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Your New Staff Member’s First Week

Never hire just a specialist.

Unless your office has hundreds of employees, you need to hire someone who can, and will, do all and any of the jobs in your office.

Every staff member has three roles: team member, marketing assistant, and finally their specialized position.

Every employee at your office, including yourself, is first and foremost, a member of your health care team. Everyone has to work for the same goals, have a similar philosophy, and have a common agreement to the basic office rules. Additionally, everyone has to provide excellent customer service, educate the patients about the benefits of chiropractic care, and help to keep the office growing.

One office I coached had a reimbursement “specialist”. Her name was Karen (this is not her real name and she is not related in any way to any other Karen who might be reading this article, or who is known by anyone reading this article!) The office had about 2,500 square feet, and she had a cubicle to herself in a room in the back, away from the other three staff members and the doctor. She took many cigarette breaks, didn’t like to be adjusted, and refused to work the front desk during peak times. She always called the doctor by his first name; she had known him for years, even before he attended Palmer Chiropractic College. She never said what she really thought of chiropractic, but would never promote it to friends, or help to do the occasional screening. On the other hand, she knew insurance procedures cold and could pry the money loose from the tightest insurance company.

In giving the Karen her yearly review, the doctor was hard pressed to criticize her performance in insurance, but he didn’t feel justified in complimenting her with a raise. I pointed out that her value to the office was demonstrably high in collections, but was not high in other areas of the office. However, since he had not previously defined these additional duties outside of her department, he really could not reprimand her for what he felt was subtly undermining the growth of his office.

I had him go over with Karen her new duties in addition to that of billing and collections, despite the fact that he thought that it might upset her. In this case, Karen was relieved to hear him take the time to explain what else was required of her to make her a more valuable staff member, and she gradually started to change her behavior. Ultimately, she quit, and the doctor hired another staff member who became just as competent in insurance as Karen, only who was also a team member and an active promoter of chiropractic. Not surprisingly, the office was more harmonious, more energetic, and it continued to grow to new heights, as did its income.

The new staff member was recruited, hired, and trained with a different set of priorities and in a different sequence than was Karen, and probably different from many of your staff members.

No matter how grand your ideas are, your business will probably never reach the size of General Motors. You can call yourself the CEO or the president, but the fact is, you and your employees form a small squad, a gang, a crew, a cadre of health care vigilantes out to reduce pain and improve health, and rid your patients of some bad health habits. As such, you need to hire a fellow “gang member,” and train them first to be a member of your team, then to be an advocate and promoter of chiropractic and your services. After this is done, you can then tend to their training on the specific job they will be doing.

In your recruitment ads or job profile, make sure you include terms like: “health oriented, team member, likes helping people,“ “Enjoys promoting a healthy way of life,” etc.

Attached is an example of what you might want included in the training of each new staff member on her or his first week. However, understand first that this can take ten hours over one to two weeks of the new staff member’s time, and about ten hours of the doctor’s and/or office manager’s time. This is an investment that will pay off in the end

Once again, never hire a specialist. A trained chiropractic technician that won’t do a spinal screening, a billing expert that won’t help with the kids during the 5 o’clock rush, or the office manager that won’t continue to nudge her doctor to speed up with patients or paperwork because it “isn’t her job,” is as useless as a baseball player who can only throw the ball, but cannot hit it.

The solution is to name what roles you want the employees to fulfill. Then, recruit them for these roles, hire them for these roles, and then train them continuously for what you want. You will end up with a harmonious team that promotes your services in and out of the office, in addition to creating staff that become expert in their specific departments.

Team Member Training Checklist

This is an example of how you may want to train your new staff member the first week they are with you. Please review this, and edit it to best suit your situation. The office manager and the doctor usually do this checklist with new staff members.

___1.Have all new staff members read the mission statement of the office. Go over it with them, and ask them what it means from their point of view. (Doctor)

___2.Have all new staff members become new patients. Leave nothing out. Whether they need acute care, or wellness care, have them become a user of the service for which they will be supporting. (Doctor and/or office manager)

___3.Make sure they watch the videos, listen to the lectures, and get the full report. Leave nothing out. (Doctor and/or office manager)

___4.Have them read key pamphlets or brochures on chiropractic that are important to your office. After they read selected brochures, go over each one with them. (Doctor and/or office manager)

___5.Give them a list of about 10-20 key terms to know cold. Quiz them on it, such as “subluxation,” “inflammation,” “disk degeneration,” etc. (Doctor and/or office manager)

___6.Make sure that they get educated on the history of chiropractic, and its role in health care. (Doctor)

___7.Spend at least two meetings with the new staff member. Get to know them. Tell them your goals, long term and short term. Tell them why you are a chiropractor, why it means so much for you to achieve these goals, and a few of your patient success stories. (Doctor)

___8.Tell them exactly what you want from them as a team member, as a promoter of your office and of chiropractic, and finally from their specific job. Tell them you expect that they will do great, but that this is their trial period. They don’t have to perform 100% at first, but sooner or later, you expect them to perform all roles with excellence. (Doctor and office manager.)

___9.Have them read the Employee Handbook. Then, go over each section with them. Ensure that you and they understand it. (Doctor and/or office manager)

___10.Have them read any and all patient testimonials you have around the office. (Doctor and/or office manager)

___11.Have them talk to patients who have benefited greatly from your services. (Doctor and/or office manager)

___12.Have them read the “Team Member’s Job description” and then go over it with them. (Doctor and/or office manager)

___13.Have them read the CA Training Checklist. (Doctor and/or office manager)

___14.Have them read the mission statement of the office again. Ask them what it means to them now, from their point of view. Ask them how they can help achieve this mission from all three roles: Team Member, Marketer, and their specific job. (Doctor and/or office manager)

End

© Edward Petty 2000 2.4 Your New Staff Member's First Week-h.doc – Revised 6/5/06Page 1 of 3