Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
Practice Perfect Editor
Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Podiatric Medicine,
Surgery & Biomechanics
College of Podiatric Medicine
Western University of
Health Sciences,
St. Pomona, CA

Appreciate Your Assistants

Every once in a while, it's a good idea to recognize those people we forget about all too often: our assistants. You remember those people, right? The front office person who checks in all your patients, maintaining a smile while some irate patient gives her hell because he doesn't want to pay his copay. The medical assistant who manages to keep your back office flowing smoothly so you can see more patients.

Those of us in management and/or leadership positions of some sort – a common role for physicians – are often aware of the incredibly hard work our various assistants do. But all too often, we forget about them as they blend into the day to day grind of getting the job done.

As an assistant professor, I have a rather large range of responsibilities and locations in which to function. Part of my time is clinical – seeing office patients, doing hospital consultations, and performing surgery – similar to any podiatrist. Another part of my time is academic – lecturing to students, teaching class, doing small group activities, and mentoring and counseling my students. Yet another part is administrative – chairing or being a member of various committees for the college or university. On a light day, my schedule is jam packed with responsibilities, and I am often in and out of the office. The other faculty members of the college are no different. Because we're all over the place, having supportive staff is absolutely imperative to our normal functions.

To accomplish this craziness, we have two sets of assistants, the clinical staff and the academic assistants. In one editorial, I could never highlight all the things they do for me and my partners at Western University. Without them, the College of Podiatric Medicine simply could not function, and our clinic would quickly fall apart.

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I'm sure a similar situation exists for many in the medical profession. I recall during training a rheumatologist who had a personal assistant who did everything for him, including booking airline flights and ordering his lunch. What a help she was to him. Similarly, the office staff to my first boss were so integral to his practice that I couldn't imagine what would happen if he lost one of them. The same definitely holds true for me.

Take a few moments to think about employee morale. We all too often let this part of our businesses go until it's too late. Does your staff want to come to work every day? Do they feel a sense of importance in what they do? Do they feel appreciated and well treated?

Here are three suggestions for staff morale that might appear obvious, but often go ignored:

Recognize them. Do you notice the hard work your staff puts in? Do you actually tell them how important they are? Verbalize your appreciation. You might think they do a great job, but they won't know unless you actually tell them.
Reward them. A good paycheck is great, but social scientists have found this is not the most effective way to maintain long term motivation. Give your assistants a personal day out of the blue. Consider something simple like a pair of movie tickets. Even small rewards can back up your words with action and demonstrate your gratitude in concrete ways.
Respect them. This may seem obvious, but I've seen bosses fail on this one too many times. You can't just think you're respectful. You have to believe it, show it, and follow-up on it. Empower your staff to do certain jobs within their appropriate roles. Make certain their concerns and complaints are heard by actually acting to correct the issues they bring to your attention. Develop your staff with extra training. This demonstrates your desire to see them grow.

These simple steps are just a few of the multitude of options to show your appreciation for your staff. Take the time to show them just how important they are. Or don't and find out how much you needed them after they leave.