The Financial Rewards of Work-Life Balance in Your Dental Practice | Baton Rouge LA Dental Advisor
Work-life balance is essential for productivity and long-term financial success. Here are tips on how to balance personal time with business needs for both you and your team.
Motivating Your Team
Work-life balance needs to be built into your practice values. If your employees are well-rested and feel their family life is manageable, they are likely to put more energy into their work and be happier overall. Those who feel stressed might request more sick days, which puts a financial strain on your practice. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control Foundation says lost productivity from absenteeism costs U.S. employers nearly $226 billion each year, or $1,685 per employee.
As a practice owner or manager, you likely can’t give your team the perks of a large corporation, such as subsidized daycare, FMLA, or an employee-assistance program; however, you can be sensitive to your team members’ needs, such as child or eldercare responsibilities, and schedule accordingly. Creating a strong team culture in this way also motivates employees to help one another.
Consider implementing an employee incentive program for milestones met. A day off is ideal, but if that is unworkable, you can implement other meaningful perks, such as commissions, raises, and bonuses. However you choose to compensate your employees, it is important to remember that happy team members tend to be loyal, productive, and motivated to deliver excellent patient care.
How to Achieve Work-Life Balance as a Dental Practice Owner
When you are responsible for teams as well as patients, you have double the workload. Add to that continuing education and paperwork, and it can be difficult to carve out time for reflection, organizing, and personal errands. The answer lies in planning.
Use a calendar or scheduling app to plan your day. Set aside blocks of time to work with patients, arrange team meetings, and attend organizational group functions. Your calendar should be your primary time-management tool. It can also include your outside commitments, such as children’s school activities, birthdays, and anniversaries.
By including nonwork events on your calendar, you minimize the risk of schedule conflicts between your work and personal lives.
Honor Your Own Time Off
When you decide to take a day off, make sure you put it on your calendar and honor it. Make your scheduling priorities clear with your team members and make instructions clear so they are not left wondering how to handle unexpected situations while you are away.
The key to achieving work-life balance is creating clear boundaries for you and your team members and truly learning how to unplug. It can help your practice become a more productive place that in turn boosts profitability.
For more tips on creating a more harmonious, financially savvy dental practice, contact our Baton Rouge Dental Accountant team for a consultation.