Living through the pandemic has been hard on everyone, but especially parents. Working parents need to manage their household, their profession, and their child’s education. If you’ve been running a dental practice during the pandemic, you’re probably well aware of this predicament. You need your team members to be at work to keep your practice running, but you also understand that sometimes, the working parents on your team have no other option and need to stay at home. Not sure how to manage that logistical challenge? Bryant Consultants is here to help with five potential ways you can better manage the working parents on your staff.
Solution 1) Add team members, but don’t add hours
Having extra help available can provide a safety net if any parents on your team aren’t able to come to work due to illness or quarantine. Adding to your team can be a quick, easy solution for helping overextended parents working at your practice. However, this doesn’t mean you need to add full-time help. In fact, in many professions, outstanding applicants may prefer part-time work and are available on an on-call basis. Specifically state you’re looking for part-time help in your online job postings, and you might be surprised at the quantity and quality of applications you receive. Keep a call-back list of qualified applicants that you could call on at a later time if needed.
Solution 2) Be open to restructuring
If you’re feeling the crunch on staffing due to working parents who are struggling to meet their responsibilities, rest assured that the parents on your staff are feeling the pressure as well. This might be the time to shuffle the deck. Consider job sharing or offer a part-time role to your working parents. If you can reallocate certain duties to any other, motivated members of your team, you’re engaging an employee who wants a challenge, taking pressure off the working parent on your staff, and keeping your practice running as it should.
Solution 3) Consider remote work
Medical and dental practices are considered essential work for a reason. There are so many duties that have to be performed and provided on a face-to-face basis. Still, certain job duties can be performed remotely, as we learned during the pandemic. If you have working parents who are struggling to manage all their responsibilities, offering certain work on a remote basis can be a lifeline.
Solution 4) Plan ahead
A simple review of the local school calendar and a little common sense can go a long way to anticipating when you might foresee a staffing crunch at your practice. Any employees with children are more likely to request time off when school is out, such as the holidays, fall break, and spring break. You may limit the availability of off time during those dates or empower your employees to come up with a schedule that still meets the needs of your practice during these times.
Solution 5) Consider changes
Depending on the number of working parents on your team, you may need to consider some drastic changes. This could include having employees work split shifts, making a temporary change to your hours of operation, or even changing the regular schedule of treatments. By opening earlier, for example, you may be able to better accommodate working parents on your team. Split shifts, on the other hand, can allow you to offer expanded hours across the entire day.
Dental Practice Consulting
As a dental practice owner, you have to face many issues that have nothing to do with the science of providing treatments and procedures to your patients. Just because you’re an expert in the field of dentistry, that does not mean you are an expert in managing an office or a team of employees. You also can’t discriminate against current or prospective employees because they have children. It’s illegal, and it reflects poorly on your practice while also sending a troubling message to current staff who do not have children. At Bryant Consultants, our dental industry experts can help you manage the obligations and accommodations of your entire team during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Bryant Consultants, we can save you time and money, help your business grow, and navigate you through any struggle. That is why we’re offering a free one-hour consultation to hard-working practice owners just like you. Schedule your complimentary consultation today by calling (877) 768-4799. For us, no office is out of reach. We can come to you, either in person or virtually. And to keep up with the latest news and updates, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
