logo 18 • CAMLOG Partner Magazine • July 2018 34 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT In the last issues I devoted myself in detail to the topic of personality diagnostics. The better you know your own personality, the more individual, professional and easy it is to deal with employees. Only those who understand their own intrinsic motivation and values in toto can learn to understand and respond optimally to their employees. This individual communication is the key to successful leadership. Apart from this, it is nevertheless important to also avoid generally applicable management errors. I would like to highlight ten typical sources of errors in this article. AVOIDING LEADERSHIP ERRORS COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY AND MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES Error No. 1: Egalitarianism A common mistake is wanting to treat all employees equally. In theory, this is a noble approach, but in practice it is counterproductive. Employees are not a homogenous collective, but people with different personalities. In the previous articles I had introduced effective tools, such as the Luxx Profile or the Reiss Motivation Profile, which analyze a person's personality at the deepest level. With the disclosure of the motives it becomes clear what an employee needs to work effectively or motivated, and also what you can rely on with the employee. For example, if you have an employee with a high curiosity value, he or she will probably be very interested in further training or will be happy to accompany you to congresses, while this is stressful for others. If an employee has a high value in terms of influence, status and ownership, salary increases, promotion opportunities or various benefits will be more effective than time off as compensation for overtime. Whether an employee is deployed in the right position can be recognized just as quickly. For example, persons with a low value in the area of social contacts or family have to invest considerably more time and effort for patient communication than employees with a high value. Individual assignment of tasks, clear limits and specific support are meaningful measures there. TIPS: • Use scientifically tested tools for personality diagnostics. • Utilize the specific potentials of your employees. • Support your employees individually. Error no. 2: Blinkers Those who operate in an ivory tower, so to speak, and are too focused on business affairs, often no longer learn what is happening at the grassroots level. Especially in a dental practice, where the distance between the protagonists could not be closer, it is important to stay in touch with the employee base. Otherwise problems or bad news will pass by undetected. Intervention is then not possible; any arising difficulties cannot be recognized. However, you need information about emerging problems to ensure the future of your practice. In addition, employees do not feel respected or valued when obvious problems or issues that concern them are overlooked. Do not expect employees to come to you voluntarily, it is your duty to obtain this information. TIPS: • Observe your employees and communicate if you notice certain verbal and non-verbal signals or if you see signs of overwork, frustration or sadness. • Make it a habit to talk more with your employees. You can also find out what burdens your staff in serious small talk, during a shared lunch or between treatments. • Invest in the ability to listen. You know your own opinion very well, but it is important to know that of your employees. Error No. 3: Little praise, little feedback As you have already learned from the previous articles, the personality structure is responsible for the extent to which an employee longs for recognition and, as a matter of course, also praise from the boss. People with a very high recognition value obtain their positive self-image exclusively from the feedback of others. These people are therefore extremely vulnerable. Everything is carefully registered and inwardly evaluated, which in the logical consequence is exhausting for the remaining team and the supervisor. There simply can't be enough praise here! Persons with a low expression are rather irritated by too much good feedback, since they already carry their positive self-image within them. They themselves hardly praise, appear self-confident and distant. An important question would therefore be what your and your employees' characteristics are. Regardless of the personality structure, however, a culture of praise should permeate every practice, because employees need feedback in order to be able to orientate themselves. TIPS: • Check your own attitude to praise and appreciation. Have beliefs established themselves, such as "she already knows that I value her work", "too much praise only goes to her head", "nothing said is enough praise", "that's what she is paid for after all", "she knows herself that she works well" etc. • List the activities and skills of your employees that you value in your mind. You will be surprised at how many positive things are often overlooked.
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