Attracting and Retaining the Best Technicians

In 1984, there were 59 accredited dental laboratory technology programs in the United States. Today that number stands at 20.  This 66 percent reduction in accredited educational opportunities for our profession is a significant change in the architecture of how technicians become available. During the same time, the number of accredited dental assisting and dental hygiene programs has actually grown. We are observing mal-distribution of assets, limited resourses and a shortage of talent in dental laboratory technology that is changing the face of our profession and the face of dentistry. 

I will not attempt to solve all of these above problems in this edition of Unbound, instead I will use the above to drive a focus on how critical it is for us to keep our existing good technicians that we do have. Jack Welch in his book Winning talks about finding ways to generously reward to best performers, removing those who grossly under perform and finding ways to grow, develop and fairly compensate those in the middle in hopes of them becoming star performers some day. 

Three things pop up for me when I think about attracting and retaining talent. 

Pay a fair wage. 

In exit interviews, money is never scored as the No. 1 reason for people leaving and changing jobs. It is often given quickly and off the cuff by those who are leaving because it is easier to explain.  We do have to help our employees understand the economic engines of our dental laboratories.  If they understand that a 30 percent labor cost of goods sold at 10 percent administrative cost demonstrates a full 40 percent of revenue being applied to payroll then they know that the economics of that model allow for significant changes in compensation only when the revenue per number of employees increases. It is important to remember that the rewards are not always financial. Dr. Pankey always used to talk about the rewards being both spiritual and financial. In other words sometimes if you have a voice, and feel heard, that goes a long way in terms of recognition. Appreciating, valuing and understanding the role of people that work for us will not totally make up for monetary rewards but certainly supports and expands their engagement and retention. 

Appreciate and involve them.

When we opened our dental practice in 1982, my wife reminded me that we were not going to do to our employees what she always felt was done to her in the dental practices she worked as a hygienist in. She said that instead of only having management talk to her at the end of the day when something went wrong, it would be important for us to catch people doing things right. Tell them about a job well done, or a situation that had been handled well, and make them feel important and valued. The words she used were, "We were going to put things into people emotional bank accounts so that when we did have to take something out and talk to them about something that went wrong, we would have earned the right." Keep them in the loop. Let them know what is happening developmentally, strategically, and from an execution standpoint in your business model. Make them feel that they are really part of something bigger and something that is important, not just making money. When I see those mission statements for dental laboratories that talk about helping patient's smiles, improving lives, those are the kinds of intangible things that we really do as dental technicians that help bring meaning to our jobs and professions in our lives.

Grow employees technically, behaviorally and financially. 

Technical training comes to mind first, and that can be quite expensive.  I just returned from the Midwest Spring Technical Meeting and I thought about the several hour drive there, hotel rooms, fees for registering for the program, course fees, ect. ect.. But this money is well invested and it doesn't always have to be an offsite trip. Technical training can be provided in a distance learning environment like the NADL and NLN's Excellence in Tech Training and Excellence in Lab Management DVD series. Where, for a very reasonable fee all of the employees in your laboratory have an opportunity to grow both technically and behaviorally. 

Sharing time with your team in developing good sound philosophical goals, a mission, a vision and sharing values helps them grow both in terms of the meaning and fulfillment of their jobs and their roles.  Also, making sure that they grow financially and I don't just mean wages but investment opportunities, 401Ks or IRAs or something that helps those employees develop the financial health to go along with the technical training and behavioral development that you support them with. Knowing that at the end of this long road called life and work there will be a nest egg for us to continue to nurture and develop does give somebody a sense of security and safety. 

For years General Motors has used the term golden handcuffs to describe the environment finically that they provide for their long term employees to prevent them from moving on to other jobs. Those days are gone for General Motors, but in the old day those golden handcuffs made it very desirable to stay with a current employer because you had the opportunity for good financial retirement packages at the end of that work life.