Maximising potential

In an ideal world where patients always turn up on time and nothing ever goes wrong we wouldn’t need to manage performance. Sadly that ideal world is never likely to exist, and one of the most important things managers and dentists have to get to grips with is how they manage performance in their practice. Tempting though it is to hope that people know what they need to do and will get on with it to the best of their ability, the perversity of human nature means that this is not necessarily the case. In short, we may not have made it clear what we are expecting and people may not do their best simply left to their own devices.

Your practice’s success relies on everyone within it delivering a good service. Any shortfall or any weak link in in the chain will have a detrimental effect on the practice. The aim of managing performance is to continuously improve the performance of individuals and that of the practice. It involves making sure that the performance of employees contributes to the goals of the practice, and taking appropriate action when this does not happen.