If you talk with someone who’s hiring these days, especially in the technical fields, you’ll find that the top problem is hiring people with the right skills and the right attitude.
With unemployment rates in Snohomish County dancing around full employment most months, that’s not unusual. Under these circumstances, most experts suggest that businesses do what it takes to ensure existing employees are happy enough and healthy enough to stay on the job.
That’s why I enjoyed talking last week with Dr. Amy Norman, whose small staff at her Everett office of adult and cosmetic dentistry has a combined 66 years of working without taking a sick day.
First, though, let’s hear what some of her employees think of their jobs.
Judy Jenney, who has worked at the practice for 28 years, says she does “whatever it takes” to show up at work and bring a positive attitude. “We all feel like our patients are family,” she said. “And our commitment to each other is huge.”
“We all have ownership” to ensure everything goes well, said Karolyn Beierly, who joined the staff in 1987.
“Nobody wants to let anyone else down,” said Tiffany Norton, who joined the staff nearly two years ago.
How do you gain that type of loyalty?
For one thing, Norman’s practice has what’s called a well pay program, which gives full-time employees a check for the equivalent of eight days of pay if they’re not sick in a given year.
Those who do take a sick day lose two days of well pay and are also required to arrange a replacement from a temporary service who is qualified to fill in for them.
“It’s hard,” Norton said of finding the right fill-in. “We have so much additional training.”
Norton noted that the entire staff works six weeks and takes a seventh week off, so it’s easy “to get 100 percent healthy” during the break.
There’s some science behind that, Norman noted.
“They’ve done studies that show people are the most productive when they’ve returned from a vacation,” she said.
Norman said that in addition to providing staffers a regular break, she requires them to “agree to be well rested, alert and in good physical condition and prepared for a full day’s work.”
For birthday celebrations and the like “we usually get fresh fruit and dips and healthier choices,” Norman added.
Agreeing to find your own replacement and to commit to a few things that promote a healthy lifestyle may not be for every business, but it seems to work out for Norman’s dental practice.
Over time, she said, she has narrowed the hours of her practice but found that her well-trained and rested crew has kept up productivity. Again, there’s an incentive involved: If the practice goes above its production goals, there’s a profit-sharing plan for employees.
“There are a lot of opportunities for ownership,” Norman said of her business. “I want to see loyalty, dependability and consistency, and it is my management style to reward these things.”
Norman also said attitude is key.
“Attitude is contagious,” she said, noting people in the office “feed off each other.”
“They take so much pride in that,” she added.
I asked Norman whether the pressure to show up at work increases the risk that patients would pick up a bug from the staff. She said if someone is truly ill and plans to be off several days, the entire office might take the same time off. For those with the sniffles, she noted that the crew wears masks and gloves and washes their hands so often that they are unlikely to pass a cold to a patient.
Jenney says the office system helps stave off illness.
“I’m proud to say we never get sick,” she said. “It’s just a work ethic.”
She, too, said she likes the sense of teamwork and pride.
“My life has benefited by a positive atmosphere,” she said. “All of the training we are able to get goes with us out in the world. I feel like a better person working in this type of atmosphere.”
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.
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