QUESTION: We are trying to implement a bonus system for our assistants after reading Laura’s article. Right now, we have two goals one regarding night guards and the other for whitening. We are receiving push back from both assistants because they feel the goals aren’t fair – the numbers are too high and the one with the night guard goal feels it’s harder to achieve than the whitening goal and that she’s at a disadvantage. What is the best way to implement this with the assistants?

ANSWER: I have two thoughts on this situation. It’s fine if the office keeps the goals around night guards and whitening because the focus is on what the doctor wants to achieve. I would first start by looking at what they’ve done in these areas in the past. If they’ve only sold two whitening‘s in the last 30 days and the doctor set a goal to do 20 – that’s not realistic. It is important to know the set goals and how those relate to their past numbers for those procedures or items.[mepr-show if=”loggedout”][/mepr-show] [mepr-active memberships=”629,630,37388,37393,37672,37676,37670,37668,37674,44674,232156″ ifallowed=”show” unauth=”message” unauth_message=”Answer hidden, please login or purchase a membership to view.”] You cannot expect huge numbers overnight so setting a system with realistic expectations but that stretch the dental assistants to work harder is completely fair. Next, have a conversation with the dental assistants to find out what they think is fair. If it doesn’t motivate them then they’re not going to attempt to achieve the goal. The issue here is to determine whether the goal is really not set fairly or are the dental assistants just not motivated to work harder.
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To learn more about implementing bonuses at your dental practice, watch this training webinar and following course module! [wpcourse course=”5″ module=”5″ module_desc=”true” /]