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July 2019 Newsletter
                              developing clinical excellence
In This Newsletter
Onboarding New Employees
Work Intentionally, Not Habitually
Independence Day Celebration

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How Andrea can help:

· Sterilization review, design and implementation

·OSHA training, reviews and manuals

· Basic and advanced chairside duties

· Clinical training system and manual

· Indirect bonding

· Clinical coordinator

· Verbal skills to encourage compliance

· Reduction of emergency visits

· Personalized clinical manual

· Inventory control

· Instrument set ups and organization in the operatory

· Implementation of your treatment plans

· Reduction of patients beyond estimated completion date



On the web
at AndreaCookConsulting.com



Is your office experiencing challenges with retaining good team members? Often the onboarding and training processes are key factors in why people leave a job. According to a BambooHR survey, three-fourths of new hires said training during the first week on the job is most important to them. If you aren't communicating what new hires are supposed to be doing and arming them with the tools to do it properly, you're setting them up to fail. 

New employee onboarding is the  process of integrating a new employee with an office, team, and its culture, as well as getting a new hire the tools and information needed to become a productive member of the team.
Finding the best candidates for positions in your office is only part of building a productive, cohesive team. The process of onboarding new employees can be one of the most critical factors in ensuring recently hired talent will be productive, contented workers.  A clear training process is also a key piece to the new employees' success.
Before implementing a formal onboarding program, offices should answer some key questions, including:
  • When will onboarding start?
  • How long will it last?
  • What impression do you want new hires to walk away with at the end of the first day?
  • What do new employees need to know about the culture and work environment?
  • What role will HR play in the process? What about direct managers? Co-workers? Doctor?
  • What kind of goals do you want to set for new employees?
  • How will you gather feedback on the program and measure its success?
Once these questions have been answered, a plan of action can be developed to help new employees quickly assimilate office policies and workflow while getting fully acquainted with the office culture.
The two main goals on the first day should be setting expectations and introducing objectives. Employees need to have crystal clear ideas about what their job duties and responsibilities are on Day 1.  This should be clearly outlined in their job description.
New employees need to get to know the job and get to know their new co-workers. Social interaction is critical. I like to take the new team member out to lunch on the first day. This will help them get to know the team outside the office on a personal level.
To keep existing team members from resenting a new employee, make sure roles and responsibilities are outlined for the entire team. S ometimes existing team members could feel threatened that someone new could take over their responsibilities. So, it's a good idea to clarify the position of the new hire as well as other team members whose work is closely related, how they'll interact with each other, and how duties/tasks will run.
Reviewing and giving thoughtful feedback on your new hire's early training are also important during onboarding. I recommend meeting with the new team member daily for the first week and then weekly until training is complete. 
Your new team members will thank you for setting them up on the path to success and your office will be well on its way to turning those new hires into long term team members.
 Work Intentionally, Not Habitually

Much of our daily lives are taken up by habits that we've formed over our lifetime. An important characteristic of a habit is that it's automatic-- we don't always recognize habits in our own behavior. Studies show that about 40 percent of people's daily activities are performed each day in almost the same situations. Habits emerge through associative learning. We find patterns of behavior that allow us to reach goals. We repeat what works, and when actions are repeated in a stable context, we form associations between cues and response.

The thoughtful intentional mind is easily derailed and people tend to fall back on habitual behaviors. Forty percent of the time we're not thinking about what we're doing. Habits allow us to focus on other things...Willpower is a limited resource, and when it runs out you fall back on habits.

Mindfulness is a practice of intentionally paying attention to your work. Knowing why you pay attention to certain things and overlook others can help you clarify what steps you need to take to make an impact.

In order to effectively change habitual behavior, you must derail existing habits and create a window of opportunity to act on new intentions. Someone who moves to a new city or changes jobs has the perfect scenario to disrupt old cues and create new habits. When the cues for existing habits are removed, it's easier to form a new behavior. If you can't alter your entire environment try making small changes. Reorganizing your work area will force you out of habitual patterns and allow you to work intentionally and possibly more efficiently.

Studies have shown it can take anywhere from 15 days to 254 days to truly form a new habit. Changes in your existing habits will not happen overnight but working with intention will help develop new habits that are beneficial to you and your lives.

Independence Day Celebration

We celebrate the Declaration of Independence for two reasons. It represents an official severing of ties between the original 13 colonies and the rule of Great Britain. But it also represents the core of our beliefs, the very makeup of our identity as citizens of the U.S.

Independence Day means so many different things to so many people. Some it means remembering all that was sacrificed by a loved one or sacrificed themselves. For some it's just a day with family celebrating what this day means. For some it's meditating on the idea of what this day gives. But unitedly this day means celebrating, remembering, and being grateful for the freedom in our country. The freedom that wasn't given so simply, but that lives were laid down for and lives were drastically changed for. Freedom came with a cost, so that you and I today can enjoy our rights. Freedom is the reminder that we are delivered because of what people just like us fought for.
So this Fourth of July, celebrate your freedom and remember those who made this Independence possible. Let the fireworks and cook outs commence in honor of this day. Enjoy freedom and deliverance with all of your favorite people!

I  hope to see you at one of the following meetings that I will be attending and speaking at this fall:
OrthoPrenuers Summit - Dallas, TX - September 12 - 14
PCSO - Hawaii - October 3 - 5


Here is to "developing your clinical excellence" in 2019!

Thank you for your continued support of my clinical newsletter.  I hope you and your team find the information useful.  Please visit my website and feel free to email me with any comments or questions.
www.AndreaCookConsulting.com  andrea@andreacookconsulting.com 

 
Andrea Cook
Andrea Cook LLC
  
Sincerely,
Andrea