GARY SCHAUB
It is always a good idea to tread lightly when making staff changes, especially when buying a practice. A major part of the goodwill of a practice is a long-term and effective staff. If staff turnover is high, that is a red flag in terms of the seller’s management of the practice.
I almost always recommend making no staff changes for the first 90 days after purchasing a practice. Use that time to get to know the staff. Then, if there is a problem, staff changes can be less dramatic and traumatic for the staff than if layoffs are done immediately after the sale.
Why do you want to replace the chairside assistant? Has the assistant “retired in place” and is now simply coasting through the job? Is the assistant a troublemaker with the other staff members or patients? Is it the poor quality of the work done by this person? If you can tolerate the assistant and any reason for replacement for the first few weeks, then I suggest holding off. The rest of the staff probably realizes that the assistant should be dismissed, but why stir the pot unnecessarily at the beginning?
If the problem is so serious that immediate action is required, then the seller should be the one to dismiss the assistant before the sale. This takes you out of the loop and should calm the rest of the staff.
I learned the value of keeping staff intact from my first sale more than 30 years ago. The seller’s long-term receptionist had to move out of state right before the sale. However, the buyer of a practice down the hall decided to dismiss all of his staff immediately because he wanted a younger staff. His receptionist moved to my client’s practice and about 20% of the other dentist’s patients followed her! About a year later, that dentist met with me and told me he had decided to close his practice and go to work for a large clinic. He never recovered from the loss of patients.
Timothy G. Giroux, DDS, graduated from Creighton University in 1983. He established a highly successful dental practice in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he and his wife, Mona Chang, DDS, practiced. Dr. Giroux, a member of ADS, is now the owner/broker of Western Practice Sales, a dental practice brokerage firm in the western United States. Contact Dr. Giroux at (800) 641-4179 or [email protected].
Gary Schaub, owner of HELP Appraisals & Sales Inc. in Oregon, has more than 30 years of experience in medical and dental practice appraisals, sales, and transitions. His background in electrical engineering and business administration helps him understand the intricacies of practice transitions. Contact him at [email protected] or call (503) 223-4357.