So we last left Dr. Thrifty’s practice in disarray, and the poor man feeling backed into a corner to hire some help. As fate would have it, Dr. Thrifty had to pick up a few groceries on his way home from an exhausting day.
A familiar face greeted him at the checkout counter, and what started as a typical conversation between a shopper and a cashier soon became a solution to each’s personal challenges. Greta had just graduated from high school. One of 3 kids, Greta was very involved with her high school - athletics, fundraisers, etc. If you are familiar with public schools, then you probably know a ‘Greta’. She and the rest of her hard-working family went to church every Sunday and were respected, well liked members of their community.
As their pleasant banter continued, a thought occurred to Dr. Thrifty: “How contagious could that smile be? It’s so simple, but so important. I need that! I need Greta on my team.”
The following week, Dr. Thrifty stopped back at the grocery store. This time, he was not there to get groceries. Instead, he wanted to talk to Greta. Maybe - just maybe - Greta would like an opportunity to work at his practice. He knew the grocery store was a fine place to work, but what if he could offer her higher pay and maybe a chance for growth?
Greta eagerly accepted!
A couple weeks later, when Dr. Thrifty introduced Greta Graduate to his team, Hannah Hoarder and Cara Chaos couldn’t have been happier. (Finally, they’d have someone to do all the dirty work!) Good vibes rolled through the practice... but only for a while.
Greta showed up enthusiastic, though timid. She was young, but oh so eager to be working a “real” job. There was real opportunity here - for her, for the other staff, for the practice as a whole.
Here’s how Greta’s first month played out-----
1st week of employment, Greta was nearly overwhelmed with the amount of verbal information she was expected to retain. Plus, she was being trained by both Hannah and Cara. As you recall, these two had very different approaches to getting the job done. Dr. Thrifty had thrown Greta into the lion’s den without ever realizing it. Greta was stationed in the sterilization area, processing instruments. She would have piles and piles of instruments lying on trays in front of her all day long. Due to lack of experience, she was not as speedy as the others. She would constantly refer to her written notes. By this time, she had a second notepad started. At the end of the second week, Greta had been called upon multiple times a day to “go get” which left her little time to get to the dirty instruments. The hygienists were now leaving their instruments behind. Everytime she asked for help, the response was, “that’s not my job.”
The 3rd and 4th weeks for Greta were even more challenging. While she was turning over operatories, Hannah and Cara were in the staff lounge texting and munching on doughnuts. She could see she was being taken advantage of. Without ever mentioning it to Dr. Thrifty, she was becoming resentful.
Greta wasn’t learning anything at all. She felt more like a slave at this point. Her “need to belong” was starting to wear off. Errors started happening. When an instrument was missing, Cara and Hannah would blame Greta. Dr. Thrifty began to wonder what was going on. Cara shouted, “It’s her job!”, while Hannah chimed in, “We trained her and she took tons of notes, she should know by now.” Worst of all, patients noticed.
Google Review:
“It was my first visit to the dentist after a bad experience years ago. I chose Dr. Thrifty and his practice because he had great reviews but I have no idea why. Dr. Thrifty was nice but the practice was not organized at all! People were running around, but no one seemed to notice me. I know dental offices can get busy but how about a little customer service? I would not recommend Thrifty Dental especially if you fear going to the dentist.” - Nervous Nancy
Now a scapegoat, Greta’s once-contagious smile was wearing off. Thrifty extended encouraging words, but it was too late. After two months of hell, Greta quit! Someone say "patchwork?"
The loss of Greta caused resentment throughout the practice. Hostility was clear in everyone’s body language….but Dr. Thrifty never addressed this change. He didn’t expect the poor attitudes of the practice to translate into bad experiences for his patients. As perfect as Greta was, Dr. Thrifty just didn’t realize that hiring someone would not solve the inefficiencies and lack of organization running rampant through his practice. But the light was beginning to dawn for Dr. Thrifty. It had taken a while, but he was finally seeing that the practice didn’t need a patch - it needed REAL change!
How do you feel about change? If the thought of radically altering the way you get things done gives you the willies, don’t worry - you’re not alone. Change is scary. In fact, it’s so scary, there’s even a word for the fear of it: Metathesiophobia. We’ll dive deeper into that next week.
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