Eyeworld

90 | EYEWORLD | DECEMBER 2022 P RACTICE MANAGEMENT by Corinne Wohl, MHSA, COE, and John B. Pinto About the authors John Pinto President J. Pinto & Associates San Diego, California Corinne Wohl, MHSA, COE President C. Wohl & Associates San Diego California P ractice volumes have returned, perhaps surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Ef- ficiency has been reestablished. The most fortunate practices have learned how to operate in a tighter labor market. But not all practices can make these claims. What is the difference? And how can you help your practice finally shake off the lingering business equivalent of "long COVID?" Here are six areas for your consideration. 1. Lax or unenforced office policies. "We purposely became lax and stopped enforcing our office policies. We were fearful of losing staff that could not be easily replaced. We are not sure how to begin applying the rules fairly and consistently again but realize that if we don't, we will lose the staff that do follow the rules while they wonder why some coworkers don't have to comply." In a group meeting, acknowledge this management gap and your plans to correct the situation. For example, "We are much closer to being fully staffed than we have been for the last 2 years. During this time, we did our best to give leeway for attendance and tardiness, in recognition of how the pandemic impacted ev- eryone's personal lives. But now, in all fairness to all employees, we are reinstating and will be enforcing the following policies (policy 1, policy 2, etc.). We will continue to provide as much flexibility as possible with your schedules, while at the same time prioritizing customer service and patient care, for which we need dependable staffing schedules and attendance." 2. Staff favoritism. "Some of our staff feel angry or jealous of their coworkers. It seems to be re- sulting in lower staff productivity for some. They complain that some 'favorites' enjoy preferred workday schedules, office location assignments, and PTO approvals for prime days or weeks. There is a general feeling by a few that 'I always have to work harder than her' or 'Why does she get more recognition and appreciation from the doctors than me?'" Actual or perceived favoritism has the same result in a practice. Similar to the policy en- forcement issues above, favoritism seemed to creep in at a higher than usual frequency during the pandemic years. Considering the chaos and uncertainty of those times, this is not a surprise. But not applying policies fairly and consistently can create the opportunity for cliques, bullying, a toxic/negative environment, and low staff morale to develop. Take the time to find out all the possible reasons (especially the root causes) rather than jumping to conclusions that could be wrong or incomplete. Here are specific steps to take: • Conduct a confidential written employee morale survey. Even if the perceived problem is in one department, use this opportunity to check in with all employees. • There are numerous ways to collect the information, and it doesn't have to be a large expense; your advisors or peers in other prac- tices will have survey examples you can work with. This survey must be confidential or it will not generate the complete and honest results you desire. • Collate and share the results with the man- agement team. Have this team be responsible for creating a plan to address each priority item. • Hold an all-staff meeting to share the confi- dential survey results. Provide each meeting attendee a copy of the written results. The purpose of the meeting is to acknowledge any serious issues and show appreciation for their anonymous candor. "We cannot fix problems that we are not aware of. Thank you for helping us improve our practice for employee satisfaction and providing excellent patient care." • By this time, you have likely made a few improvements based on their feedback. Share those early actions with the group, and dis- cuss any others under consideration. • Report back to the group as relevant (at a fu- ture all-staff meeting) about additional plans and progress made. • If the survey shows that morale is high and there is little to improve, celebrate this with the group. Recognize the importance of this finding and congratulate them. • Even if the improvements take more time than you would prefer, the process of evalu- ating and communicating is still considered progress, and the effort alone will be appreci- ated by staff. Shaking off the business equivalent of "long COVID"

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