It’s not that long ago that it would have been unusual for a dental practice team to even have staff appraisals. Nowadays, you may well be having them, especially as they can feed into meeting the CQC’s well-led Key Line of Enquiry, but do you feel they are really benefitting your team members and your business?
Sometimes appraisals can risk falling into becoming a ‘tick box’ exercise, something that is done because it should be, rather than because of the benefits it brings. However, if they’re done effectively, they can help your practice to run smoother by bringing out the best in your team, after all, everyone wants to work in a happy team, and the happier you are, the more productive you are.
Below are three key things to consider to ensure your staff appraisals are working for you and your team:
1. Are you communicating your expectations?
Practice life will run smoother if everyone understands what is expected of them, which includes both formal job objectives and day-to-day duties. These expectations or requirements can be explained in numerous ways, such as through staff inductions, in the practice handbook, in team meetings and in appraisals. You can also use the latter to reinforce these expectations, review whether they’re being met, and if they’re not you can work together to find out why and decide on a solution – it could be a training or knowledge gap, or workload issue – and if they are being met, it is an opportunity to recognise that.
2. Does your team feel supported to achieve their ambitions?
Listening to each of your team member’s career goals and taking a genuine interest in supporting them to achieve them, will ensure they feel motivated at work and can also help with staff loyalty. This helps to create a happy team and pleasant working environment which is a win-win for the business and your patients, who pick up on these kinds of things. And, of course, having staff that are invested in their own development and well-skilled can only ease the business’ path to success. In order to do this well, appraisals need to be held regularly so that you can track progress and make any necessary adjustments, rather than just having them at the start of the year and end of the year.
3. Is there a two-way constructive feedback process?
Whether things are going well, or not, appraisals should provide a forum for honest and open feedback. Again, this needs to be done regularly, so you and your team understand whether they are on track, or if you need to put in place any steps to improve performance. Feedback should both highlight the positives, but also address any negatives which are often avoided through fear of conflict. However, by creating an open, friendly atmosphere in appraisals, and encouraging employees to discuss any ways they feel you could support them more or do things differently, you can facilitate this kind of constructive feedback with less risk of it spiralling into disagreement.
Asking yourself these three questions can help you to ensure your appraisals are benefitting the entire team and supporting your practice.
