Most practice owners would say they put people first. They care about their employees, know their families, and want them to succeed. The harder question is what that commitment looks like on a Tuesday when two people are out, a delivery is behind schedule, and the phones will not stop.
A recent Wall Street Journal article by Allison Pohle describes how The Gund Co., a family-owned manufacturer, has built its management approach around employee well-being while maintaining high performance expectations (Wall Street Journal). What caught my attention was how deliberately the company carries that commitment into its daily work. It made me think about the decisions we make in our own practices.
In a profession that is dedicated to taking care of its patients, it only makes sense that we would extend that passion to our employees. We do not need to copy a manufacturer's management program to ask whether our daily decisions support the people we depend on.
Give people a fair chance to do good work
Consider a patient care coordinator who spends Friday afternoon calling patients to schedule or reschedule deliveries. Suppose fabrication delays were known earlier in the week, but nobody had clear responsibility for communicating them. The coordinator gets frustrated, the clinician loses appointment time, and the patient rearranges another day.
Thank the coordinator for handling a difficult afternoon. Then help make sure the same problem doesn't land on that person's desk next Friday.
Ask the people involved where the information stalled. Agree on who communicates a changed completion date, when that update happens, and who contacts the patient. Then check whether the change actually helped.
Some frustrations come with the work. Others we create ourselves when we leave decisions unclear, handle the same task differently every time, or promise a delivery date without checking whether we can meet it. Those are ours to fix.
Before asking someone to work harder, ask whether we have made it unnecessarily difficult for them to do the job well. We should be willing to correct our part of the problem.
Get to know the people doing the work
When was the last time you asked an employee what they would like to learn? It's easy to get through a week discussing schedules, patient issues, and unfinished work without learning much about what the person doing that work wants for their future.
In the Journal's accompanying CEO Brief interview, Pohle emphasizes Gund's investment in teaching managers how to talk with employees about both their work and their lives (WSJ CEO Brief). That's worth remembering when we put someone in charge of a team. We may need to help them learn how to have those conversations.
Ask which responsibilities they would like to take on or whether something about the schedule or workload needs attention. Let them decide how much of their personal life they want to share.
Suppose an experienced front-office employee wants to learn authorization follow-up. Decide who will teach them, set aside time to learn, and agree on how you'll know they're ready to handle it independently. Work out which current duties someone else will cover during training. Otherwise, you've just added another task to a dependable employee's full day.
Sometimes you'll have to say no. Give the request a fair hearing and explain your decision, especially if the employee has put thought into it.
Keep people, patients, and the business in view
Gund measures performance across three categories, taking care of one another, taking care of customers, and taking care of the business (Wall Street Journal). We can use those same priorities when making decisions in a practice.
Before accepting more referrals, extending hours, or changing the appointment schedule, consider all three. Can the team handle the work reliably? Will patients receive the attention and follow-through they need? Does the decision make financial sense?
For example, opening another afternoon of appointments might look productive on the schedule. But if it leaves no workable time for documentation or coordination with fabrication, decide how those responsibilities will be covered before adding the slots.
A financially healthy practice matters to employees as well as owners. Payroll, training, and enough staff to cover the work all depend on it. We have to make the numbers work and be honest about what we're asking of people to get there.
Have the difficult conversation
The Journal's reporting also makes clear that Gund's commitment to avoiding layoffs does not mean retaining everyone regardless of performance (Wall Street Journal). That distinction matters to the employees who are doing their jobs and covering for someone who isn't.
If a clinician repeatedly leaves documentation unfinished, the people affected include the billing team, coworkers trying to answer questions, and patients waiting for the next step. Avoiding the conversation protects one person from discomfort while leaving everyone else to manage the consequences.
Be specific about the expectation and what is happening instead. Determine whether the issue involves capacity, training, an unclear process, or a failure to follow through. Agree on the correction and a review date.
Give the employee a fair chance to improve, then follow up when you said you would. If the problem continues, you owe it to the rest of the team to deal with it.
Start with one commitment you can keep
This week, choose one recurring frustration and talk with the people who have to deal with it. Ask what is happening, what they have already tried, and what change they recommend.
Choose one action, assign responsibility, and set a date to review it. If the answer is no, explain why. If you promise to investigate, return with an answer rather than waiting for someone to ask again.
Think about the last concern an employee brought to you. What did you do with it, and does that person know?