Millennials – Instead of motivating different generations, bring your team together based on your core values.
Often, when working with an office that is struggling with an issue I find that sharing this experience may benefit others. With that in mind, I would like to share what has been going with one of my clients. The doctor has been trying to get his team members to work closer together. The doctor’s thought was to concentrate on individually motivating each of the multiple generations that comprise his team. He was trying to do this by thinking of what each generation cares about the most and trying to communicate his needs based on that. He was using his energy and found that he was getting more frustrated as well as confusing his team on what he wanted to improve. This was not working for him and let me share with you why, and how the issue can be corrected.
There were other things happening in his office that kept the team from being on the same page. When that is the case, you need to find a common ground to get everyone together. Common ground can be found by identifying your core values and bringing the team together around them. That is a much better, more complete way of handling this issue.
When you take the time to write down your core values as a practice, you are also determining your “why”. It is a natural progression from one to the other. By identifying your “why”, this will automatically add value from all generations to what you are trying to achieve in your practice. If you find yourself thinking this is a waste of time, think again. Anytime you can bring your team together around the core values or foundation of your practice, that is good thing. Not only for you as the owner dentist, but also for your patients you serve. You may think some of this should already be known by your team. It may be, and clear communication is never a bad thing. Either this will bring some clarity to the team or you will be creating something that brings your team together. Both, the creation or a friendly reminder, are always good when working with a group of people.
I know that was the intention of my client and I agree that communication styles will change depending on the generation you are speaking with. I think some generations get a bad/good label and are grouped together as if everyone thinks the same way depending on their birthdate. If you are having some problems with getting your team on the same page, start at the beginning with your core values. If you do not already have these identified as a team, please take the time to do so. Knowing your core values will help you with potential conflicts as well as making good hiring decisions.
At the end of the day, people are people and I think we tend to overthink things. Instead of focusing on motivating different generations, bring them together based on what counts – your core values.
I hope you find this helpful to bring your team closer together and share a stronger foundation. If I may be of assistance, please let me know.