By Tammie Lunceford

Engaged employees contribute to a medical practice’s effectiveness. But when you’re caring for patients and running a business, it can be easy to make simple mistakes with your team that could negatively impact your practice’s culture. In fact, you may not even realize you’re making them. These are five of the most common mistakes we see physician leaders make concerning their practice culture—and how you can avoid them.

1. Ignoring High Turnover

High turnover is costly for a practice and stressful for the remaining team members. In practices with significant staff turnover, productivity plummets. But aside from the operational effects, turnover is a definite sign that something is wrong at the leadership level. If employees are constantly leaving your practice, don’t brush it off. Instead, investigate the cause, and examine how the key behaviors of leadership may be impacting the overall culture.

2. Not Having a Documented Mission Statement or Values

Without a set mission statement, it’s hard for leadership to communicate strategies clearly with the staff and demonstrate transparency in setting goals. The highest performing practices have a clear mission statement, and physicians review it frequently. You’ll be able to engage the staff more effectively if you can connect your practice’s actions to the big picture values your group stands for. Having these values documented is the best way to communicate your vision.

3. Winging the Onboarding Process

During an office review, I sometimes find that new staff members have simply been turned over to the most experienced team member without a clear roadmap for onboarding. This lack of structure can perpetuate uncertainty and inefficiency within your practice. Over time, it compounds into serious issues. It’s important to have an effective onboarding program to properly train your new hires. The first day should begin with orientation, discussion of the handbook, employment paperwork and the introduction of the training plan for the first 90 days.

4. Not Meeting Often Enough With Your Practice Administrator

If there’s a disconnect between physician leaders and the practice administrator, it will become nearly impossible to engage your staff and keep things running smoothly. This breakdown in communication can brew frustration in your entire staff, which can quickly transfer to patients. Positive workplace cultures are built on strong physician-administrator relationships, and it’s important to meet often. Without strong communication between these parties, employee morale may sink. But when they work well together, they can positively influence and empower the entire team.

5. Using Annual Performance Reviews To Bring Up Problems

Conducting annual evaluations is a great way to reward good performance and check in on career goals. However, an evaluation should not be the first and only time an employee learns of a performance problem. Address problems when they occur, and revisit as needed with specific directions for improvement. The annual evaluation should only report the current status of the existing plan for progress. As you invest in your employees, constructively address improvements and enhance the overall culture, your raise the level of the practice’s expertise and strength.

A positive culture shows in every aspect of the practice, and it’s never too late to implement positive changes. To learn more about improving the workplace culture in your practice and how employee engagement fuels the business success of a practice, connect with an advisor in Warren Averett’s Healthcare Practice Group.