Is a Bad Apple Employee Ruining Your Team?
As promised in my last blog, Let’s Make a 2021 Dentist Deal, the first blog of the year is about the absolute hardest part of leadership: terminating an employee. It’s the worst, right? It is miserable and no one wants to do it. Of course, when something is hard, it is often extremely important, which is true in this case. One reason it is so dreaded is because when you release someone, you have to replace them!!! How daunting is that thought? Ads, resumes, interviews, applications, decisions, training, costs, time - and with your mind magnifying it into an insurmountable task. Many leaders shrink from these thoughts and convince themselves that keeping a bad employee is the best thing to do. It rarely is. It is simply an easier thing to do. Let’s explore some reasons why releasing weak and poor employees is so important.
Meet Francis, an experienced dental hygienist. You hired her right after you interviewed her. Hygienists weren’t easy to find in your area, so you offered her the job immediately with no reference calls, no background check and no application form. All it took was a resume and a 30-minute chat during which you did most of the talking. Now Francis has been with you a few years and things are getting worse. You could tell after 6 months that she was not the “perfect” fit. She is not a bad hygienist and she does her job, kind of, so that is not the issue. She doesn’t miss much work, so that’s not the problem. There haven’t been many patient complaints; some, but you brush them off as irrelevant. It is another, less tangible issue: her behavior and attitude.
About six months after she started, Francis decided she hated your office manager. Why, you have no idea. You consider your office manager one of the most conscientious employees you have ever had. Now, Francis has successfully recruited two other team members to her side to engage in behind-her-back talk and poke passive-aggressive “fun” at your office manager. Instead of one team, you now have two subgroups - one for the office manager and one against. Each side is coming to you with their complaints and opinion on the situation. They certainly can’t go to your office manager.
This is all awkward and uncomfortable, but that is not all that Francis does, now. In the last year, she is always on her cell phone the second she finishes with a patient. She never spends time with the patients - she just goes immediately to her cell phone. She even hides it in her lap during team meetings so she can text. Half the time she doesn’t even bother to clean up her dirty instruments because she has to “go to the bathroom,” which just means more cell phone time. There are only so many times a day one needs to spend 10 minutes in the bathroom. Then, as soon as she finishes with her last patient, she is out the door without offering to help anyone or even letting anyone know she is leaving. She is driving you crazy.
You feel as if you have talked to Francis several times about these issues, but with little lasting results. Recently, you even dread going to work because the atmosphere is so thick! You have thought about letting her go, but then what would you do? How many patients will she take with her? What about all the patients on her schedule? Then, yesterday, your office manager asked to meet with you. She gives you her notice. She is moving down the street to work in another practice. You beg, bargain, even offer to fire Francis, but no deal. She has had it with the entire work environment. You just lost one of your best team members and one of the practice’s leaders, and you are still stuck with the bad apple employee. Now you are forced into another frantic hire with the likelihood of making a worse mistake. You definitely can’t fire Francis - what would you do with two openings? Do you see what is happening? Instead of getting stronger, your team is getting weaker and more dysfunctional.
Keeping bad apple employees can, without a doubt, chase off quality employees. It is well documented and I see it all the time when coaching and consulting. One bad apple employee can spoil the whole basket. Other team members see what they get away with, are forced to take sides, and are victimized. Inaction in these situations makes you appear in the eyes of both your employees and your patients as negligent, weak, and detached. It invites the most aggressive of your team members to take over your office work environment and act as the proxy leader, which can be a real nightmare. It is a recipe for disaster, burn-out, embezzlement, fraud, harassment, and patient complaints, most of which will be blamed on you. It is interesting to note that, when Francis the hygienist was finally released from the practice, only six patients, of which four were her family members, left. You have lost count of the number of patients who told you they were relieved you “finally got rid of her” and some asked why it took you so long. Interestingly enough, a month after you fired her, you were asking yourself that same question.
Talk to any small business leader/owner and they will tell you similar stories about how their inaction to release a cancerous employee almost killed their business, work environment, and their peace of mind. They will tell you, “don’t wait!” Address hiring mistakes early and release bad employees as soon as you see that it is not the right fit and improvement is not happening every single day. Many dentists are under the assumption that, if their employee does their “job,” they can’t fire them. This is false. All but one state, Montana, is an “at-will” employment state, which means you do not need a cause to release an employee as long as it does not violate state and federal anti-discrimination laws. If you think that person isn’t the right fit for your business, then that is reason enough to terminate an employee. Most states have a few exceptions to this at-will policy, but some do not apply to dentistry (i.e., union-based employees); or they are perfectly logical (i.e., if you asked the employee to do something illegal). Some states have no exceptions.
Employee behavior, teamwork, customer service, communication, punctuality, and engagement are as important as “doing their job properly.” Establishing written behavior expectations in your Employee Handbook and discussing it before hiring will not only impress your hiring candidates but will also start setting expectations early. It will convince candidates with a good work ethic that they not only want to work at your practice, but they also want to bring their family and friends to your practice. An Employee Handbook is written documentation of behavioral expectations that provides you with something concrete to address with employees that have unacceptable behaviors.
Of course, we all know the ideal three steps to firing an employee are: a verbal warning; a written warning; and, finally, a release. This is ideal and strongly advisable for your protection, but it is not required to meet the at-will employment status. Hire smart by following an effective hiring system. Set expectations early, do not allow others on your team to teach this new person bad habits, attitudes, and work ethics. New employees need to hear their expectations from you, their dentist- leader as well as learning them through your actions, operating systems, and handbooks.
What can you do to reduce the likelihood of hiring or developing a bad apple employee? Stay tuned for my next month’s blog when I discuss the key elements of an effective hiring system. If you want it hot off the press, sign up for my newsletter at www.bairdconcepts.com/blog. Spring is getting closer!
