The Bragging Board
The Bragging Board – Do you find it difficult to recognise when your team excels? Annual appraisals don’t cut it! That’s the truth!
Acknowledging a member of the team for the hard work they put in once a year, during an annual appraisal is not sufficient.
Practice owners are not to blame, unfortunately, most are working in surgery all day and won’t get the chance to see the other areas of the business but will rely on the manager to inform them of any updates. Presuming the manager is also not cooped in in an office all day.
Not recognising the hard work a team member puts into the practice is probably one of the main reasons why staff jump ship to other dental practices. It’s not always about the money!
Of course, if you are helping the practice in your own little ways, they won’t get noticed and if you were to bring them up, you would appear to be the Bosses Pet amongst your fellow team members. Not a good idea.
Say hello to the Bragging Board!
A bragging board is what the name suggests, a board where you can brag. It allows the team to leave comments of where themselves or another team member, did great in helping the team and the practice. This could be things such as resolving a difficult situation, ordering stock without a nudge, delivering great customer service, you get the picture 🙂
The great thing is any comments written onto the board will be all anonymous. So no Bosses Pets hashtags.
It also allows the practice owner to be aware of which team members are providing great service to your business and customers. Which brings us to the second stage.
Once the comments are up, the following month you must act on them. This will be a monthly review of the Bragging Board. You will need to hold a team meeting and recognise the achievements of individual team members in front of the rest of the team. Rewarding them a gift for their achievement is not a bad idea either such lunch at local restaurant or pub.
This has to come directly from the practice owner who they all are led by. The leader.
This act alone will increase work energy of your team and also demonstrate you are a good leader as you recognise the achievements of your team.
People want to be told they are worth something. Subconsciously most people lack approval, recognition, and purpose. By you recognising them, their efforts provides a boost to their confidence, hard work, and purpose.
Be a good leader/human 🙂
We have tried this in a few dental practices and have seen great results in terms of team motivation and recognition.