PCSO Bulletin, Spring 2002 Ms. Lori Garland Parker Lecture Summary

Welcoming and Training New Team Members

Presented by Ms. Lori Garland Parker
at the 2001 Annual Session

Summarized by Dr. Bruce P. Hawley
Northern Region Editor

The process for selecting a new employee is critical—the wrong person will not or cannot be trained for your practice. Once you make the choice, you will hopefully have already made preparations for training:

Make your office a rewarding place to work. Make proper introductions to all staff members, and decide how the new staff member will be introduced to patients. Plan a luncheon with the staff and new employee on the first day for a solid welcome. Build the person’s image to the staff. Use his or her experience and training to portray what he or she can bring to the practice.

Proper orientation is essential for the new employee. Be sure to teach the trainee the goals and the key policies of the practice, such as hours, dress, and benefits. He or she may have orthodontic experience, but they will need to learn new techniques and protocols.

As the new staff member settles in, you might find yourself wondering if he or she will succeed. If you have doubts, perhaps you are not providing the best training. All too often a new team member is given inadequate direction. Sometimes it is a sink-or-swim approach. Ms. Garland-Parker characterized some other kinds of ineffective training:

An effective trainer will confidently communicate the wishes of the practice, handle difficult situations with good humor, display patience, while displaying an obvious interest in helping people. The orthodontist will provide support for all these goals.

Ms. Parker encouraged a formal one-on-one training supplemented with reading and opportunity to practice. Role playing and testing are also effective. Make it fun, so it is not a chore.

Who should train? The most experienced is not necessarily the best trainer, especially if he or she is not passionate about this task. Common mistakes are: insufficient training time, a disorganized system, inadequate support materials, and the assumption that the new person will have a perfect memory.

It is wise to schedule time and personnel to train the new employee. You might assign one trainer for all procedures, or split the task among several. Be sure to make the training assignments specific for each task and trainer involved. Such assignments help avoid duplication, foster accountability and establish to whom the new person will be responsible.

The ideal aid is a procedures manual that will provide sequencing, a time table for learning, and directions for each procedure. For example, the clinical manual would include abbreviations and chart notations, how to check patients for loose attachments and oral hygiene, archwire sequencing protocols, and sample communications to parents.

Keep your manual current to avoid the "we don’t do it that way anymore" experience. Staff members need to know the procedures, and also the rationale behind each procedure.

Help the trainee understand the goals for each training session. Several short sessions are better than one long one. Ms. Parker recommends focusing on one or two topics per day. Proceed from simple functions to complex functions, not necessarily in the order that the procedures are actually done.

Have the trainee use a mannequin or typodont before operating on a patient. A new assistant can start by passing instruments to the experienced assistant/trainer, then later, reverse their roles. Teach consistency and summarize at the end of each day.

An example of sequence of learning is: OSHA rules, sterilization, instrument recognition, tray setups and where items are located; then, seating patients, finger rests, reties, and archwire removal might. It is useful to separate the training manual into modules with defined objectives, and propose dates for completion of each section. Then the trainer can verify competency for each section before progressing to the next. Learning can also be confirmed with verbal quizzes using flash cards, sample appliances, and videos.

Learning styles can be visual, auditory, and/or kinesthetic. The latter is most popular, as it involves learning by doing. Put the new employee in the proper physical position to observe over the operator’s shoulder, rather than on the opposite side. Take one step at a time, without overwhelming the trainee. Show her first at the expected speed, then review at a much slower speed.

Have the trainee repeat the procedure to the trainer. Ask the trainee questions, repeat instructions if necessary. To repeat for clarity, use phrases such as, "I neglected to mention this," and "Let me make sure this is clear." Ask quiz questions, either verbal or written, and provide immediate feedback out of patient earshot. Focus on the task and techniques ("I like the way you placed the instrument."). Provide tips and time goals, such as maximum five minutes’ individual band-fitting time.

Record and document each step of the training process. Provide clear written objectives, which are specific, measurable, with realistic goals for a given completion time. The training must be challenging, stretching the new employee as a part of the learning process.

It must be rewarding. Celebrate the successes of your new team member, catching them doing things right, praising and, if appropriate, providing small rewards or gifts. Effective learning is best with a plan, and is ongoing. Unless learning is applied (the student tries it out), there is really no learning taking place. Remember, the difference between "try" and "triumph" is just a little oomph!

Spring 2002 Presentation Summary:

Welcoming and Training New Team Members