Leading a practice in the climate of today’s workforce is challenging and stressful, but most of all, extremely rewarding. Being a leader means more than just telling your staff what to do. It means getting to know them, creating a common mission, and helping them develop in their career. Figuring out what drives your staff and taking actions to help them thrive will lead to overall success for you and your practice.
Here are some important questions to keep in mind when determining how to motivate your staff:
Why is it important to understand how your staff is motivated?
Today’s workforce is made up of many different ages, backgrounds, and personalities, these different types of people are going to be motivated in a multitude of ways. Decades ago, people would show up to work, punch a clock, get a paycheck, and move on. That’s not how most people work nowadays. Different focuses and priorities lead to different motivations. It’s important to understand how each individual employee is motivated, what they enjoy doing, and what they appreciate about their job so you can really connect with your staff and help them feel like they’re a valuable part of your practice. To get the best results out of your staff, you need to be able to talk to them the way they’d like to be spoken to and know how to coach them. Understanding the motivation behind someone means everything because as long as people are motivated, they’re going to keep working and be a positive part of your staff. If they’re not motivated, they could potentially become a negative force for you and others and a drain on your resources.
What is “Quiet Quitting” and why is it important to look out for?
Quiet quitting is a big trend in the workplace right now. When someone is highly motivated, they’re focused, driven, and have a real purpose for their work. On the other hand, when employees are very unmotivated, you encounter issues like quiet quitting. Employees don’t have a purpose for being there, they don’t understand what they’re doing, but they can’t officially quit because they still have bills to pay. Instead, they do the bare minimum that they’re able to get away with while still getting a paycheck. It has become a phenomenon where someone decides they don’t want to do the work, but they need to get paid, so they just become complacent until you decide to terminate them. This is why it is so important to be aware of staff motivation and keep an eye out for situations like quiet quitting.
What are the key motivators impacting today’s workforce?
One of the biggest motivators in today’s hearing healthcare workforce is having an employer that shares the value of giving back to the community. This doesn’t mean just providing services that the practice already offers, it’s a larger focus on community outreach and philanthropy. Employees want to feel like there’s a mission greater than receiving a paycheck. How are you impacting everyone around you? What are you doing to help the community you live in?
What are some of the things you can implement in order to motivate your staff?
The first step is understanding what each individual on your staff is motivated by. Some people to this day are still motivated by money, so you can create an incentive program. Present them with a matrix and let them know if they hit certain numbers, they get a certain amount of money. Others are motivated by praise and recognition. Maybe it’s a physical award or plaque or celebration in their honor. Some people are motivated by rest and relaxation, so you might let them know how they can earn extra time off work. Each employee is different, so it’s difficult to find something that’s motivating for everyone. You might run one type of incentive and find that a lot of your staff does not respond. It will take some trial and error to figure out what will get you the results you’re looking for, but by making it particular to each employee you create an environment and opportunity to get the best out of everybody.
How does culture impact employees and patients?
Culture is crucial, and it’s very difficult for practice owners that are also providers to establish good culture. To really make sure that the cultures is what you want it to be, you have to pay attention to the uniqueness of the individual. When you create a culture of acceptance, you create a culture of the team atmosphere. Everybody plays a vital role in providing hearing health for the patients. If the front office staff is motivated, they feel a culture of appreciation and teamwork. It reflects onto the patient and when patients call or come in, they see that positive and welcoming culture.
It’s important to remember that if you want patients to feel like you’re there for them, you have to create that same culture withing your staff. You’re trying to make each other better and focus on a bigger mission. When patients feel like there’s a positive, energetic culture within the practice, they really enjoy it and feel at ease. You want to encourage them to come back and even refer their friends. The more we focus on making ourselves better, the more patients are going to benefit.
How can leadership adapt to better motivate their staff?
To better motivate your staff as a leader, you need to understand them and learn from them. Instead of trying to constantly teach, bring them into the process and create an open conversation. Leadership needs to listen with the intent to understand, not to be understood. Understand what their focus is because what’s important to them isn’t necessarily important to leadership. Instead of trying to force them to think the way that leadership thinks, it’s easier to try to understand how they are thinking, what motivates them and then make the adjustments that will still accomplish your business goals. Use the talents and expertise that your staff has, even if they do it a little differently than you would, to accomplish your goals.
What is the importance of setting goals for your staff?
If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know how to get there? If you know where you want to go, and the steps necessary to get there, you’re going to feel motivated. Setting small goals helps you make adjustments and evaluate the way you’re doing things.
Helping your staff set those tangible goals that you can establish action items and help them track their progress. Every task you complete, no matter how big or small, is an accomplishment along the way that pushes you to keep going. This will help keep everybody motivated and focused on accomplishing something great.
There are many different factors to consider when learning how to motivate your own staff, but by taking the time to learn about each individual and taking action to encourage them, you ensure that your mission and goals are a priority. Motivating your team, the right way, will pay off in the end.
Developing your team and creating the culture you desire is something CQ Partners helps members with every day. Our industry leading HR & Recruiting services make it easy to build a high-performing team.
About the Author
Nick Miller joined CQ Partners in 2021 as an Account Manager with over 20 years of sales and training experience. He earned his MBA in 2008 and has worked in a variety of different sales roles across a variety of different industries including, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and business-to-business sales. Nick is also an Eagle Scout and fluent in Spanish.
