportofDentalHygienists2017-2018FINAL.pdf#Workforce%20Report%20of%20Dental%20Hygienists%202017-2018

3. floridahealth.gov/licensing-and-regulation/reports-and-publications/2020-2021-annual-report.pdf

4. business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/resources/talent-strategy/ talent-trends-covid-report

5. dentalproductsreport.com/view/bullying-and-burnout-in-dental-hygiene

6. actdental.com/blog/dental-employee-turnover-can-cost-you-bigbucks