When a staff member is not following office guidelines, as the CEO and staff manager, I believe having protocols in place for consistently and fairly restating expectations is important.
For example, we have a staff tattoo policy that addresses how tattoos can (or can’t) be displayed for patients. Neither I nor Dr. Yarrow, the other owner, have any issues with tattoos. However, we know many of our patients may view tattoos as unprofessional. Based on this, we have implemented a policy that all tattoos should be covered during office hours when patients are present. I have been surprised at how positive the staff have been about this policy, and how much they have appreciated the guidelines.
So what happens when some staff members consistently forget to cover their tattoos?
Action Plan
As the staff managers we cannot assume the worst of our staff, we must assume that a staff member who does not have his or her tattoos covered is probably busy working and simply forgot. To easily solve this, open up your employment manual and export the page that references tattoos. Then communicate to your staff member with a kind email stating:
- “As I have observed you working so very hard at the front desk taking care of patients, I would have to assume that your efforts in complying with office guidelines is just a mental slip up. For your review, I have attached a page from the employment manual for your review. Thank you in advance for reviewing.”
- Attach the exported page from the employment manual and send it to the staff member with the above message.
For the majority of staff this simple piece of communication should resolve the problem for a while. Staff members are human and they will probably forget again at a later date. If the later date is months down the road don’t worry, this is part of managing people. Send another reminder.
If the staff member continues with non-compliance, there may be a bigger issue that requires a face-to-face discussion. You then need to have that Crucial Confrontation.
