Latest / Back in 10 / Episode 7: Is Your Onboarding Plan Actually Setting Your Team Up to Fail?

Transcript

Episode 7: Is Your Onboarding Plan Actually Setting Your Team Up to Fail? · Back in 10

• 0:00
  Chris Stone: All right.
• 0:01
  You saucy Bostonians.
• 0:04
  Here we go in three.
• 0:07
  Two, one
• 0:10
  Jen Steadman: Back in 10 is a podcast for dental leaders who do it all
• 0:13
  and need 10 minutes to themselves.
• 0:15
  Savanah Carlson: It's about real conversations, not curated ones, the
• 0:18
  kind that happen off the clock behind closed doors, and between the chaos of
• 0:22
  running a practice and running life.
• 0:25
  Jen Steadman: Hosted by Savannah Carlson and Jen Steadman, two women who've led,
• 0:29
  learned, and laughed through it all.
• 0:32
  Savanah Carlson: This show brings honest stories, leadership truths, and
• 0:35
  the occasional sassy take on what it really means to lead in dentistry today.
• 0:39
  Jen Steadman: Because sometimes the best leadership happens when
• 0:42
  you step away for 10 minutes.
• 0:44
  Savanah Carlson: This is back in 10.
• 0:52
  Jen Steadman: Welcome everyone to back in 10.
• 0:55
  I am Jen and I'm Savanah.
• 0:59
  Your saucy Bostonians here to talk to you about onboarding excellence.
• 1:06
  Savanah Carlson: Onboarding!
• 1:07
  Don't leave your team high and dry.
• 1:11
  Jen Steadman: Mm-hmm.
• 1:12
  Don't throw them to the wolves either.
• 1:14
  Oh yeah.
• 1:15
  No.
• 1:16
  Because we know that
• 1:17
  Savanah Carlson: they can be wolves, not necessarily the team,
• 1:19
  but the patients can definitely be wolves to an a new team member.
• 1:23
  Yeah, because they don't know
• 1:24
  Jen Steadman: bloodsucking vampires.
• 1:26
  Yeah, no, absolutely.
• 1:28
  I was thrown to the wolves.
• 1:29
  I will say on my first permanent hygiene job, I did not know the software and I had
• 1:34
  a first patient the first time of the day.
• 1:38
  Uh, that office never did onboarding like that again, because
• 1:42
  I said, not going to happen.
• 1:43
  So then I made an onboarding plan.
• 1:45
  Which everyone needs.
• 1:49
  Savanah Carlson: Everyone needs an onboarding plan.
• 1:51
  But you know what is the precursor to an onboarding plan is to have all of
• 1:56
  your practices, SOPs in order, because your SOPs drive your onboarding plan.
• 2:04
  So before you say, gosh, dang it, I'm gonna create my onboarding plan today.
• 2:10
  Mm-hmm.
• 2:11
  You have to say to yourself, mm-hmm.
• 2:13
  Oh, Nelly, do I have SOPs completed?
• 2:17
  If you don't
• 2:21
  Speaker: or better yet, say, whoa, Nelly.
• 2:25
  Savanah Carlson: Whoa, Nelly.
• 2:27
  Oh my goodness.
• 2:28
  That SOPs need to get a completed, don't they?
• 2:34
  Jen Steadman: Wow.
• 2:34
  Well clearly we are slap happy, so welcome today.
• 2:39
  You know, I think with that there's actually a few AI tools that you
• 2:43
  can use to help with your SOPs too.
• 2:45
  I have used Scribe before, which is great.
• 2:49
  So it actually.
• 2:50
  Um, shows you every keystroke, every mouse click, and then you can go in and edit it.
• 2:56
  Super helpful.
• 2:57
  You can export it to any type of file format that you want.
• 3:02
  Highly encourage you to keep those live so then you can change them so
• 3:05
  you don't have to recreate them too.
• 3:08
  It should never be a printed document
• 3:12
  because things change, and then you have to do it all over again.
• 3:18
  Ask me how I know
• 3:21
  Speaker: Jen.
• 3:22
  How do you know that's for another episode?
• 3:26
  Right?
• 3:27
  Jen Steadman: No, I'll just say quick.
• 3:28
  Like I, I didn't know what I didn't know.
• 3:32
  Yeah, I didn't know, so I said, you guys don't have an onboarding
• 3:34
  plan and clearly you need one, because this was very difficult.
• 3:38
  So I made one.
• 3:39
  I was a. I was a hygienist and just made one.
• 3:43
  I made an onboarding document and it changes everything changes all
• 3:47
  the time, so just, it's better to keep it electronic so you can make
• 3:51
  updates and then go from there.
• 3:53
  Yeah.
• 3:53
  But absolutely.
• 3:54
  S-O-P-S-O-P-S-O-P
• 3:56
  Savanah Carlson: and your team should always have access
• 3:59
  to the onboarding documents.
• 4:02
  All the time.
• 4:03
  Not even if they're not onboarding, but they've been there for 10 years.
• 4:08
  You can put that, you know, a lot of practices are on cloud-based.
• 4:12
  Put it in a cloud.
• 4:13
  Mm-hmm.
• 4:13
  Make it a shared folder if you need to, or if you're super fancy, nerdy
• 4:18
  it, like myself and Jen, you can have a landing page where your team logs in
• 4:24
  every day and they look for important messages, and more importantly,
• 4:29
  they have access to these documents.
• 4:32
  Jen Steadman: All the time.
• 4:33
  I, I have to say, that was one of the biggest things that I brought to, uh,
• 4:37
  my current employer Inspired Hygiene.
• 4:39
  We have an intranet that I made and it is amazing, and I can just
• 4:43
  say, here, this is where it is.
• 4:45
  And you just have just a PDF clickable document, and
• 4:48
  everything is linked behind us.
• 4:50
  It's like a table of contents, and then they just go to where they need to go.
• 4:53
  Super,
• 4:53
  Savanah Carlson: super easy.
• 4:54
  And it's important to remember that not everyone has the same learning style.
• 4:59
  So when you're onboarding a new team member, you really wanna find
• 5:03
  out what is their learning style.
• 5:06
  Are they somebody who likes to read instructions, where Scribe would come in
• 5:10
  and follow uh, numbers one through 10?
• 5:13
  Is that how best they learn?
• 5:15
  Or is your new team member more apt at.
• 5:20
  Following instructions better with a video.
• 5:22
  That's where Loom comes in.
• 5:24
  Or you know, hop on your Zoom and record a video or use your cellular device and
• 5:30
  record a video that way and upload it.
• 5:32
  Mm-hmm.
• 5:33
  In tandem with any written documentation too.
• 5:36
  It's always very beneficial to have, have it both ways.
• 5:40
  Jen Steadman: Yeah, absolutely.
• 5:42
  Absolutely.
• 5:42
  And then once you have your SOPs, that's part of your onboarding plan.
• 5:46
  Right.
• 5:47
  And I think.
• 5:48
  One of the big things, and a lot of the payroll companies can help you with
• 5:51
  is all of your HR documents, right?
• 5:53
  All the documentation and everything that you need to collect.
• 5:56
  But I think the two things that people often forget are your medical
• 6:01
  emergency protocol and evacuation plan.
• 6:05
  What happens if there's a fire?
• 6:08
  How do you know?
• 6:08
  Everyone knows where the exits are, right?
• 6:10
  Show everyone where the exits are, but where do we meet?
• 6:12
  Where do we go?
• 6:13
  Think about it like a school fire drill.
• 6:15
  Like where do we go, where do we meet?
• 6:17
  If it's the tree across the street and have it written and have it in
• 6:21
  your break room, have it posted.
• 6:23
  That's another thing too, for safety issues for, uh, safety, everything, right?
• 6:29
  Audits and all of that stuff.
• 6:31
  But go over medical protocol.
• 6:33
  Go over what happens.
• 6:34
  Do you have a word that you say?
• 6:36
  Do you.
• 6:38
  Turn, do something different with the lights, like make sure
• 6:40
  that you're communicating that with your new team members.
• 6:43
  Savanah Carlson: Mm-hmm.
• 6:44
  And you really should have a yearly review of all of your medical protocols and
• 6:50
  evacuation protocols with the entire team.
• 6:53
  Mm-hmm.
• 6:54
  During team meeting for sure.
• 6:58
  You could have had, you know, the outside landscaping could have changed.
• 7:01
  So instead of taking a right outside of the door, you now have
• 7:04
  to take a left and go down a hill.
• 7:06
  Mm-hmm.
• 7:06
  There were, and you'd be surprised how many people in a state of emergency divert
• 7:13
  back to plans from 10 years ago as opposed to the newest plan right in front of them.
• 7:20
  Jen Steadman: Yeah, it's so important.
• 7:21
  So every time you have a new team member, you review it and then
• 7:24
  once a year always review it.
• 7:26
  Or if something changes just review it again.
• 7:29
  It's better to be safe than sorry.
• 7:30
  I think I. Some of the other things that are really important is taking
• 7:37
  the time to allow that team member to get their bearings, like, to
• 7:41
  get comfortable in their new space.
• 7:43
  Understanding where the equipment is, where the instruments are.
• 7:47
  If it's a hygienist, like setting up their drawers, if it's a room
• 7:50
  just specifically for them, like.
• 7:53
  Go to the dollar store or go, you know, go to your favorite box store and buy
• 7:59
  some little drawer organizers for them.
• 8:01
  You would be really surprised at how much, like spending $5 for
• 8:06
  little drawer organizers will make them feel really welcome.
• 8:09
  Savanah Carlson: Give them a stipend or a gift card to make their space, their desk.
• 8:14
  Mm-hmm.
• 8:15
  Feel like theirs.
• 8:17
  Mm-hmm.
• 8:17
  That goes a long way too.
• 8:19
  Jen Steadman: Yeah.
• 8:20
  Or get 'em a little notebook.
• 8:22
  And some really nice pens.
• 8:24
  'cause everyone loved pens, right?
• 8:27
  Maybe it's a pen with your, with your office logo on it.
• 8:30
  Like get 'em some nice pens.
• 8:32
  Let them make their space theirs without drilling holes
• 8:38
  or putting holes in the wall.
• 8:40
  That I will say.
• 8:41
  Yeah, no,
• 8:42
  Savanah Carlson: I guess that's where we differ in that, for me, it would
• 8:44
  depend on what you were planning on putting on the wall, where on the
• 8:49
  wall, and if your role in the practice.
• 8:54
  Jen Steadman: Yeah.
• 8:55
  I've seen some very eclectic displays in my years and.
• 9:04
  Yeah, but like man, some, I've seen some operatories that
• 9:08
  there's so much stuff in the wall.
• 9:09
  There's more holes than in baby Swiss.
• 9:13
  Keep
• 9:13
  Savanah Carlson: a professional.
• 9:14
  Jen Steadman: Yeah, it's just a conversation.
• 9:16
  Savanah Carlson: Clinical areas and treatment areas need
• 9:19
  to have a unified decorum.
• 9:24
  I agree with that for sure.
• 9:26
  This came up as conversation many a time where we want, we, you know, we're in
• 9:29
  this room eight hours a day, how can we make it feel more like our space?
• 9:33
  And one of the hygienists had a brilliant idea that I. When she
• 9:38
  opened the cabinets, like you had free reign inside those cabinets.
• 9:42
  So she was there for a very long time.
• 9:44
  Every cabinet was just her through the decades with her family.
• 9:48
  So anytime she opened her cabinet, she could just look
• 9:50
  at her family and like, haha.
• 9:51
  Yeah.
• 9:51
  She had the cabinet.
• 9:53
  It was great because it kept with the uniformity of the practice, but also
• 9:57
  gave them the ability to have some space.
• 10:01
  Jen Steadman: Yeah.
• 10:02
  I actually have a friend that.
• 10:06
  Is a hygienist that I used to work with and the office that she works
• 10:09
  with, her boss had someone come in, a muralist, come in and painted a
• 10:16
  mural on everyone's operatory wall of all of their favorite things.
• 10:21
  So for her it was a whole ran.
• 10:24
  It's actually near you where you live.
• 10:25
  Actually, I'll tell you about it.
• 10:27
  She loves skiing.
• 10:29
  So it was all, it was mountains and snow and ski.
• 10:33
  Amazing.
• 10:34
  And it was all of their favorite things.
• 10:38
  And it's on the wall, so you don't have to worry about dust, you don't have
• 10:42
  to worry about any holes in the wall.
• 10:44
  How amazing is that?
• 10:46
  I think it could be really
• 10:48
  Savanah Carlson: amazing.
• 10:49
  It makes me really nervous though, Jen.
• 10:51
  What if someone was like, oh, I like me.
• 10:55
  I'm wearing my True crime necklace.
• 10:57
  I'll help you bury the body Morse code.
• 11:00
  What if someone's like, oh, I really love True Crime.
• 11:05
  Jen Steadman: There's a mural with Tombstone.
• 11:07
  Welcome to, she's been there for many years.
• 11:11
  All of their team has been there for many years.
• 11:13
  It had to be approved though, right?
• 11:15
  Yeah.
• 11:16
  Yeah.
• 11:16
  And I think like they had talked about certain things, like she
• 11:19
  just didn't like decide on what the mural was gonna be, but.
• 11:22
  How amazing is that though?
• 11:23
  It's really, really cool.
• 11:25
  You know,
• 11:25
  Savanah Carlson: something different to do.
• 11:27
  It's a fun investment in your team and hearing them.
• 11:30
  Yeah.
• 11:30
  And what they have to say.
• 11:31
  Mm-hmm.
• 11:31
  I, I can get behind that to a certain extent for sure.
• 11:35
  I guess I'm just, oh, I'm very particular.
• 11:40
  Jen Steadman: Yeah.
• 11:40
  No, you're good.
• 11:41
  You're good.
• 11:41
  But I think, look, if we're talking about investing in our team, one last
• 11:44
  thing before we wrap is don't forget.
• 11:49
  To thank that new team member for joining your team.
• 11:52
  So whether it's a handwritten thank you note that everyone on your team has
• 11:56
  signed, get them a little plant or a token of appreciation or just get them something
• 12:02
  for their office, get them something for their window sill or anything like that.
• 12:07
  Um, you could be really cheesy and get a little, uh, one of the little tooth.
• 12:11
  Pots, put a plant in it.
• 12:13
  You know, there's so many different things that you can do to make it fun.
• 12:17
  Highlight your culture.
• 12:18
  Show your culture.
• 12:19
  Yeah.
• 12:20
  It's through your first opportunity to show why they chose you.
• 12:24
  Savanah Carlson: And give them time to learn the practice.
• 12:27
  Yes, absolutely.
• 12:29
  Top tips.
• 12:30
  Appreciate them for joining your team and allow them the opportunity to
• 12:34
  actually learn about how you do things.
• 12:37
  Jen Steadman: Yes, ma'am.
• 12:38
  There you go.
• 12:39
  On that note, clocking out.
• 12:42
  Clocking out.
• 12:42
  Have fantastic day.
• 12:44
  Savanah Carlson: Bye everyone.
• 12:46
  We'll see you in 10.
• 12:49
  Thanks for spending a few minutes with us on back in 10.
• 12:52
  Jen Steadman: If something made you laugh, nod or feel a little more
• 12:55
  human, share it with a friend and make sure that you're subscribed.
• 12:59
  Savanah Carlson: You can also follow us on Instagram at Back in 10 Pod for more.
• 13:02
  Behind the scenes updates and probably a little chaos.
• 13:07
  Jen Steadman: We're not here to have it all figured out.
• 13:09
  We are just here to tell you the things that we wish someone had told us,
• 13:13
  Savanah Carlson: and remind you that leadership doesn't
• 13:15
  have to be perfect, just real.
• 13:18
  We'll be back in 10.